- Dpto. Proyectos Periodísticos
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Universidad de Navarra
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Alberto N. García
Universidad de Navarra, Proyectos Periodísticos, Faculty Member
- The University of Queensland, Australia, School of Communication and Arts, Department Memberadd
- Media Studies, New Media, Journalism, Digital Media, Online Journalism, Television Studies, and 27 moreCyberjournalism, American serial television, Film Studies, Documentary Film, Spanish Cinema, Public Service Broadcasting, Metafiction, Basilio Martín Patino, Mock-documentary, Spanish Television, Telecinco, Antena 3, Ross McElwee, Cultural Studies, Media, Popular Culture, Semiotics, Web 2.0, The Internet, Cult television, Series TV, Narratology, TV Series, Breaking Bad, Narrative, Cinema and Television, and Television genresedit
- Alberto N. García is a 2018 Visiting Professor at the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queenslan... moreAlberto N. García is a 2018 Visiting Professor at the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland (Australia). He is also an Associate Professor of Film and Television Studies at the School of Communication, University of Navarra (Spain). He has been Visiting Scholar at Fordham University (New York) George Washington University (Washington D.C.) and Visiting Professor at the University of Stirling (United Kingdom), Universidad de Los Andes (Chile) and at the "Máster de Guión" of the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Spain).
He has published his work in journals such as Post Script, Comunicación y Sociedad, Zer or Analisi. He is also co-editor of the book Landscapes of the Self. The Cinema of Ross McElwee (2007) and author of El cine de no-ficción en Martín Patino (2008).
He runs the blog about American and British TV: "Diamantes en serie".edit
This article explores how the first five years of Netflix Originals dramatic storytelling fit the “Complex TV” label that Mittell defined, with its innovative season-drop delivery strategy. We focus on one narratological device: the... more
This article explores how the first five years of Netflix Originals dramatic storytelling fit the “Complex TV” label that Mittell defined, with its innovative season-drop delivery strategy. We focus on one narratological device: the delimited flashback, the predominant type of analepsis in the 33 pilot episodes that made up our sample. Although the delimited flashbacks analyzed are semantically diverse, the discussion combines quantitative data with a qualitative analysis focusing on three key elements: the objects and places that trigger the characters’ memories, the contradictory or parallel relationship between timeframes, and the violation of boundaries between narrative layers.
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This article presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of formal and semantic trends of the flashback in Netflix original drama series between 2013 and 2017. The purpose is to determine whether such temporal digressions are... more
This article presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of formal and semantic trends of the flashback in Netflix original drama series between 2013 and 2017. The purpose is to determine whether such temporal digressions are commonplace to develop a better understanding of the evolution of television storytelling in the streaming era. The method applied involves a scene-by-scene quantitative analysis of temporality in 33 pilot episodes, an original methodology in television narratology. This is followed by a theoretical definition of the five categories of flashback: delimited, expository, undefined, independent, and oneiric. Tables displaying the data support the results of the study. The subsequent discussion combines the data with a qualitative analysis to identify patterns in how Netflix dramas juxtapose the five categories of flashbacks. Three conclusions are offered: the prevalence of temporal disruptions; the wide variety of flashback categories appearing in Netflix drama series; and the formal simplicity using these tropes.
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Este artículo explora las características de la temporalidad en la televisión; en concreto, las capacidades estéticas propias que la pequeña pantalla tiene a su disposición en virtud de su temporalidad distintiva. Partiendo de una... more
Este artículo explora las características de la temporalidad en la televisión; en concreto, las capacidades estéticas propias que la pequeña pantalla tiene a su disposición en virtud de su temporalidad distintiva. Partiendo de una metodología que combina los estudios sobre serialidad que han proliferado tanto en los Television Studies como en la Filosofía de la Estética, este texto apunta, en primer lugar, cómo las nociones existentes de “serialidad” no ofrecen una descripción completamente adecuada del particular carácter temporal de la televisión y de sus capacidades estéticas. Por esta razón, se propone un nuevo concepto: la “prolongación temporal”. Esta abarca, a diferencia del concepto de serialidad, tanto la manera específica en la que el medio televisivo emplea la temporalidad, así como los efectos estéticos que este manejo genera en formatos y géneros tan diversos como interminables soap-operas, dramas seriales con arcos argumentales horizontales, procedimentales episódicos, comedias de situación, telediarios, emisiones deportivas, concursos semanales, telerrealidad e, incluso, documentales. Para respaldar nuestra argumentación, el artículo profundiza en tres casos de estudio que apuntalan la validez de nuestra teoría. En primer lugar, se abordan las series de ficción autoconclusivas, de las que se espiga el funcionamiento de la prolongación temporal en los gags recurrentes, en la estructura del monstruo de la semana y en la ruptura que suponen los “episodios especiales”. El segundo caso de estudio es la figura del presentador de televisión informativa, donde el concepto de familiaridad establece unas recompensas estéticas privativas gracias al paso del tiempo. El último caso que se examina es el de programas de telerrealidad, con Kitchen Nightmares como botón de muestra, donde las variaciones en las expectativas son esenciales para establecer una comparación fructífera con episodios anteriores.
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This article analyzes, from an aesthetic and cultural point of view, two pivotal moments in The Americans, a Cold War spy thriller set in the heart of Ronald Reagan’s America. Both samples—one from the mid-series episode “Stingers”... more
This article analyzes, from an aesthetic and cultural point of view, two pivotal moments in The Americans, a Cold War spy thriller set in the heart of Ronald Reagan’s America. Both samples—one from the mid-series episode “Stingers” (3.10.), and the other from the series finale, “START” (6.10.)—show how the protagonists, two KGB spies living undercover in the United States as a married couple with two kids, disclose their secret identity to characters with whom they have a special emotional bond: their daughter, who has become a devout Christian; and their best friend and neighbor, who happens to be a counterintelligence officer in the FBI. After exploring how identity and performance play a crucial role in the spy-thriller genre, the article investigates whether it is possible for the audience to interpret the feelings and thoughts of characters with multiple identities who excel in the art of duplicity; and whether the viewer can infer intention from performance. Following this epistemological discussion, the article then sets out to explain the sociocultural relevance and timeliness of The Americans as a text whose thematic and aesthetic concerns ultimately revolve around individual identity vis-a-vis collective allegiances and ideologies.
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Aesthetics philosopher Noël Carroll affirms that grotesque forms ‘are all violations of our standing categories or concepts; they are subversions of our common expectations of the natural and ontological order’. In breaking structural... more
Aesthetics philosopher Noël Carroll affirms that grotesque forms ‘are all violations of our standing categories or concepts; they are subversions of our common expectations of the natural and ontological order’. In breaking structural boundaries, consequently, the grotesque appears as deformations, aberrations, exaggerations, metamorphosis or startling portmanteaus. Given both its nightmarish texture and the evil ingenuity of Dr Lecter’s murders, Hannibal (NBC, 2013‐15) ploughs fertile ground in putting together conceptually distant and even contradictory elements. Hence, this article explores how the aesthetic and philosophical principles of the grotesque are a pervasive presence throughout the entire Hannibal TV series, defining its style, characters’ personality and metaphorical themes. Putting art theory in dialogue with the Hannibal televised text, this article demonstrates how the grotesque ‐ one of the key concepts in Gothic horror ‐ permeates every level of the show, from the opening credits to the protagonist’s inner transformation, converting the narrative into a comprehensive and cohesive liminal artistic ecosystem.
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Hannibal (NBC 2013–15) is a bloody and violent television series that also displays an embellished and self-consciously expressive visual style. This article explores the disparity between aesthetic pleasure and repugnance, an issue that... more
Hannibal (NBC 2013–15) is a bloody and violent television series that also displays an embellished and self-consciously expressive visual style. This article explores the disparity between aesthetic pleasure and repugnance, an issue that scholars working in aesthetic theory have dubbed the ‘paradox of disgust’. It begins by focusing on the specific qualities of disgust among the so-called ‘negative’ emotions in art, and develops this analysis through a close reading of significant scenes in Hannibal. Drawing on Strohl’s ‘hedonic ambivalence’, the article argues that Hannibal intensifies its aesthetic value precisely by visually boosting the paradox of disgust, maximizing both aversion and pleasure simultaneously. However, the article also shows that Hannibal attempts to circumvent the paradox of disgust by prompting an ‘aestheticist turn’, embodied in the experience of protagonist Will Graham.
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This paper explores how the television series Hannibal (NBC, 2013-2015) conveys a deep aesthetic delectation, despite presenting numerous repulsive or uncomfortable scenes. The article analyzes how the very serial nature of TV fiction... more
This paper explores how the television series Hannibal (NBC, 2013-2015) conveys a deep aesthetic delectation, despite presenting numerous repulsive or uncomfortable scenes. The article analyzes how the very serial nature of TV fiction enables a specific way of negotiating the paradox of aversion through three textual strategies: a protracted character engagement, a suspense that articulates the aesthetic possibilities of “temporal prolongation”, and a beautiful mise-en-scène for abhorrent visual motives and actions. These three strategies generate an intense fascination in the spectator, allowing to subvert the features of the repugnant.
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El artículo explora cómo la serie de televisión Hannibal (NBC, 2013-2015) provoca una honda delectación estética, a pesar de presentar numerosos contenidos repulsivos o incómodos. Se analiza cómo la naturaleza serial de la narración... more
El artículo explora cómo la serie de televisión Hannibal (NBC, 2013-2015) provoca una honda delectación estética, a pesar de presentar numerosos contenidos repulsivos o incómodos. Se analiza cómo la naturaleza serial de la narración televisiva habilita una manera particular de negociar la paradoja de la aversión mediante tres estrategias textuales: un dilatado character engagement, un suspense que exprime las posibilidades estéticas de la prolongación temporal y una bella puesta en escena de motivos visuales y acciones horripilantes. Son estrategias que generan una robusta fascinación en el espectador, lo que permite subvertir las características de lo repugnante.
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Introduction.This article analyzes the dramatic and cognitive mechanisms that activate viewers’ emotional identification with antihero protagonists of serial fiction, taking Breaking Bad as a case study. Methods. The analysis of the... more
Introduction.This article analyzes the dramatic and cognitive mechanisms that activate viewers’ emotional identification with antihero protagonists of serial fiction, taking Breaking Bad as a case study.
Methods. The analysis of the mechanisms that enable identification is based on cognitive media theory (Carroll; Plantinga; Smith), and is reinforced through media psychology, applied through a close reading of the last season of the series.
Theoretical framework. The notion of “structure of sympathy” (Smith) is used to identify four dramatic strategies that modulate the spectatorial moral judgment against the antihero, while the concept of the “expanded narrative” is used to explain the familiarity established with the protagonist.
Discussion. In its fifth season, the story destroys the viewer’s moral sympathy for the character, but rebuilds it in the last episodes of the series through the aforementioned four dramatic strategies.
Conclusion. The concept of moral sympathy is proposed as a synthesis of narrative familiarity and moral modulation of the ethical perspective.
Methods. The analysis of the mechanisms that enable identification is based on cognitive media theory (Carroll; Plantinga; Smith), and is reinforced through media psychology, applied through a close reading of the last season of the series.
Theoretical framework. The notion of “structure of sympathy” (Smith) is used to identify four dramatic strategies that modulate the spectatorial moral judgment against the antihero, while the concept of the “expanded narrative” is used to explain the familiarity established with the protagonist.
Discussion. In its fifth season, the story destroys the viewer’s moral sympathy for the character, but rebuilds it in the last episodes of the series through the aforementioned four dramatic strategies.
Conclusion. The concept of moral sympathy is proposed as a synthesis of narrative familiarity and moral modulation of the ethical perspective.
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Introducción. Se analizan los mecanismos dramáticos y cognitivos que activan la identificación emocional con los protagonistas antiheroicos de la ficción serial, tomando como caso de estudio Breaking Bad. Metodología. Esta identificación... more
Introducción. Se analizan los mecanismos dramáticos y cognitivos que activan la identificación emocional con los protagonistas antiheroicos de la ficción serial, tomando como caso de estudio Breaking Bad.
Metodología. Esta identificación se estudia a partir de los postulados del cognitivismo (Carroll, Plantinga, Smith), y se refuerza con los de la Media Psychology, aplicados a través de un close reading de la última temporada de la serie.
Marco teórico. A partir de la noción de “estructura de simpatía” (Smith), se refieren cuatro estrategias dramáticas que modulan el juicio moral espectatorial contrario al antihéroe y se ilustra la relación de “familiaridad” que se establece con él a partir de la noción de “relato expandido”.
Discusión. En su quinta temporada, el relato rompe la simpatía moral del espectador para recomponerla en los capítulos finales.
Conclusiones. Se propone el concepto de simpatía moral como una síntesis de familiaridad y modulación de la perspectiva ética.
Metodología. Esta identificación se estudia a partir de los postulados del cognitivismo (Carroll, Plantinga, Smith), y se refuerza con los de la Media Psychology, aplicados a través de un close reading de la última temporada de la serie.
Marco teórico. A partir de la noción de “estructura de simpatía” (Smith), se refieren cuatro estrategias dramáticas que modulan el juicio moral espectatorial contrario al antihéroe y se ilustra la relación de “familiaridad” que se establece con él a partir de la noción de “relato expandido”.
Discusión. En su quinta temporada, el relato rompe la simpatía moral del espectador para recomponerla en los capítulos finales.
Conclusiones. Se propone el concepto de simpatía moral como una síntesis de familiaridad y modulación de la perspectiva ética.
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The popularization of the antihero is linked to the dramatic and narrative need of seriality: the constant dichotomy between the family and professional spheres, between noble and petty actions, between duty and want, moves the story... more
The popularization of the antihero is linked to the dramatic and narrative need of seriality: the constant dichotomy between the family and professional spheres, between noble and petty actions, between duty and want, moves the story forward, generates suspense and renews conflicts, prolonging the story for dozens of hours. Vic Mackey (The Shield), Dexter Morgan (Dexter) or Nucky Thompson (Boardwalk Empire) could serve as an antihero example. However, the two most radical and complex cases are undoubtedly the protagonists of The Sopranos (Tony Soprano) and Breaking Bad (Walter White). The emotional affinity with the antihero has recently become the object of study. This paper proposes a new angle of study: the antihero’s relationship with the rest of the characters in the series. For that purpose, we will select the characters - main or secondary - that the writers use as narrative strategy to guide the emotional and moral responses of the spectator the emotional and moral responses of the viewer in their particular relationship with the anti-hero. We will mainly focus on the reactions of these characters to the amoral behaviors of the antiheroes. We propose a methodology of textual analysis that, based on cognitivist theorists, will serve as a mechanism to better understand the construction of the anti-hero and to investigate the effects of authorial decisions on viewers.
La popularización del antihéroe va anudada a la necesidad dramática y narrativa de la serialidad: la constante dicotomía entre esfera familiar y profesional, entre acciones nobles y mezquinas, entre deber y querer permite hacer avanzar la trama, generar suspenso y renovar los conflictos, dilatando el relato durante decenas de horas. Vic Mackey (The Shield), Dexter Morgan (Dexter) o Nucky Thompson (Boardwalk Empire) podrían servir de ejemplo antiheroico. Pero, sin duda, los dos casos más radicales y complejos son los protagonistas de Los Soprano (Tony Soprano) y Breaking Bad (Walter White). La identificación emocional con el antihéroe ha empezado a estudiarse recientemente. Este artículo propone un nuevo ángulo de estudio: la relación del antihéroe con el resto de personajes de la serie. Para ello, seleccionaremos los caracteres —principales o secundarios— que los guionistas emplean como estrategia narrativa para guiar las respuestas emocionales y morales del espectador en su particular relación con el antihéroe. Principalmente, nos centraremos en las reacciones que estos personajes exhiben hacia las conductas amorales de los antihéroes. Proponemos una metodología de análisis textual que, partiendo de teóricos cognitivistas, nos servirá como mecanismo para entender mejor la construcción del antihéroe e indagar sobre los efectos que las decisiones autorales provocan en los espectadores.
La popularización del antihéroe va anudada a la necesidad dramática y narrativa de la serialidad: la constante dicotomía entre esfera familiar y profesional, entre acciones nobles y mezquinas, entre deber y querer permite hacer avanzar la trama, generar suspenso y renovar los conflictos, dilatando el relato durante decenas de horas. Vic Mackey (The Shield), Dexter Morgan (Dexter) o Nucky Thompson (Boardwalk Empire) podrían servir de ejemplo antiheroico. Pero, sin duda, los dos casos más radicales y complejos son los protagonistas de Los Soprano (Tony Soprano) y Breaking Bad (Walter White). La identificación emocional con el antihéroe ha empezado a estudiarse recientemente. Este artículo propone un nuevo ángulo de estudio: la relación del antihéroe con el resto de personajes de la serie. Para ello, seleccionaremos los caracteres —principales o secundarios— que los guionistas emplean como estrategia narrativa para guiar las respuestas emocionales y morales del espectador en su particular relación con el antihéroe. Principalmente, nos centraremos en las reacciones que estos personajes exhiben hacia las conductas amorales de los antihéroes. Proponemos una metodología de análisis textual que, partiendo de teóricos cognitivistas, nos servirá como mecanismo para entender mejor la construcción del antihéroe e indagar sobre los efectos que las decisiones autorales provocan en los espectadores.
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The Shield (FX 2002-08) and The Wire (HBO 2002-08) are two of the most ever critically acclaimed TV-shows and they both can be seen as the finest developed film noir proposals produced in television. The Wire transcends the cop-show genre... more
The Shield (FX 2002-08) and The Wire (HBO 2002-08) are two of the most ever critically acclaimed TV-shows and they both can be seen as the finest developed film noir proposals produced in television. The Wire transcends the cop-show genre by offering a multilayered portrait of the whole city of Baltimore: from police work to drug dealing, getting through stevedores’ union corruption, tricks of local politics, problems of the school system and some unethical journalism practices. On the other, The Shield offers a breathtaking cop-show that features in the foreground the moral ambiguity that characterizes the noir genre. Both series display complementary realist strategies (a neorealist aesthetic in The Wire; a cinéma-vérité pastiche in The Shield) that highlight the importance of city landscape in their narrative. Baltimore and Los Angeles are portrayed not only as a dangerous and ruined physical places, but are also intertwined with moral and political issues in contemporary cities, such as race, class, political corruption, social disintegration, economical disparities, the limitations of the system of justice, the failure of the American dream and so on. The complex and expanded narrative of The Wire and The Shield, as Dimemberg has written for film noir genre, “remains well attuned to the violently fragmented spaces and times of the late-modern world”. Therefore, this article will focus on how The Wire and The Shield (and some of their TV heirs, such as Southland and Justified) reflect and renew several topics related to the city in the film noir tradition: the sociopolitical effects of showing the ruins of the centripetal industrial metropolis, the inferences of filming in actual places, the dramatic presence of what Augé coined as “no-places”, the bachelardian opposition between home and city, or the streets as an urban jungle where danger lurks in every corner.
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This article analyses one of the most notorious TV trend in the last years –the zombie–, and how its evolution is related to the usual dynamics that features every artistic genre, but also to the “affective turn” that contemporary society... more
This article analyses one of the most notorious TV trend in the last years –the zombie–, and how its evolution is related to the usual dynamics that features every artistic genre, but also to the “affective turn” that contemporary society is experiencing. In order to analyse this cultural phenomena, firstly we will explore the metaphorical condition that traditionally has been associated with zombie narratives since George A. Romero reinvention. Next, we will study –by taking a close look to some examples– the causes for the ongoing humanization the living dead have gone through both in cinema and television. Lastly, we will scrutinize three recent TV Shows dealing with the zombie myth from stylistic, thematic and ideological innovative perspectives: In the Flesh (BBC, 2013-14), Les Revenants (Canal Plus Francia, 2012-15) and iZombie (CW, 2015-).
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This article analyses how TV fiction, in the last fifteen years, has become one of the most stimulating and successful vehicles to narrate complex and daring stories. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, armed with... more
This article analyses how TV fiction, in the last fifteen years, has become one of the most stimulating and successful vehicles to narrate complex and daring stories. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, armed with narratological and poetic elements, we will define the serial story, stripping away the husk of its principal forms and explain why it is now the best media for telling lengthy stories. In the second part we will pause to examine specifically variations on the traditional story: alternate universes, time jumps, coincidence between diegetic time in the story and real time and other mechanisms that have made television fiction the most daring way for telling stories.
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Empleando un arriesgado formato, inédito en la televisión anglosajona, In Treatment (HBO, 2008- 2011) narra las sesiones de psicoterapia que el Dr. Paul Weston mantiene con sus pacientes. Este trabajo propone un análisis de las... more
Empleando un arriesgado formato, inédito en la televisión anglosajona, In Treatment (HBO, 2008- 2011) narra las sesiones de psicoterapia que el Dr. Paul Weston mantiene con sus pacientes. Este trabajo propone un análisis de las singularidades narrativas, retóricas y argumentales de esta serie desde una doble vertiente: a) como síntoma y reflejo de la «cultura emocional» contemporánea que abarca todas las esferas de la vida social; b) y como un discurso público que enfatiza la ambivalencia de ese estilo emocional. Las conclusiones exploran cómo el desenlace argumental de In Treatment apunta directamente a las ambiguas consecuencias que acarrea esa cultura emocional predominante.
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This article examines how, coming from different aesthetic and generic directions, a representative portion of Anglosaxon television series build up their stories by means of breaking –at different levels– the illusionist mirror that... more
This article examines how, coming from different aesthetic and generic directions, a representative portion of Anglosaxon television series build up their stories by means of breaking –at different levels– the illusionist mirror that characterizes traditional fiction. In this way, they are –implicitly or explicitly– reflecting on the conventions of Realism. The article begins by exposing some theoretical issues about the concept of metafiction. Featuring examples collected since 2001, there follows cartographic research into all the possibilities that metafictional tv-series can harbor: a manipulative narrator, the juxtaposition of diegetical worlds, television as thematic seed for innovative stories, the hybrid game of self-consciousness and, lastly, the direct appeal to the audience’s attention as the major
reflective device used by contemporary anglosaxon television series up to now.
reflective device used by contemporary anglosaxon television series up to now.
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Using a format such as the fake documentary implies a defined approach towards the nature of representation from the very outset. Inventing a reality and granting it the appearance of truth while assuming the rhetorical characteristics of... more
Using a format such as the fake documentary implies a defined approach towards the nature of representation from the very outset. Inventing a reality and granting it the appearance of truth while assuming the rhetorical characteristics of non-fiction involves the practical denunciation of the ease with which the viewers might be taken in and extends suspicion to many other discourses based on the transparency of the evidentiality. Faced with the difficulty of finding a valid epistemological way out of the subject of representation, Patino attempts, following Roscoe and Hight, "the subversion or deconstruction of the relationship between documentary aesthetics and factual discourse" (53). As he demonstrates with his exercises of style in Andalucia ..., if trustworthiness is easily imitable, the viewer must learn to be permanently prepared to know how to discern the true from the false in any kind of discourse, and even more so in the case of those that are presented to us as a reflection of reality.
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An overview of the anglosaxon TV-Series landscape in this "Golden Age" of Television.
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Por medio de la falsificación audiovisual y de los dispositivos metaficticios que pone en juego, 'La seducción del caos' (Martín Patino, 1991) deconstruye desde dentro los códigos y presupuestos de la televisión. Escondiendo bajo un manto... more
Por medio de la falsificación audiovisual y de los dispositivos metaficticios que pone en juego, 'La seducción del caos' (Martín Patino, 1991) deconstruye desde dentro los códigos y presupuestos de la televisión. Escondiendo bajo un manto lúdico su llamamiento para que el espectador despierte el sentido crítico ante los relatos audovisuales, la película confunde los niveles del relato y presenta una obra aún en proceso de construcción. Desvela los mecanismos de creación fílmica y falsifica los usos televisivos para sugerir así una reflexión ensayística en torno al simulacro y la ruptura de la confianza en los discursos que asumen la representación de la realidad.
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La televisión contemporánea factual se encuentra inmersa en un período de progresiva hibridación y reestilización lúdica que podemos denominar «postelerrealidad». Continuamente se desarrollan nuevos formatos que buscan mantener el interés... more
La televisión contemporánea factual se encuentra inmersa en un período de progresiva hibridación y reestilización lúdica que podemos denominar «postelerrealidad». Continuamente se desarrollan nuevos formatos que buscan mantener el interés de la audiencia. En este sentido, resulta interesante examinar cómo —mientras se escenifica lo real— estos nuevos programas juegan con las nociones del simulacro baudrillardiano y la performatividad, conceptos clave para entender las estrategias narrativas y retóricas que despliegan. A la luz de estos conceptos de raigambre posmoderna, este artículo analizará los nuevos formatos de postelerrealidad aparecidos en la televisión en la era posterior a los éxitos de Gran Hermano, Supervivientes y Operación Triunfo, con la finalidad de definir cómo se distorsionan y reinventan términos como autenticidad, realismo y verdad.
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El cineasta Theo van Gogh se zafaba en cuanto podía de la escolta policial que le habían asignado meses atrás. El martes 2 de noviembre de 2004 fue uno de esos días en que decidió eludir a sus guardianes. Cogió su bicicleta y puso rumbo a... more
El cineasta Theo van Gogh se zafaba en cuanto podía de la escolta policial que le habían asignado meses atrás. El martes 2 de noviembre de 2004 fue uno de esos días en que decidió eludir a sus guardianes. Cogió su bicicleta y puso rumbo a su trabajo en el este de Amsterdam. Mohammed Bouyeri, un marroquí de origen holandés de 26 años y miembro de una organización islamista radical, salió a su encuentro en plena calle y le disparó. El director, conocido por su vehemencia y su carácter enérgico, se resistía a morir; Bouyeri le remató pegándole veinte tiros, asestándole varias puñaladas y rebanándole el cuello. La guinda del crimen: una carta clavada en el pecho del cadáver con un cuchillo, firmada “en nombre de Alá” y sembrada de amenazas a los gobiernos occidentales, a los judíos y a los no creyentes.
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The film Caudillo (B. M. Patino, 1974) builds –from a continuous rhetorical collision between the two factions– an anti-portrait of Franco and a chronicle of the ideological and military aspects of the Spanish Civil War. The director... more
The film Caudillo (B. M. Patino, 1974) builds –from a continuous rhetorical collision between the two factions– an anti-portrait of Franco and a chronicle of the ideological and military aspects of the Spanish Civil War. The director deconstructs the icon created along forty years of official images, political and historical symbols, social rites and some ideological and informative manipulation. Caudillo reutilizes archive footage –national and republican– in order to present a historical re-reading, far away from the vision of the official Franquist media.
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This paper examines the boundaries between reality and fiction in the audiovisual discourses. In the last years, there has been a significant group of films –specially coming from the documentary area– that proposes to re-negotiate those... more
This paper examines the boundaries between reality and fiction in the audiovisual discourses. In the last years, there has been a significant group of films –specially coming from the documentary area– that proposes to re-negotiate those boundaries. Inside this field, hybridations and detours of non-fiction shape a prolific line that is questioning the myth of objectivity that characterizes documentary in particular and visual journalism in general. In order to clarify this ambiguity, this paper tries to reflect on the limits of the documentary for the depiction of the real world. We will pay attention to some television and cinematographic works—especially the Belgium newscasts faking the independence of Flanders in December of 2006—that widen the classic conventions of non-fiction genre.
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Canciones para después de una guerra (Martín Patino, 1971) comprises an ironic archive documentary about Spain during the forties. Using different editing strategies —such as re-location of materials, fusion between sound and image,... more
Canciones para después de una guerra (Martín Patino, 1971) comprises an ironic archive documentary about Spain during the forties. Using different editing strategies —such as re-location of materials, fusion between sound and image, figures of speech and montage effects—, the film proposes an alternative view to the dominant one offered by Franco’s official media. The movie provides a re-reading of the Spanish postwar period that combines the historical report of years of shortage and isolation, the political criticism of an authoritarian regime and the sentimental force symbolized by the popular songs.
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The seven chapters of Andalucía, un siglo de fascinación combines real and fictional elements in order to simulate truth and feign the rhetoric and strategies of different types of documentary. With the aim of reflecting on certain... more
The seven chapters of Andalucía, un siglo de fascinación combines real and fictional elements in order to simulate truth and feign the rhetoric and strategies of different types of documentary. With the aim of reflecting on certain representative aspects of the Andalousian region –cultural and identity myths, historical episodes, traditions and artistic expressions–, Martín Patino spreads the post-modern game of the suspicion. The director scatters the Andalousian imaginary using mockumentaries that mixes reality and fiction. By using this fakery, Patino converts the style in the message and proposes an auto-reflexive thinking about the boundaries of documentary representation, the credibility of image, and its potentially manipulative nature. This analysis will be articulated from three perspectives: firstly, we will identify the real material of every chapter and the fictional evidences that allows discovering the counterfeit; subsequently, we will explain the mechanisms used for simulating documentary style; and, at last, we will analyze the thematic issues that characterize this TV films: reflection about popular identity, freedom concept and the likelihood of depiction.
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Audiovisual fakery is a filmic practice –which has undergone a certain rise since the mid-1970s– that simulates aesthetic modes and the strategies of discursive construction of the documentary genre. Together with this stylistic... more
Audiovisual fakery is a filmic practice –which has undergone a certain rise since the mid-1970s– that simulates aesthetic modes and the strategies of discursive construction of the documentary genre. Together with this stylistic appropriation, the fake also proposes a self-reflexive meditation on the limits of representation, the credibility of the image and its potentially lying and manipulative character. This article approaches the phenomenon from a historical perspective in order to then define the reflexive, poetic and rhetorical characteristics that define it.
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This article examines the key features –historical, rethorical and related to genre– that characterizes one kind of audiovisual text with scarce cinematographic tradition. The film-essay proposes a personal and nonsystematic discourse,... more
This article examines the key features –historical, rethorical and related to genre– that characterizes one kind of audiovisual text with scarce cinematographic tradition. The film-essay proposes a personal and nonsystematic discourse, using different tools: a personal style, a visible editing that privileges the word, or the filmic presence of the author. In this way, the film essayist builds its reflection inside the images, putting forward his/her way of thinking.
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The "montage film" offers a discourse that gives new meanings to previous materials, because it assembles images and sounds recorded with different purpose. The process of recontextualizing implicitly establishes a critical exercise and... more
The "montage film" offers a discourse that gives new meanings to previous materials, because it assembles images and sounds recorded with different purpose. The process of recontextualizing implicitly establishes a critical exercise and inquires into how some images were produced and received. Depending on the level of formal experimentation and its critical and mediatic charge, we discern three types of footage films: a) "informative compilation", close to conventional documentary and fairly respectful with the original sense of the recycled images; b) "ironic montage", visually close to compilation but which intends to subvert ideological values or mainstream discourse; c) and "collage", where the avant-garde aesthetic and the deconstruction developed by the editing process challenges the referenciality of images.
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La concepción tradicional del arte realista moderno parte de la base de que la ficción es un espejo del mundo. En ciertas ocasiones, el cine cruza ese espejo y vuelve la mirada sobre sí mismo para reflejar su medio de expresión o su acto... more
La concepción tradicional del arte realista moderno parte de la base de que la ficción es un espejo del mundo. En ciertas ocasiones, el cine cruza ese espejo y vuelve la mirada sobre sí mismo para reflejar su medio de expresión o su acto de creación. Entonces, se hace cine del cine: películas que muestran un rodaje, la vida de un productor, la escritura de una película... La reciente y nominada "Adaptation. El ladrón de orquídeas" (Jonze, 2002) constituye el último botón de muestra: la historia del guionista Charlie Kaufman y sus avatares para escribir el guión de la película que estamos viendo. Fenómeno prolífico, la metaficción cinematográfica ha sido practicada por directores como Sturges, Fellini, Godard, Wilder, Allen o Burton.
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Este artículo examina si los contenidos de YouTube sobre el cambio climático contribuyen a que se generen nuevas propuestas de comunicación, con voces y enfoques distintos, lo que implicaría una mejor información de los ciudadanos y... more
Este artículo examina si los contenidos de YouTube sobre el cambio climático contribuyen a que se generen nuevas propuestas de comunicación, con voces y enfoques distintos, lo que implicaría una mejor información de los ciudadanos y podría facilitar su implicación y participación en la toma de medidas necesarias para enfrentar el problema (decisiones de consumo, presión a los políticos para que adopten medidas, etc.), o si, por el contrario, se han amplificado las voces que, en general, predominan en los medios, como las de los políticos. Mediante un análisis de contenido, este estudio analiza la representación del cambio climático en los vídeos más populares en YouTube. Tras examinar una muestra de 288 vídeos difundidos durante el periodo octubre 2016-octubre 2017, se constata que los políticos, como el expresidente estadounidense Donald Trump, son las voces más citadas en las piezas de YouTube sobre cambio climático, seguidas de periodistas y científicos. Respecto de los productores de esos vídeos, los medios de comunicación ocupan un lugar privilegiado de popularidad. Incluso, parte de sus contenidos se reutilizan total o parcialmente por otros usuarios de la plataforma. La vocación principal de los mensajes es informativa, con un discurso enfocado, sobre todo, en las consecuencias del cambio climático en los países desarrollados. Los resultados del análisis de contenido también ponen de manifiesto que las informaciones que ayudan a entender los procesos en los que se inscriben los problemas ambientales quedan relegadas por la prominencia de la coyuntura política en los vídeos más populares sobre el cambio climático en YouTube. Entre las conclusiones de este estudio, destaca el predominio de políticos, funcionarios o exfuncionarios por encima de voces expertas, como los científicos, que conlleva el riesgo de una menor discusión social e implicación ciudadana en las acciones necesarias para enfrentar el cambio climático.
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In this chapter, we ask whether there is anything specific about the handling of time in contemporary television series that distinguishes it from seriality in other media such as cinema, literature, and comics. We claim that there is,... more
In this chapter, we ask whether there is anything specific about the handling of time in contemporary television series that distinguishes it from seriality in other media such as cinema, literature, and comics. We claim that there is, doing so by elaborating upon a concept proposed in Nannicelli’s recent monograph – “temporal prolongation.” This term is borrowed from yet another art medium – music – but it nicely suggests “a temporally unfolding, yet organically unified structure.” Our suggestion is that we use the term “temporal prolongation” in the study of television to refer to television’s medium-specific handling of temporality and the effects it creates. In the monograph, Nannicelli glosses three ways in which temporal prolongation affords television particular qualities that serialization does not afford the cinema: The fostering of a particularly intense form of character engagement, the sustainment of suspense over long periods of time, and a unique, cognitively pleasurable way of eliciting comic amusement. This chapter aims to review and elaborate upon the concept of temporal prolongation, further distinguish it from seriality, illustrate its manifestation in a number of different cases (e.g., documentary series; sitcoms; and “reality” TV series), and defend it from potential objections (such those relating to “binge-viewing”).
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Les Revenants (Canal+ France, 2012-15) is one of the most relevant French TV-Series from the last decade, given its high-concept story and its international success. This chapter aims to explore the nature of Les Revenants' significance,... more
Les Revenants (Canal+ France, 2012-15) is one of the most relevant French TV-Series from the last decade, given its high-concept story and its international success. This chapter aims to explore the nature of Les Revenants' significance, focusing on the connection between style and substance, and how they shape and nuance each other in fascinating and thought-provoking ways. To tackle this association, this chapter first outlines an overview of how to understand 'style' and 'substance', the binomial concept around which this volume revolves. Then, it scrutinises the aesthetic strategies at the beginning of the pilot episode, both in its cold open and its opening credits. Through close reading of these two sequences, the analysis details how the interrelation between a noteworthy style and an elusive substance can create a weird, uncanny mood, one of the show's main aesthetic achievements. Finally, this chapter concludes exploring how the narrative offers a double reflection on substance: on a thematic level by exploring spiritual issues, and on a metatextual level by renovating the essence of the zombie sub-genre.
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Este artículo analiza la cómo la serie británica Catastrophe (Channel 4, 2015-19) actualiza los códigos de la comedia romántica tradicional. Para ello, y acudiendo a escenas concretas que se estudian en detalle, se examinan las... more
Este artículo analiza la cómo la serie británica Catastrophe (Channel 4, 2015-19) actualiza los códigos de la comedia romántica tradicional. Para ello, y acudiendo a escenas concretas que se estudian en detalle, se examinan las estrategias de comicidad que la serie despliega: la contradicción entre intimidad sexual y distanciamiento emocional, la novedosa centralidad de lo obsceno como palanca humorística, el equilibrio narrativo entre tragedia y carcajada, el espejo invertido de los secundarios y el papel de la melodía como intensificador metafórico y humorístico. El artículo concluye explorando cómo la visión humanista y esperanzadora que Catastrophe propone, más allá de su corteza cómica, una suerte de oda al matrimonio.
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Este capítulo aborda las mutaciones del género "noir", apuntando a un cambio en la cosmovisión o imagen del mundo que se ofrece a los espectadores. El noir clásico -y más aún el neo-noir- se caracteriza por la ambigüedad moral y un... more
Este capítulo aborda las mutaciones del género "noir", apuntando a un cambio en la cosmovisión o imagen del mundo que se ofrece a los espectadores. El noir clásico -y más aún el neo-noir- se caracteriza por la ambigüedad moral y un sentido final de desesperación. Frente a este canon, este artículo propone el término "bright noir" para referirse a un cambio de tendencia: un tono más optimista y un final que proporciona una cierta clausura moral, a menudo veteada de esperanza, redención, perdón u optimismo. Se justifica esta variante del género analizando finales de series como "Broadchurch", "Happy Valley" o la primera temporada de "True Detective", así como la estructura dramática completa de "Terriers", "Daredevil", "Justified" o "Fargo".
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The Shield (Fox 2002-2008) y The Wire (HBO 2002-2008) son dos de los programas de tv más aclamados por la crítica en la historia y ambos pueden ser vistos como las más refinadas propuestas de film noir producidas para la televisión. The... more
The Shield (Fox 2002-2008) y The Wire (HBO 2002-2008) son dos de los programas de tv más aclamados por la crítica en la historia y ambos pueden ser vistos como las más refinadas propuestas de film noir producidas para la televisión. The Wire trasciende el género del show policiaco al ofrecer un retrato de múltiples capas de toda la ciudad de Baltimore: desde el trabajo policial hasta el tráfico de drogas, pasando por la corrupción del sindicato de estibadores, las marrullerías de la política local, los problemas del sistema escolar y algunas prácticas periodísticas sin ética. Por otra parte, The Shield es un programa policiaco que deja sin aliento, que presenta en primer plano la ambi-güedad moral que caracteriza al género noir. Ambas series despliegan estrategias realistas complementarias (una estética neorrealista en The Wire; un pastiche cinéma vérité en The Shield) que subrayan la importancia del paisaje urbano en su narrativa. Baltimore y Los Ángeles son retratadas no sólo como lugares físicos peligrosos y arruinados, sino también atravesados por temas morales y políticos presentes en las ciudades contemporáneas tales como la cuestión racial, la clase, la corrupción política, la desintegración social, las disparidades económicas, las limitaciones del sistema de justicia, el fracaso del sueño estadunidense y más. La narrativa compleja y expandida de The Wire y The Shield, tal como Dimendberg ha escrito sobre el género del film noir, "permanece en sintonía con los espacios y los tiempos violentamente frag-men tados del mundo moderno tardío" (2004: 6). Por lo tanto, este artículo se enfocará en cómo The Wire y The Shield (y algunos de sus herederos televisivos, tales como Southland y Justified) reflejan y renuevan diversos temas
Agradezco a la revista y al autor su permiso para traducir y publicar nuevamente este artículo (García, 2017: 51-60) (n. de Nattie Golubov). La traducción estuvo a cargo de Hugo Gutiérrez Trejo.
Agradezco a la revista y al autor su permiso para traducir y publicar nuevamente este artículo (García, 2017: 51-60) (n. de Nattie Golubov). La traducción estuvo a cargo de Hugo Gutiérrez Trejo.
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This article explores how some recent American TV crime dramas that can be specifically labelled as noir address the issue of hope and redemption by undermining one of the main thematic and ideological features that both spectators and... more
This article explores how some recent American TV crime dramas that can be specifically labelled as noir address the issue of hope and redemption by undermining one of the main thematic and ideological features that both spectators and critics tend to assign to noir narratives: the logic of hopelessness, of no way out. In what I have coined as “bright noir”, several recent, influential and popular TV noir series (such as 'Justified' or 'Fargo') offer stories in which brave protagonists achieve a positive outcome and defeat evil while fulfilling a higher purpose or attaining an honorable end.
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Introducción al volumen "Cine y series. La promiscuidad infinita". Reflexión sobre la relación entre el cine y la televisión serial y presentación de los contenidos del libro.
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Este capítulo pretende analizar las características esenciales de la narrativa televisiva contemporánea para compararlas con las del largometraje cinematográfico tradicional. En consecuencia, explicaremos en primer lugar las diferencias... more
Este capítulo pretende analizar las características esenciales de la narrativa televisiva contemporánea para compararlas con las del largometraje cinematográfico tradicional. En consecuencia, explicaremos en primer lugar las diferencias que la ficción televisiva y fílmica tienen en cuanto a unidad narrativa y progresión dramática: la duración textual, el tiempo de consumo y la combinación de la “anthology plot” y la “running plot”. En segundo lugar, examinaremos los conceptos de adaptación y remake, en los que tanto la memoria como la originalidad juegan un papel crucial para el éxito de cualquier derivación diegética. Tras aclarar el marco teórico, aplicaremos la teoría al análisis de dos series de televisión recientes basadas en largometrajes de éxito: la primera temporada de Fargo (FX, 2014-), una suerte de remake-secuela de la película de los hermanos Coen del año 1995; y las tres de Hannibal (NBC, 2013-15), un reboot de la franquicia de El silencio de los corderos (The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme, 1991) que intenta llenar los huecos previos al nacimiento del personaje en la novela El dragón rojo, de Thomas Harris.
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Para analizar la repulsión en la ficción televisiva contemporánea, este capítulo se propone, en primer lugar, acotar el asco en el terreno de las emociones. A continuación, desentrañaremos la “paradoja de la aversión”, esto es, la... more
Para analizar la repulsión en la ficción televisiva contemporánea, este capítulo se propone, en primer lugar, acotar el asco en el terreno de las emociones. A continuación, desentrañaremos la “paradoja de la aversión”, esto es, la relación entre el estatus ficcional de lo inmundo y su disfrute estético. Y, por último, abordaremos cómo el propio formato serial, con su longitud y sus cíclicas estrategias empáticas, facilita la superación de las barreras de lo repelente –al mismo tiempo que lo emplea como reclamo– para alcanzar una “estilización de lo repugnante”.
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En un momento en el que la ficción televisiva ha alcanzado un notable desarrollo narrativo, dramático y estético, este artículo pretende analizar las diversas formas en las que el género policíaco representa el paisaje. Para ello, el... more
En un momento en el que la ficción televisiva ha alcanzado un notable desarrollo narrativo, dramático y estético, este artículo pretende analizar las diversas formas en las que el género policíaco representa el paisaje. Para ello, el artículo comienza contextualizando el “giro espacial” que han sufrido las Humanidades y las Ciencias Sociales en las últimas décadas y lo relaciona con un género, el policíaco, que destaca por su capacidad para retratar los contornos –físicos y políticos, siempre problemáticos– de la ciudad. A continuación, se cartografían diversas ramas del género y se analiza cómo negocian la espacialidad: desde la asepsia pragmática, instrumental, del paisaje urbano en el procedimental autoconclusivo hasta el simbolismo emocional de los paisajes urbanos y costeros en el noir, pasando por la función política del paisaje en los policíacos de largo recorrido que revolucionaron la televisión por cable.
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Seducir el caos y explorar la fascinación de las imágenes. La verdad de las mentiras. ¿O sería la mentira de las verdades? Ay. La eterna pregunta, más lacerante aún en tiempos relativistas, donde hasta las opiniones compiten en... more
Seducir el caos y explorar la fascinación de las imágenes. La verdad de las mentiras. ¿O sería la mentira de las verdades? Ay. La eterna pregunta, más lacerante aún en tiempos relativistas, donde hasta las opiniones compiten en legitimidad con los hechos. Esa –la de la verdad de las imágenes– es la cuestión que el cineasta salmantino ha estado explorando desde los años sesenta: Martín Patino como un capitán Ahab persiguiendo un lugar que no existe en los mapas. Aquella triste Salamanca sincopada. El Franco de la Pathé centrifugado por la ironía. “Y en el credo nos quedamos siempre…”. Hans fotografiando un Madrid que ya no existe. Las galas del emperador. El montaje de colisión de ¡Shumiatski! La verdad. La representación. La sospecha. El engaño. “¿Noticia? ¿Espectáculo? ¿Ficción? Al pasar la realidad por el objetivo, ¿deja de ser realidad?”.
Obsesiones intelectuales y estéticas para toda una vida. Preguntas abiertas para después de una muerte.
Obsesiones intelectuales y estéticas para toda una vida. Preguntas abiertas para después de una muerte.
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This article analyses one of the most notorious TV trends in the last several years –the zombie–, and how its evolution is related not only to the usual dynamics that is a feature of every artisitic genre, but also to the “affective turn”... more
This article analyses one of the most notorious TV trends in the last several years –the zombie–, and how its evolution is related not only to the usual dynamics that is a feature of every artisitic genre, but also to the “affective turn” that contemporary society is experiencing.
In order to analyse this cultural phenomena, firstly we will explore the metaphorical condition that traditionally has been associated with zombie narratives since George A. Romero’s reinvention of the genre. Next, we will study –by taking a close look at some examples– the causes for the ongoing humanization the living dead have gone through both in cinema and television. Lastly, we will scrutinize three recent TV shows dealing with the zombie myth from stylistic, thematic and innovative ideological perspectives: In the Flesh (BBC Three, 2013-14), Les Revenants (Canal Plus France, 2012-15) and iZombie (The CW, 2015-).
In order to analyse this cultural phenomena, firstly we will explore the metaphorical condition that traditionally has been associated with zombie narratives since George A. Romero’s reinvention of the genre. Next, we will study –by taking a close look at some examples– the causes for the ongoing humanization the living dead have gone through both in cinema and television. Lastly, we will scrutinize three recent TV shows dealing with the zombie myth from stylistic, thematic and innovative ideological perspectives: In the Flesh (BBC Three, 2013-14), Les Revenants (Canal Plus France, 2012-15) and iZombie (The CW, 2015-).
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En el sexto episodio de la primera temporada, mientras un grupo especial de policías afina el sistema de escuchas para captar los movimientos de los narcotraficantes en Baltimore, el veterano investigador Lester Freamon le comenta al... more
En el sexto episodio de la primera temporada, mientras un grupo especial de policías afina el sistema de escuchas para captar los movimientos de los narcotraficantes en Baltimore, el veterano investigador Lester Freamon le comenta al joven Roland Pryzbylewski: «Estamos construyendo algo aquí, detective. Lo estamos construyendo desde cero. Todas las piezas importan». La frase actúa como metacomentario de la innovadora y arriesgada estrategia narrativa que empleó The Wire. Creada por Ed Burns y David Simon, esta tragedia sobre la ciudad contemporánea cumplía los postulados del famoso lema promocional «It’s not TV; it’s HBO». Se trataba de una propuesta diferente a cualquier cosa que hubiera intentado el medio televisivo antes: una novela audiovisual, de aire naturalista, que se desplegaba durante más de sesenta horas; una historia que se levanta con una cadencia calmosa, anticlimática, atestada de personajes secundarios, donde decenas de tramas se van entrelazando como una enredadera y donde cada temporada se aglutina en torno a la investigación de un único caso criminal —frente a las dos o tres tramas por capítulo en los dramas policíacos tradicionales.
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According to its creator, Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008–13) describes the moral corruption of a normal man, the conversion of Mr. Chips to Scarface. In ‘Full Measures’ (3.13), the moral and emotional complexity of the story is... more
According to its creator, Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008–13) describes the moral corruption of a normal man, the conversion of Mr. Chips to Scarface. In ‘Full Measures’ (3.13), the moral and emotional complexity of the story is encapsulated in a seemingly incidental scene. We see Walter White in his living room, giving little Holly a bottle of milk. A close- up shows how the baby grabs at his glasses, and in this moment of paternal tenderness, the writers cunningly re-humanize a character who just executed two thugs and minutes later ordered the death of his lab partner, as if to remind us that, at heart, ‘he’s really just a family man’ forced by circumstances to take matters into his own hands. This important step in the metamorphosis of Walter is again mitigated by several factors: children, the family and everyday domestic life. Self-defence is, of course, the justification for these deaths, but the devotion of a father towards his little baby also enter into the moral and emotional equation that characterises Breaking Bad.
This article will be structured according to four sections: first, we will examine the rise of antiheroes over the past decade, exploring the ideological, industrial and narrative reasons that explain their success. Secondly, we will address how spectators engage morally and emotionally with the moving image, paying special attention to the specific nature of TV narrative. Thirdly, we will analyse the four main dramatic strategies that strengthen our identification with these morally conflicted characters: moral comparatism , the soothing power of family, acts of contrition and victimization. Lastly, we will propose a discussion over the ‘levels of engagement’ described by Smith and expanded by Vaage for television, in order to explore what the limits of sympathetic allegiance are, and how both the spectator and the narrative need to recover it cyclically.
This article will be structured according to four sections: first, we will examine the rise of antiheroes over the past decade, exploring the ideological, industrial and narrative reasons that explain their success. Secondly, we will address how spectators engage morally and emotionally with the moving image, paying special attention to the specific nature of TV narrative. Thirdly, we will analyse the four main dramatic strategies that strengthen our identification with these morally conflicted characters: moral comparatism , the soothing power of family, acts of contrition and victimization. Lastly, we will propose a discussion over the ‘levels of engagement’ described by Smith and expanded by Vaage for television, in order to explore what the limits of sympathetic allegiance are, and how both the spectator and the narrative need to recover it cyclically.
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[You can read this introduction at Palgrave website: https://he.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9781137568847_sample.pdf] 1. Emotions in social sciences and the different ‘affective turns’ 2. Emotions in film theory 3. The growth... more
[You can read this introduction at Palgrave website: https://he.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9781137568847_sample.pdf]
1. Emotions in social sciences and the different ‘affective turns’
2. Emotions in film theory
3. The growth of TV series and their interest to the academy
4. The structure of the book
5. Acknowledgements
1. Emotions in social sciences and the different ‘affective turns’
2. Emotions in film theory
3. The growth of TV series and their interest to the academy
4. The structure of the book
5. Acknowledgements
Research Interests:
This article aims to explore the motivations fueling the behavior of the Breaking Bad’s characters, especially the two protagonists: Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. The discovery of Walter White’s cancer serves as a catalyst (a... more
This article aims to explore the motivations fueling the behavior of the Breaking Bad’s characters, especially the two protagonists: Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.
The discovery of Walter White’s cancer serves as a catalyst (a particularly appropriate chemical term) for him to unveil his true ‘inner self’. The serious nature of his disease, the associated medical costs, and his feeling of failure as both a father/husband and in the professional sphere, are established as the driving force behind his infamous behavior from the very start of the series. In the case of Jesse Pinkman, despite his roguish character, we soon discover his addiction to drugs, his dysfunctional relationship with his parents, and his need to be recognized and loved. However, beyond the strategies that underlie the initial sympathy that viewers usually tend to feel for this ‘ordinary American guy’ and his meth-making partner, Breaking Bad divulges other keys that allow us to understand the different emotional and moral paths that Mr. White and Jesse Pinkman follow.
As we will explore, the progressive moral and criminal decline of Walter White is spurred on by the contradictory tension between two radical emotions that become ‘rationalized’ in order to justify his actions, which become increasingly less defensible: an intensifying pride, and a guilt that fades as the narrative unfolds. Even when remorse emerge in Walter White’s soul (specially during the last eight episodes), these two emotions play a crucial role defining Walter White’s last and deeply tragic actions.
A similar internal struggle can be found in Jesse Pinkman during the five seasons of Breaking Bad. He acts as an inverted mirror for Mr. White. His moral boundaries are more problematic than Walt’s because guilt – even morbid guilt sometimes – becomes a powerful counterbalance for Jesse’s pride.
The discovery of Walter White’s cancer serves as a catalyst (a particularly appropriate chemical term) for him to unveil his true ‘inner self’. The serious nature of his disease, the associated medical costs, and his feeling of failure as both a father/husband and in the professional sphere, are established as the driving force behind his infamous behavior from the very start of the series. In the case of Jesse Pinkman, despite his roguish character, we soon discover his addiction to drugs, his dysfunctional relationship with his parents, and his need to be recognized and loved. However, beyond the strategies that underlie the initial sympathy that viewers usually tend to feel for this ‘ordinary American guy’ and his meth-making partner, Breaking Bad divulges other keys that allow us to understand the different emotional and moral paths that Mr. White and Jesse Pinkman follow.
As we will explore, the progressive moral and criminal decline of Walter White is spurred on by the contradictory tension between two radical emotions that become ‘rationalized’ in order to justify his actions, which become increasingly less defensible: an intensifying pride, and a guilt that fades as the narrative unfolds. Even when remorse emerge in Walter White’s soul (specially during the last eight episodes), these two emotions play a crucial role defining Walter White’s last and deeply tragic actions.
A similar internal struggle can be found in Jesse Pinkman during the five seasons of Breaking Bad. He acts as an inverted mirror for Mr. White. His moral boundaries are more problematic than Walt’s because guilt – even morbid guilt sometimes – becomes a powerful counterbalance for Jesse’s pride.
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La mañana del 30 de septiembre de 2013 los diarios digitales de todo el mundo destacaban en sus portadas una serie de televisión cuyo final solo se había emitido en Estados Unidos: Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-2013). La aventura moral de... more
La mañana del 30 de septiembre de 2013 los diarios digitales de todo el mundo destacaban en sus portadas una serie de televisión cuyo final solo se había emitido en Estados Unidos: Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-2013). La aventura moral de Walter White y Jesse Pinkman suponía el último ejemplo –y uno de los más brillantes artística y emocionalmente– de la vigencia de la tercera edad dorada que está atravesando la ficción televisiva.
Explicar este boom, que dura ya más de una década, implica tener en cuenta un conjunto de factores –industriales, tecnológicos, narrativos y de audiencia– que se entrelazan, influyendo unos a otros de manera sincrónica. A lo largo de este ensayo analizaremos cómo la televisión ha llegado a este punto de calidad tan relevante desglosando nuestro análisis en cinco apartados: la ubicuidad de la distribución, el salto de calidad del producto, una mayor ambición temática, un relato cada vez más sofisticado y un espectador activo.
Explicar este boom, que dura ya más de una década, implica tener en cuenta un conjunto de factores –industriales, tecnológicos, narrativos y de audiencia– que se entrelazan, influyendo unos a otros de manera sincrónica. A lo largo de este ensayo analizaremos cómo la televisión ha llegado a este punto de calidad tan relevante desglosando nuestro análisis en cinco apartados: la ubicuidad de la distribución, el salto de calidad del producto, una mayor ambición temática, un relato cada vez más sofisticado y un espectador activo.
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[A later version on this topic can be found also in my profile: https://www.academia.edu/10082385/_Round_the_decay_Of_that_colossal_wreck_Pride_and_Guilt_as_Narrative_Emotions] Although Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-2013) is one of the most... more
[A later version on this topic can be found also in my profile: https://www.academia.edu/10082385/_Round_the_decay_Of_that_colossal_wreck_Pride_and_Guilt_as_Narrative_Emotions]
Although Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-2013) is one of the most critically acclaimed TV Series of the last decade, it has been the subject of little academic research. This paper aims to figure out the motivations fueling Walter White’s behavior, one of the most compelling characters in contemporary popular culture.
The discovery of Walter White’s cancer serves as a catalyst (a particularly appropriate chemical term) for him to unveil his true ‘inner self’. The serious nature of his disease, the associated medical costs, and his feeling of failure as both a father/husband and in the professional sphere, are established as the driving force behind his infamous behavior from the very start of the series. However, beyond the strategies that underlie the initial sympathy that every viewer feels for this ‘ordinary American guy’, Breaking Bad divulges other keys that allow us to understand the transformation from ‘Mr Chips into Scarface’, following the premise described by Breaking Bad’s creator, Vince Gilligan.
As we will explore, the progressive moral and criminal decline of Walter White is spurred on by the contradictory tension between two radical emotions that become ‘rationalized’ in order to justify his actions, which become increasingly less defensible: an increasing pride, and the guilt that fades as the narrative unfolds. In summary, we will analyze the moral and narrative mechanisms that hasten Walter White’s self-destruction once he became aware that he was facing the end of his own life.
Although Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-2013) is one of the most critically acclaimed TV Series of the last decade, it has been the subject of little academic research. This paper aims to figure out the motivations fueling Walter White’s behavior, one of the most compelling characters in contemporary popular culture.
The discovery of Walter White’s cancer serves as a catalyst (a particularly appropriate chemical term) for him to unveil his true ‘inner self’. The serious nature of his disease, the associated medical costs, and his feeling of failure as both a father/husband and in the professional sphere, are established as the driving force behind his infamous behavior from the very start of the series. However, beyond the strategies that underlie the initial sympathy that every viewer feels for this ‘ordinary American guy’, Breaking Bad divulges other keys that allow us to understand the transformation from ‘Mr Chips into Scarface’, following the premise described by Breaking Bad’s creator, Vince Gilligan.
As we will explore, the progressive moral and criminal decline of Walter White is spurred on by the contradictory tension between two radical emotions that become ‘rationalized’ in order to justify his actions, which become increasingly less defensible: an increasing pride, and the guilt that fades as the narrative unfolds. In summary, we will analyze the moral and narrative mechanisms that hasten Walter White’s self-destruction once he became aware that he was facing the end of his own life.
Research Interests:
"El artículo estudiará qué imagen de los periodistas y de la profesión periodística se ofrece en las series de televisión contemporáneas, seleccionando aquellas en las que la prensa ocupa un lugar destacado en la trama argumental: State... more
"El artículo estudiará qué imagen de los periodistas y de la profesión periodística se ofrece en las series de televisión contemporáneas, seleccionando aquellas en las que la prensa ocupa un lugar destacado en la trama argumental: State of Play, The Newsroom y The Wire.
Tomando como referencia inicial algunas investigaciones precedentes sobre cómo el cine ha reflejado la actividad periodística (Good, 1989; Langman, 1998; Ehrlich, 2004; Bezunartea et al, 2008; Mera Fernández, 2008), puestas en diálogo con bibliografía sobre aspectos esenciales del periodismo (Gomis, 1997; Meikle, 2008; Kovach y Rosenstiel, 2012), se examinará cómo en aquellas ficciones audiovisuales están reflejadas algunas cuestiones de la profesión informativa, tales como: la función social del periodismo, la relación del periodistas con sus fuentes informativas, las interacciones del periodista con los políticos o el impacto de las tecnologías digitales en la labor periodística".
Tomando como referencia inicial algunas investigaciones precedentes sobre cómo el cine ha reflejado la actividad periodística (Good, 1989; Langman, 1998; Ehrlich, 2004; Bezunartea et al, 2008; Mera Fernández, 2008), puestas en diálogo con bibliografía sobre aspectos esenciales del periodismo (Gomis, 1997; Meikle, 2008; Kovach y Rosenstiel, 2012), se examinará cómo en aquellas ficciones audiovisuales están reflejadas algunas cuestiones de la profesión informativa, tales como: la función social del periodismo, la relación del periodistas con sus fuentes informativas, las interacciones del periodista con los políticos o el impacto de las tecnologías digitales en la labor periodística".
Research Interests:
“No penséis en términos de un principio y un final. Porque, al contrario que algunos entretenimientos con una trama guiada, no hay cierre en la vida real. En absoluto” (1.9.). Así se despide Creighton Bernette de sus alumnos hacia el... more
“No penséis en términos de un principio y un final. Porque, al contrario que algunos entretenimientos con una trama guiada, no hay cierre en la vida real. En absoluto” (1.9.). Así se despide Creighton Bernette de sus alumnos hacia el final de la primera temporada de Treme (HBO, 2010-). Con aliento realista, fotocopiando “la vida real”, la serie creada por David Simon entona una balada armónica sobre la regeneración de Nueva Orleans gastando un ritmo lento, glacial, y un tono contemplativo que deja respirar los ambientes y sonar los instrumentos. En las antípodas su sitúa Community (NBC, 2009-), una sitcom disparatada, intertextual y repleta de guiños metaficcionales. En el episodio más celebrado de su tercera temporada, todos los personajes están reunidos en torno a una mesa para jugar al Yazhtee. Antes de tirar el dado para resolver quién abandona la partida, Abed Nadir advierte: “Solo para que lo sepas, Jeff, así estás creando seis líneas temporales diferentes” (3.4.).
Tanto en la escena que desvela la premisa del episodio “Remedial Chaos Theory” –seis variaciones sobre un mismo relato– como en el comentario sutilmente autorreferencial del trágico protagonista de Treme se condensa la evolución que el relato televisivo ha sufrido en la última década larga: sofisticado, innovador, complejo, de largo recorrido y destinado a un espectador educado narratológicamente. Desde esquinas complementarias –a veces enfrentadas–, propuestas como Lost, The Wire, Mad Men, Arrested Development, 24, The Good Wife o Fringe han aupado la televisión anglosajona al Olimpo narrativo, convirtiéndola en un dispositivo privilegiado –una máquina perfecta– para contar historias. A lo largo de este ensayo analizaremos por qué.
Tanto en la escena que desvela la premisa del episodio “Remedial Chaos Theory” –seis variaciones sobre un mismo relato– como en el comentario sutilmente autorreferencial del trágico protagonista de Treme se condensa la evolución que el relato televisivo ha sufrido en la última década larga: sofisticado, innovador, complejo, de largo recorrido y destinado a un espectador educado narratológicamente. Desde esquinas complementarias –a veces enfrentadas–, propuestas como Lost, The Wire, Mad Men, Arrested Development, 24, The Good Wife o Fringe han aupado la televisión anglosajona al Olimpo narrativo, convirtiéndola en un dispositivo privilegiado –una máquina perfecta– para contar historias. A lo largo de este ensayo analizaremos por qué.
Research Interests:
[You can read the whole chapter in http://hdl.handle.net/10171/41424] If the first novelty of In Treatment is to focus exclusively on a subject rarely treated in T.V. fiction and to do so through a daily format, the second major... more
[You can read the whole chapter in http://hdl.handle.net/10171/41424]
If the first novelty of In Treatment is to focus exclusively on a subject rarely treated in T.V. fiction and to do so through a daily format, the second major innovation, which is the focus of this chapter, regards the expansion of the subject boundaries that are represented in television fiction. The clinical approach to the issue of identity and the pervasiveness of emotions therein make this series a sociological reference, an important representation of a central, regulating concept of cultural values and contemporary lifestyles: the concept of “emotional culture”. Because of these two singularities, the series owes its success to how it reflects the way people cope and manage their emotions in today's society.
Thus, this chapter starts from the idea that, through the study of visual fictions, predominant cultural traits and values that lead to specific trends or lifestyles that are often proposed as socially binding norms, can be detected. The presence of emotions and a description of how the characters manage and face them contribute rich cultural information, ripe for analysis (Rodríguez Salazar 2008).
Here we propose an analysis of the first season of the television series In Treatment (HBO, 2008) as a reflection and symptom of the therapeutic-emotional style of our culture, characterized by the growing presence of emotional speech in all fields of social life.
If the first novelty of In Treatment is to focus exclusively on a subject rarely treated in T.V. fiction and to do so through a daily format, the second major innovation, which is the focus of this chapter, regards the expansion of the subject boundaries that are represented in television fiction. The clinical approach to the issue of identity and the pervasiveness of emotions therein make this series a sociological reference, an important representation of a central, regulating concept of cultural values and contemporary lifestyles: the concept of “emotional culture”. Because of these two singularities, the series owes its success to how it reflects the way people cope and manage their emotions in today's society.
Thus, this chapter starts from the idea that, through the study of visual fictions, predominant cultural traits and values that lead to specific trends or lifestyles that are often proposed as socially binding norms, can be detected. The presence of emotions and a description of how the characters manage and face them contribute rich cultural information, ripe for analysis (Rodríguez Salazar 2008).
Here we propose an analysis of the first season of the television series In Treatment (HBO, 2008) as a reflection and symptom of the therapeutic-emotional style of our culture, characterized by the growing presence of emotional speech in all fields of social life.
Research Interests:
This chapter places the online migration of public service broadcasters against that of commercial news media to argue that the former’s public-service remit itself – based on a relative freedom from commercial concerns – has been a... more
This chapter places the online migration of public service broadcasters against that of commercial news media to argue that the former’s public-service remit itself – based on a relative freedom from commercial concerns – has been a crucial contributor to their remarkable and distinctive online news successes. In order to do so, we explore the key moments, decisions and strategies of two of the biggest European PSBs – the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Radio Television Española (RTVE) – in the history of their online news operation.
These PSBs are based on two very different funding and regulation models, with two notions of what a PSB should be, and therefore experienced quite opposite trajectories in the online news environment. Both, however, enjoyed quick successes after their launch, thanks to their underlying public service principles. The implications for the future of online news will be briefly discussed in the context of recent commercial media’s attacks on what they call the unfair competitive advantage of public service broadcasters in the online world.
These PSBs are based on two very different funding and regulation models, with two notions of what a PSB should be, and therefore experienced quite opposite trajectories in the online news environment. Both, however, enjoyed quick successes after their launch, thanks to their underlying public service principles. The implications for the future of online news will be briefly discussed in the context of recent commercial media’s attacks on what they call the unfair competitive advantage of public service broadcasters in the online world.
Research Interests:
One of the most singular narrative strategies in Supernatural –especially from the second season onwards– is the rupture of the illusionistic mirror that characterizes traditional fiction. Such a rupture, encapsulated by the term... more
One of the most singular narrative strategies in Supernatural –especially from the second season onwards– is the rupture of the illusionistic mirror that characterizes traditional fiction. Such a rupture, encapsulated by the term “metafiction”, conforms to an aesthetic mode that, at different levels and purposes, reflects the functioning of the very same fictitious discourse: the author’s identity, critical issues at the reception and production process, or the narrative at the moment of realization.
Grounded in the work of metafiction theorists such as Waugh, Dallenbach or Stam, this article attempts to explain how several episodes of Supernatural fracture the illusionistic glass and reveal the conventions that characterize artistic realism. In order to achieve this, we will sketch an exhaustive cartography of the reflexive strategies that the creators of the series employ: the juxtaposition of diegetical worlds, playful narration, televised narcissism, the self-consciousness of the story, and the breaking down of the fourth wall.
We will start by analyzing the apposition of fiction and reality within Supernatural: narratives that still maintain their formal illusionistic skeleton while implicitly questioning the boundaries of a fantasy world in confrontation with diegetical “reality”. Dean’s daydream in “What is, and What Should Never Be” or Sam’s in “When the Levee Breaks” are examples of this type of narrative.
Afterwards, we will examine another kind of formula, still underdeveloped, which involves breaking the illusionistic mirror in order to make clear that the spectator is being confronted by a constructed story, and narrators that twist the plot, as occurs with the recounting and focalization games in “Tall Tales”.
Next, keeping in mind the narrative exhaustion described by Barth, we will see how the television device turns back on itself in a search for originality via stories that employ the world behind the screen as the thematic seed for innovative story-telling. Thus, “Hollywood Babylon” unveils how the shooting of a horror movie works, “Monster Movie” explicitly recycles the referents of the genre, and “Changing Channels” satirizes other TV-series competitors.
Following the metafictional gradation, the illusionistic glass definitely distorts its own reflection when self-consciousness is brought into play. The capacity that an artistic work has for recognizing its own existence as a fabricated artifice offers the most fruitful and important metafictional ramifications in Supernatural. Consequently, we will detail the semantic overload provided by the intertextual relations (the presence of the cylon Tricia Helfer in “Roadkill”, the allusions to Gilmore Girls, the multiple re-readings of horror movies), the ludicrous cameos (Linda Blair, Paris Hilton), and, lastly, the mise en abyme of the self-same Winchester stories in the borgesian “The Monster at the End of this Book” and the self-parody of “The Real Ghostbusters”.
Finally, we will analyze the breaking down of the fourth wall, the highest degree of metafiction that Supernatural has afforded itself, yet nothing like the aggressive reflexivity described by Wollen. Supernatural uses two strategies to achieve this effect: leeching the format in “Ghostfacers”, where an enunciative device (televised fiction itself) feigns to be something different (a reality show); and the direct appeal to the audience in the extratextual coda in “Yellow Fever”, in which Jensen Ackles parodies his own fictional character.
Grounded in the work of metafiction theorists such as Waugh, Dallenbach or Stam, this article attempts to explain how several episodes of Supernatural fracture the illusionistic glass and reveal the conventions that characterize artistic realism. In order to achieve this, we will sketch an exhaustive cartography of the reflexive strategies that the creators of the series employ: the juxtaposition of diegetical worlds, playful narration, televised narcissism, the self-consciousness of the story, and the breaking down of the fourth wall.
We will start by analyzing the apposition of fiction and reality within Supernatural: narratives that still maintain their formal illusionistic skeleton while implicitly questioning the boundaries of a fantasy world in confrontation with diegetical “reality”. Dean’s daydream in “What is, and What Should Never Be” or Sam’s in “When the Levee Breaks” are examples of this type of narrative.
Afterwards, we will examine another kind of formula, still underdeveloped, which involves breaking the illusionistic mirror in order to make clear that the spectator is being confronted by a constructed story, and narrators that twist the plot, as occurs with the recounting and focalization games in “Tall Tales”.
Next, keeping in mind the narrative exhaustion described by Barth, we will see how the television device turns back on itself in a search for originality via stories that employ the world behind the screen as the thematic seed for innovative story-telling. Thus, “Hollywood Babylon” unveils how the shooting of a horror movie works, “Monster Movie” explicitly recycles the referents of the genre, and “Changing Channels” satirizes other TV-series competitors.
Following the metafictional gradation, the illusionistic glass definitely distorts its own reflection when self-consciousness is brought into play. The capacity that an artistic work has for recognizing its own existence as a fabricated artifice offers the most fruitful and important metafictional ramifications in Supernatural. Consequently, we will detail the semantic overload provided by the intertextual relations (the presence of the cylon Tricia Helfer in “Roadkill”, the allusions to Gilmore Girls, the multiple re-readings of horror movies), the ludicrous cameos (Linda Blair, Paris Hilton), and, lastly, the mise en abyme of the self-same Winchester stories in the borgesian “The Monster at the End of this Book” and the self-parody of “The Real Ghostbusters”.
Finally, we will analyze the breaking down of the fourth wall, the highest degree of metafiction that Supernatural has afforded itself, yet nothing like the aggressive reflexivity described by Wollen. Supernatural uses two strategies to achieve this effect: leeching the format in “Ghostfacers”, where an enunciative device (televised fiction itself) feigns to be something different (a reality show); and the direct appeal to the audience in the extratextual coda in “Yellow Fever”, in which Jensen Ackles parodies his own fictional character.
Research Interests:
The Wire (HBO 2002-08) y The Shield (FX 2002-08) ejemplifican la revolución narrativa que vive la televisión estadounidense. Las dos series, además, comparten muchas características del film noir: ambigüedad moral, intriga criminal,... more
The Wire (HBO 2002-08) y The Shield (FX 2002-08) ejemplifican la revolución narrativa que vive la televisión estadounidense. Las dos series, además, comparten muchas características del film noir: ambigüedad moral, intriga criminal, denuncia social, un paisaje urbano o el destino elegíaco de los personajes.
En ambos casos nos encontramos -desde ángulos complementarios- un afán extremadamente realista que sirve para presentarnos espejos deformados de la legalidad, antihéroes –Jimmy McNulty y Vic Mackey– en busca de una imposible redención, males necesarios para mantener el orden mientras el poder barre sus miserias debajo de las alfombrillas.
En la áspera The Shield, el lado oscuro del sueño americano queda al descubierto en una dura comisaria de Los Ángeles donde destaca el equipo de asalto liderado por el violento pero siempre eficaz Mackey, un “Al Capone con placa”. A lo largo de sus siete temporadas, la ley es papel mojado y la corrupción un billete de ida y vuelta: se tortura a los acusados, se falsifican pruebas, se obtienen “beneficios extra” de las redadas y el sistema policial está contaminado.
The Wire, por su parte, es el relevo audiovisual de los literatos del XIX, un Balzac en versión catódica, con Baltimore y el narcotráfico como escenario. Esa gran tragedia contada en cinco temporadas compone un fresco social de las miserias de la ciudad contemporánea, desde el crimen organizado al cataclismo educacional, pasando por la ética periodística o la corrupción de la clase política. The Wire resulta atractiva no solo por lo que cuenta, sino por cómo lo cuenta: incluye tiempos muertos, investigaciones fallidas, finales abiertos y una ingente cantidad de caracteres para convertir la serialidad en un continuum narrativo que hace de la serie una auténtica “novela-río visual”.
En ambos casos nos encontramos -desde ángulos complementarios- un afán extremadamente realista que sirve para presentarnos espejos deformados de la legalidad, antihéroes –Jimmy McNulty y Vic Mackey– en busca de una imposible redención, males necesarios para mantener el orden mientras el poder barre sus miserias debajo de las alfombrillas.
En la áspera The Shield, el lado oscuro del sueño americano queda al descubierto en una dura comisaria de Los Ángeles donde destaca el equipo de asalto liderado por el violento pero siempre eficaz Mackey, un “Al Capone con placa”. A lo largo de sus siete temporadas, la ley es papel mojado y la corrupción un billete de ida y vuelta: se tortura a los acusados, se falsifican pruebas, se obtienen “beneficios extra” de las redadas y el sistema policial está contaminado.
The Wire, por su parte, es el relevo audiovisual de los literatos del XIX, un Balzac en versión catódica, con Baltimore y el narcotráfico como escenario. Esa gran tragedia contada en cinco temporadas compone un fresco social de las miserias de la ciudad contemporánea, desde el crimen organizado al cataclismo educacional, pasando por la ética periodística o la corrupción de la clase política. The Wire resulta atractiva no solo por lo que cuenta, sino por cómo lo cuenta: incluye tiempos muertos, investigaciones fallidas, finales abiertos y una ingente cantidad de caracteres para convertir la serialidad en un continuum narrativo que hace de la serie una auténtica “novela-río visual”.
Research Interests:
La presente comunicación examina cómo las televisiones generalistas de ámbito nacional se están adaptando a las potencialidades de internet y el uso que realizan de la Web como plataforma para difundir los contenidos informativos. Los... more
La presente comunicación examina cómo las televisiones generalistas de ámbito nacional se están adaptando a las potencialidades de internet y el uso que realizan de la Web como plataforma para difundir los contenidos informativos.
Los recientes rediseños de las páginas web de Antena 3 y TVE y las innovaciones de los sitios web de Tele 5, Cuatro y La Sexta indican que las televisiones españolas apuestan por la convergencia en la red y su potencial informativo. En un intento por sistematizar el actual ecosistema televisivo, la comunicación compara los servicios informativos online de cada una de las cadenas, con la finalidad de encontrar similitudes y diferencias y explorar las estrategias utilizadas.
Mediante un análisis de contenido se estudia cómo cada televisión aprovecha las características esenciales de la web: la multimedialidad, el hipertexto, la interactividad, el uso de contenidos generados por los usuarios y la inclusión de las redes sociales. Así mismo, se valora en qué medida las noticias se adaptan al lenguaje del soporte online o se mantiene la estructura básica propia de la televisión convencional.
Los recientes rediseños de las páginas web de Antena 3 y TVE y las innovaciones de los sitios web de Tele 5, Cuatro y La Sexta indican que las televisiones españolas apuestan por la convergencia en la red y su potencial informativo. En un intento por sistematizar el actual ecosistema televisivo, la comunicación compara los servicios informativos online de cada una de las cadenas, con la finalidad de encontrar similitudes y diferencias y explorar las estrategias utilizadas.
Mediante un análisis de contenido se estudia cómo cada televisión aprovecha las características esenciales de la web: la multimedialidad, el hipertexto, la interactividad, el uso de contenidos generados por los usuarios y la inclusión de las redes sociales. Así mismo, se valora en qué medida las noticias se adaptan al lenguaje del soporte online o se mantiene la estructura básica propia de la televisión convencional.
Research Interests:
he Wire (HBO 2002-08) is one of the most ever critically acclaimed TV-shows. It transcends the film noir genre by offering a multilayered portrait of the whole city of Baltimore: from police work to drug dealing, getting through... more
he Wire (HBO 2002-08) is one of the most ever critically acclaimed TV-shows. It transcends the film noir genre by offering a multilayered portrait of the whole city of Baltimore: from police work to drug dealing, getting through stevedores’ union corruption, tricks of local politics, problems of the school system and some unethical journalism practices. One key element in the TV-series is the realist style that David Simon and Ed Burns, executive producers, have stamped on The Wire as authorial mark; a realist style that lay the foundations of the social, cultural, and political critique The Wire exhibits.
This paper proposes to locate the representational strategies employed by The Wire in three different scopes. On the one hand, we will study the production context of the TV-series, in order to find out how the non-fiction book upon the show is based and the autobiographical background of the creators heighten the realism of The Wire. Secondly, we will analyze the filmic elements that spread the “illusion of truth”: use of non-professional actors, stylistic sobriety, and a fragmented and expanded narrative that shows the ambiguity of the real. Finally, the last part of this paper tries to enlighten certain issues intertwined with the notion of realism in The Wire: the constant presence of the city as a moral landscape and the rupture of two American myths: working hard will lead anyone to wealth and America as a place of inclusion.
This paper proposes to locate the representational strategies employed by The Wire in three different scopes. On the one hand, we will study the production context of the TV-series, in order to find out how the non-fiction book upon the show is based and the autobiographical background of the creators heighten the realism of The Wire. Secondly, we will analyze the filmic elements that spread the “illusion of truth”: use of non-professional actors, stylistic sobriety, and a fragmented and expanded narrative that shows the ambiguity of the real. Finally, the last part of this paper tries to enlighten certain issues intertwined with the notion of realism in The Wire: the constant presence of the city as a moral landscape and the rupture of two American myths: working hard will lead anyone to wealth and America as a place of inclusion.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Ross McElwee’s innovative work negotiates its genre identity from a marginal land. Straddled between filmic diaries, performative documentary and home movies, his work falls into a genre that is difficult to place. Just as with the other... more
Ross McElwee’s innovative work negotiates its genre identity from a marginal land. Straddled between filmic diaries, performative documentary and home movies, his work falls into a genre that is difficult to place. Just as with the other analyses of this book, we are banking on film essay as the most appropriate label for describing the work of this landscape artist of the self hailing from the American south. It is not Monet’s pictorial impressionism. The intellectual mirror of McElwee could be a Michel de Montaigne essay transformed into images.
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Este capítulo analiza el tratamiento informativo que desarrollan tres cibermedios (canalsur.es, rtve.es y telecinco.es) y lo compara con sus correspondientes matrices televisivas. Para ello, en primer lugar se contextualizan las... more
Este capítulo analiza el tratamiento informativo que desarrollan tres cibermedios (canalsur.es, rtve.es y telecinco.es) y lo compara con sus correspondientes matrices televisivas. Para ello, en primer lugar se contextualizan las estrategias de migración online que han seguido Canal Sur (pública regional), Televisión Española (pública nacional) y Telecinco (privada nacional). A continuación, se destacan los datos más relevantes recogidos durante una semana de mayo y otra de noviembre de 2011 en la que se monitorizaron las páginas principales de cada cibermedio así como sus informativos offline. Procesando todos esos datos, el artículo expone las diferencias entre el cibermedio y su matriz televisiva en aspectos como la firma de las noticias, la similitud entre las noticias principales, la jerarquía de cada información, las diferentes actualizaciones o el aprovechamiento de los recursos de la web con objeto de brindar una información más completa y satisfactoria para el usuario.
Research Interests:
Con Madrid (1987), Basilio Martín Patino se propuso indagar en la construcción de la memoria española en torno a la Guerra Civil. Se trata de una ficción ensayística que confunde los niveles del relato al insertar a sus personajes de... more
Con Madrid (1987), Basilio Martín Patino se propuso indagar en la construcción de la memoria española en torno a la Guerra Civil. Se trata de una ficción ensayística que confunde los niveles del relato al insertar a sus personajes de ficción en la realidad factual del Madrid de 1986. Asimismo, nos presenta los dispositivos de construcción de un documental histórico imposible de concluir, plagado de referencias transtextuales que realzan su condición de mundo posible. La vertiente ensayística de Madrid se nutre de las reflexiones audiovisuales en torno a los límites de la memoria, las dificultades de la representación y la trascendencia y pervivencia de la Historia en la sociedad.
In Madrid (1987), the filmmaker Basilio Martín Patino intended to inquire after the construction of Spanish Civil War memoir. The film shapes an essayistic fiction that blurs the levels of the story sticking the fiction characters in the factual reality of Madrid in 1986. Likewise, Madrid shows the mechanisms for building an historical documentary impossible to conclude, full of transtextual references that enhance its condition of possible world. The Madrid essayistic feature is nourished with audiovisual reflections regarding the boundaries of collective memory, the difficulties of the representation and the transcendence and permanence of History in society.
In Madrid (1987), the filmmaker Basilio Martín Patino intended to inquire after the construction of Spanish Civil War memoir. The film shapes an essayistic fiction that blurs the levels of the story sticking the fiction characters in the factual reality of Madrid in 1986. Likewise, Madrid shows the mechanisms for building an historical documentary impossible to conclude, full of transtextual references that enhance its condition of possible world. The Madrid essayistic feature is nourished with audiovisual reflections regarding the boundaries of collective memory, the difficulties of the representation and the transcendence and permanence of History in society.
Research Interests:
Este libro aspira a entablar una conversación intelectual, con las series de televisión como objeto. Un diálogo con y contra las ideas dominantes, partiendo de los principios del humanismo clásico. Vivimos una 'era Netflix' donde la... more
Este libro aspira a entablar una conversación intelectual, con las series de televisión como objeto. Un diálogo con y contra las ideas dominantes, partiendo de los principios del humanismo clásico.
Vivimos una 'era Netflix' donde la ficción televisiva se ha erigido en una de las muestras más depuradas, rentables y ubicuas de la cultura popular contemporánea. Pero, más allá de su función lúdica, las series son apasionantes, también, porque son especulares: nos permiten tomarle el pulso a una época. Siguiendo esta premisa, este volumen analiza 58 teleficciones, privilegiando su dimensión antropológica, cultural o política.
Para reflexionar sobre las series de la última década larga, por estas páginas transitan emblemas de calidad como 'The Wire' o 'Mad Men'; relatos menos conocidos como 'The Leftovers' o 'Justified'; y, por supuesto, fenómenos planetarios como 'Juego de tronos', 'The Mandalorian', 'Chernobyl' o 'Stranger Things'. Series variadas con un denominador común: ser suculentas para un estudio que trascienda su condición estética. Así, en este libro caben propuestas televisivas que aborden cuestiones candentes, polémicas inacabadas, episodios históricos controvertidos, aspectos ideológicos poco tratados o, simplemente, propuestas disidentes frente a la argumentación monocorde, forzada o tópica.
Vivimos una 'era Netflix' donde la ficción televisiva se ha erigido en una de las muestras más depuradas, rentables y ubicuas de la cultura popular contemporánea. Pero, más allá de su función lúdica, las series son apasionantes, también, porque son especulares: nos permiten tomarle el pulso a una época. Siguiendo esta premisa, este volumen analiza 58 teleficciones, privilegiando su dimensión antropológica, cultural o política.
Para reflexionar sobre las series de la última década larga, por estas páginas transitan emblemas de calidad como 'The Wire' o 'Mad Men'; relatos menos conocidos como 'The Leftovers' o 'Justified'; y, por supuesto, fenómenos planetarios como 'Juego de tronos', 'The Mandalorian', 'Chernobyl' o 'Stranger Things'. Series variadas con un denominador común: ser suculentas para un estudio que trascienda su condición estética. Así, en este libro caben propuestas televisivas que aborden cuestiones candentes, polémicas inacabadas, episodios históricos controvertidos, aspectos ideológicos poco tratados o, simplemente, propuestas disidentes frente a la argumentación monocorde, forzada o tópica.
Research Interests:
Cine y Series. La promiscuidad infinita parte de la premisa de que hoy en día el cine es una de las principales influencias en las series de televisión, con un notable impacto tanto en la producción como en la estética. Igualmente, la... more
Cine y Series. La promiscuidad infinita parte de la premisa de que hoy en día el cine es una de las principales influencias en las series de televisión, con un notable impacto tanto en la producción como en la estética.
Igualmente, la maduración y exuberancia de la forma narrativa serial va dando lugar a una tendencia inversa, por lo que la influencia de los productos seriales también es reconocible en las narrativas fílmicas y en la industria del cine en general.
Esta obra nos ofrece un completo panorama de las relaciones entre cine y series en la contemporaneidad. Sus autores han recogido el análisis crítico de los muchos sentidos en que esa interacción se produce. El resultado es un conjunto de contribuciones, de amplio elenco internacional, en torno a los cuatro ejes siguientes:
—Procesos de transformación narrativa del cine hacia la serialidad.
—El modelo visual del cine y sus influencias en la serialidad.
—Viejas historias del cine, nuevos sentidos para la contemporaneidad: reescribiendo una historia emocionante.
—La innovación en el estudio de las relaciones entre cine y series: ecosistemas narrativos, world building y metáforas audiovisuales.
Igualmente, la maduración y exuberancia de la forma narrativa serial va dando lugar a una tendencia inversa, por lo que la influencia de los productos seriales también es reconocible en las narrativas fílmicas y en la industria del cine en general.
Esta obra nos ofrece un completo panorama de las relaciones entre cine y series en la contemporaneidad. Sus autores han recogido el análisis crítico de los muchos sentidos en que esa interacción se produce. El resultado es un conjunto de contribuciones, de amplio elenco internacional, en torno a los cuatro ejes siguientes:
—Procesos de transformación narrativa del cine hacia la serialidad.
—El modelo visual del cine y sus influencias en la serialidad.
—Viejas historias del cine, nuevos sentidos para la contemporaneidad: reescribiendo una historia emocionante.
—La innovación en el estudio de las relaciones entre cine y series: ecosistemas narrativos, world building y metáforas audiovisuales.
Research Interests:
[You can download a Sample of the book in Palgrave website: https://he.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9781137568847_sample.pdf] This book examines the role of emotions in contemporary TV series. Over the past 20 years, TV fiction... more
[You can download a Sample of the book in Palgrave website: https://he.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9781137568847_sample.pdf]
This book examines the role of emotions in contemporary TV series. Over the past 20 years, TV fiction has become one of the most powerful and influential trends in popular culture. Shows such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Lost and The Wire have created a vigorous televisual landscape where innovations in narrative form, aesthetic engagement and ethical concerns have raised TV entertainment to new heights. What makes this volume unique is its interdisciplinary approach, as the series are analysed from the perspective of Television Studies, Literature, Sociology, Philosophy and Media Studies. Key concepts developed include the relation between moral emotion and character identification, how serial narrative builds into 'affective moments' as a distinctive mode of aesthetic experience, the politics of emotion in collective identities, the intersection of gender and emotions, and how popular genres such as terror films, the thriller and science fiction manage the 'emotional turn' that postmodernism has made visible.
This book examines the role of emotions in contemporary TV series. Over the past 20 years, TV fiction has become one of the most powerful and influential trends in popular culture. Shows such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Lost and The Wire have created a vigorous televisual landscape where innovations in narrative form, aesthetic engagement and ethical concerns have raised TV entertainment to new heights. What makes this volume unique is its interdisciplinary approach, as the series are analysed from the perspective of Television Studies, Literature, Sociology, Philosophy and Media Studies. Key concepts developed include the relation between moral emotion and character identification, how serial narrative builds into 'affective moments' as a distinctive mode of aesthetic experience, the politics of emotion in collective identities, the intersection of gender and emotions, and how popular genres such as terror films, the thriller and science fiction manage the 'emotional turn' that postmodernism has made visible.
Research Interests: Emotion, Television Studies, Mourning, Feminist Media Studies, Affect/Emotion, and 21 moreSeries TV, Affect (Cultural Theory), Nostalgia, Star Trek, Zombies, Vampires in Film and Literature, Battlestar Galactica, Horror, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Antihero, Parade's End, Homeland, Emotional Culture, Nordic Noir, Borgen, Stephen Poliakoff, Political Thrillers, Southland, Polseres Vermelles, and Lark Rise to Candleford
"Con intermitencias, silencios obligados y ausencias voluntarias, Basilio Martín Patino constituye una figura esencial del cine español. Desde su irrupción con 'Nueve cartas a Berta', el director ha gozado del reconocimiento de la crítica... more
"Con intermitencias, silencios obligados y ausencias voluntarias, Basilio Martín Patino constituye una figura esencial del cine español. Desde su irrupción con 'Nueve cartas a Berta', el director ha gozado del reconocimiento de la crítica especializada, que siempre ha destacado su carácter pionero y su capacidad para explorar nuevos caminos expresivos.
Además, el autor salmantino es una referencia ineludible en la no-ficción, un territorio donde sus trabajos en las borrosas fronteras del documental han configurado una estimulante veta fílmica. Propuestas tan atrevidas como 'Canciones para después de una guerra', 'Caudillo', 'Madrid', 'La seducción del caos' o 'Andalucía, un siglo de fascinación' –analizadas en profundidad en este volumen– indagan en la validez de las imágenes, los problemas de la referencialidad documental, la facilidad para ejercer la impostura o los límites del simulacro."
Además, el autor salmantino es una referencia ineludible en la no-ficción, un territorio donde sus trabajos en las borrosas fronteras del documental han configurado una estimulante veta fílmica. Propuestas tan atrevidas como 'Canciones para después de una guerra', 'Caudillo', 'Madrid', 'La seducción del caos' o 'Andalucía, un siglo de fascinación' –analizadas en profundidad en este volumen– indagan en la validez de las imágenes, los problemas de la referencialidad documental, la facilidad para ejercer la impostura o los límites del simulacro."
Research Interests:
The autobiographical perspective of Ross McElwee's cinema forms a uniquely personal body of work which is nevertheless able to effectively communicate the concerns of his time to his audience. This is confirmed by the success his films... more
The autobiographical perspective of Ross McElwee's cinema forms a uniquely personal body of work which is nevertheless able to effectively communicate the concerns of his time to his audience. This is confirmed by the success his films have enjoyed with the public and critics in the United States and elsewhere. His films, deeply rooted in what is known as the South in the United States, transcend their local origins in order to address issues of universal relevance, such as personal and family identity, the relations between memory and history or the media's representation of society. It is a complex network which appeals to viewers from widely differing backgrounds who can identify with the problems and questions proposed by this passionate filmmaker. McElwee's cinema is analyzed in this book by American and European scholars, such as James H. Watkins, Gary Hawkins, Dominique Bluher, or Josep Maria Catala. The book also includes the McElwee's points of view, in the last two chapters, with an article by him and a collage interview. The book is completely bilingual (English-Spanish).
Research Interests:
This presentation analyzes the implications of the contemporary tendency towards deliberately applying diversity policies in creating TV series along the lines of gender, sexual orientation, race, and other collective identities. First,... more
This presentation analyzes the implications of the contemporary tendency towards deliberately applying diversity policies in creating TV series along the lines of gender, sexual orientation, race, and other collective identities. First, it will discuss famous, recent controversies stemming from the cultural Right and Left about casting choices, ‘woke remakes,’ social-media activism, fan-baiting practices by studios, and accusations of cultural appropriation, to name a few. Secondly, the presentation will survey —following cognitive media theory— the notions of mimesis, empathy, and identification. It will also explore how recent attitudes have tended to simplify such complex psycho-affective phenomena. Drawing from the Psychology of Fiction, the third and last part of the argument will reclaim the benefits of a more universalist approach to representation in contrast to the dominant zeitgeist. Therefore, it will analyze how storytelling transcends its essentialist dimension as a mirror to the reader (who encounters ‘people who look like me’), instead expanding our cognitive and emotional awareness. Thus, stories appeal to our common humanity by becoming a window to otherness.
Research Interests:
This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach to consider the complex moral questions raised around individual and institutional decision-making in the disturbing world portrayed in the Spanish limited television series 'Antidisturbios'... more
This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach to consider the complex moral questions raised around individual and institutional decision-making in the disturbing world portrayed in the Spanish limited television series 'Antidisturbios' (Riot Police) (Movistar, 2020). The paper melds the interdisciplinary fields of critical television studies and screenwriting as creative practice to discuss the narrative and aesthetic underpinnings behind the moral meanings explored in this divisive series. Antidisturbios saw on the one hand, film festival acclaim for its audacious narrative and aesthetics, and on the other, derision from the far-Left for its ‘whitening’ of police brutality and contempt from the far-Right for its ‘unprofessional’ portrayal of the lives of police. We argue that at the root of this contradictory reception is Antidisturbios’ moral complexity, an intricacy especially remarkable in these times of social media lynching, extreme polarization and lack of nuance and charity towards opposite views.
Antidisturbios explores the human tragedy and the gritty reality of Madrid’s Riot Police. We witness the in-your-face confronting violence of their day-to-day work, which pushes the boundaries of morality – whether by accident or choice. It explores the impact of an ordered eviction-gone-wrong of squatters in a corrala in Lavapies. A young African immigrant dies in unexpected circumstances and Internal Affairs is called in to investigate whether this is a case of involuntary manslaughter, police brutality or professional negligence.
As we bear witness to the personal and collegial relationships pivotal to the lives of each of these officers, we are confronted by the multilayered moral decisions each one is faced as the eviction incident investigation affects their lives and livelihood. In this sense, the moral equilibrium of the world portrayed in Antidisturbios’ is full of checks and balances. Despite their violent and despicable actions – such as the brutal beating of a French hooligan in a self-justice moment – the narrative emphasizes moral convolution.
There are many counterweights, which make the audience root for the police officers: moral comparatism, domestic duties and victimization. In fact, as the narrative progresses, the Riot Police themselves become the prey of a corrupt and rigged chain of command. This poses, once again, grey-area questions around the limits of camaraderie, obedience, personal and professional allegiance, conviction and duty. In the topsy-turvy world of Antidisturbios questions of morality are behind every cinematic event. All of it to convey, as we argue, a sympathetic portrayal of these cops who, as the shadiest character states, are “scumbag disliked by almost everyone, but necessary”.
Antidisturbios explores the human tragedy and the gritty reality of Madrid’s Riot Police. We witness the in-your-face confronting violence of their day-to-day work, which pushes the boundaries of morality – whether by accident or choice. It explores the impact of an ordered eviction-gone-wrong of squatters in a corrala in Lavapies. A young African immigrant dies in unexpected circumstances and Internal Affairs is called in to investigate whether this is a case of involuntary manslaughter, police brutality or professional negligence.
As we bear witness to the personal and collegial relationships pivotal to the lives of each of these officers, we are confronted by the multilayered moral decisions each one is faced as the eviction incident investigation affects their lives and livelihood. In this sense, the moral equilibrium of the world portrayed in Antidisturbios’ is full of checks and balances. Despite their violent and despicable actions – such as the brutal beating of a French hooligan in a self-justice moment – the narrative emphasizes moral convolution.
There are many counterweights, which make the audience root for the police officers: moral comparatism, domestic duties and victimization. In fact, as the narrative progresses, the Riot Police themselves become the prey of a corrupt and rigged chain of command. This poses, once again, grey-area questions around the limits of camaraderie, obedience, personal and professional allegiance, conviction and duty. In the topsy-turvy world of Antidisturbios questions of morality are behind every cinematic event. All of it to convey, as we argue, a sympathetic portrayal of these cops who, as the shadiest character states, are “scumbag disliked by almost everyone, but necessary”.
Research Interests:
Diapositivas de la conferencia impartida dentro del curso "Teología del cuerpo. Un lenguaje para descifrar". Se trataba de explorar las características dramáticas, estéticas e ideológicas de series juveniles y adolescentes recientes, como... more
Diapositivas de la conferencia impartida dentro del curso "Teología del cuerpo. Un lenguaje para descifrar". Se trataba de explorar las características dramáticas, estéticas e ideológicas de series juveniles y adolescentes recientes, como Euphoria, Heartstopper, The End of F***ing World, Genera+ion, Élite, Normal People, Friday Night Lights, etc. Aderezado con ejemplos de muchas series, se estudian cómo se presentan asuntos como la maduración, las emociones, la sexualidad, el compromiso, la aceptación, la rabia, el desencanto o la identidad personal.
Research Interests:
Las diapositivas para la presentación del ciclo de cine "Plano/Contraplano", que en su primera edición se centraba en el falso documental. Así, las cuatro películas emitidas en el Museo Universidad de Navarra ('F for Fake', 'This is... more
Las diapositivas para la presentación del ciclo de cine "Plano/Contraplano", que en su primera edición se centraba en el falso documental. Así, las cuatro películas emitidas en el Museo Universidad de Navarra ('F for Fake', 'This is Spinal Tap', 'Casas Viejas. El grito del sur' y 'El secuestro de Michel Houellebecq') establecían un diálogo con la exposición de Cristina de Middel, cuyas obras exploran la difusa línea que separa la realidad de la ficción.
'Plano/Contraplano' toma su nombre de una manera canónica de grabar cine: primero dirigiendo la cámara a un personaje y, a continuación, moviéndola para ver la respuesta de su interlocutor. Este movimiento es el mismo que quiere replicarse a través de esta propuesta: el plano es la programación del Museo y el contraplano otras formas de dialogar con las exposiciones y los espectáculos escénicos.
'Plano/Contraplano' toma su nombre de una manera canónica de grabar cine: primero dirigiendo la cámara a un personaje y, a continuación, moviéndola para ver la respuesta de su interlocutor. Este movimiento es el mismo que quiere replicarse a través de esta propuesta: el plano es la programación del Museo y el contraplano otras formas de dialogar con las exposiciones y los espectáculos escénicos.
Research Interests:
Diapostivas de la conferencia inaugural del "I Congreso Internacional de Narración y Mundos de Ficción en Cine y Televisión. Sagas, remakes e intermedialidad", celebrado en la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos el 14-15 de octubre de 2021.
Research Interests:
The “peak TV” swell has driven an increase in experimentation and innovation in the landscape of seriality. In an attempt to make sense of the overwhelming volume of works released in recent years, one may attempt to identify and describe... more
The “peak TV” swell has driven an increase in experimentation and innovation in the landscape of seriality. In an attempt to make sense of the overwhelming volume of works released in recent years, one may attempt to identify and describe certain creative patterns, trends, or subgenres. In this presentation, we aim to shed light on a current of serial TV concerned with the spiritual dimension of human existence. These “metaphysical TV dramas” feature characters and plots that explore the meaning, origin, and end of life through fresh aesthetic proposals that manipulate diegetic time and space, becoming cognitive conveyors of a certain sense of transcendence.
Research Interests:
(Recorded talk available also in academia.edu) This paper aims to analyze the aesthetics of sacrifice in the Chernobyl miniseries (HBO, 2019). The story fictionalizes the nuclear disaster that, in 1986, held the world in agonizing... more
(Recorded talk available also in academia.edu)
This paper aims to analyze the aesthetics of sacrifice in the Chernobyl miniseries (HBO, 2019). The story fictionalizes the nuclear disaster that, in 1986, held the world in agonizing nuclear suspense. Using a realist style, Chernobyl also details how the Soviet Union bureaucracy managed the tragedy by spreading lies, half-truths and unnecessarily putting tens of thousands of lives at risk.
In this narrative context –where history, politics and morals come together– one of Chernobyl's key themes is that of sacrifice. From the beginning of the story, the audience is presented with professionals who, aware of the gravity of the nuclear accident, enter the plant to try to repair it, thus assuming certain death. It is a recurring theme, which appears even symbolically. In the third episode, the soldiers have to execute the dogs that remain in the area, since they carry radioactivity, thus establishing a parallel with all the innocent beings that were "the cost of the lies" (the TV-Series logline).
However, the most significant reflection regarding sacrifice comes from Valery Legasov, the protagonist of the series. This chemist from the USSR Academy of Sciences is in charge of leading the cleaning of the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Legasov's life is dedicated to the truth on three levels. As a scientist, with a life devoted to delving into empirical facts to reach the truth; with his work at Chernobyl, as a sacrifice for practical truth and the common good; and, with his final confession and suicide, as a sacrifice for historical truth, as opposed to Soviet manipulation.
The latter is what will centre this paper. The sequence that opens the series is that of a confession and a suicide. Through a "close reading", I intend to describe how certain mise-en-scène decisions serve to amplify the anthropological power of Legasov's immolation. Dialoguing with a tradition of Hollywood cinema that Sisco King has catalogued as "the logic of traumatic heroism", I will analyze how Legasov's aesthetic of sacrifice connects with sacrificial death as a ritual of redemption. Details such as the presence of the cat, the glasses, the watch or the jacket impose an ambiguity in the sequence that causes his suicide –a sacrifice for the common good and the truth– to be erected, paraphrasing Bataille, "in a more significant human action than any other".
This paper aims to analyze the aesthetics of sacrifice in the Chernobyl miniseries (HBO, 2019). The story fictionalizes the nuclear disaster that, in 1986, held the world in agonizing nuclear suspense. Using a realist style, Chernobyl also details how the Soviet Union bureaucracy managed the tragedy by spreading lies, half-truths and unnecessarily putting tens of thousands of lives at risk.
In this narrative context –where history, politics and morals come together– one of Chernobyl's key themes is that of sacrifice. From the beginning of the story, the audience is presented with professionals who, aware of the gravity of the nuclear accident, enter the plant to try to repair it, thus assuming certain death. It is a recurring theme, which appears even symbolically. In the third episode, the soldiers have to execute the dogs that remain in the area, since they carry radioactivity, thus establishing a parallel with all the innocent beings that were "the cost of the lies" (the TV-Series logline).
However, the most significant reflection regarding sacrifice comes from Valery Legasov, the protagonist of the series. This chemist from the USSR Academy of Sciences is in charge of leading the cleaning of the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Legasov's life is dedicated to the truth on three levels. As a scientist, with a life devoted to delving into empirical facts to reach the truth; with his work at Chernobyl, as a sacrifice for practical truth and the common good; and, with his final confession and suicide, as a sacrifice for historical truth, as opposed to Soviet manipulation.
The latter is what will centre this paper. The sequence that opens the series is that of a confession and a suicide. Through a "close reading", I intend to describe how certain mise-en-scène decisions serve to amplify the anthropological power of Legasov's immolation. Dialoguing with a tradition of Hollywood cinema that Sisco King has catalogued as "the logic of traumatic heroism", I will analyze how Legasov's aesthetic of sacrifice connects with sacrificial death as a ritual of redemption. Details such as the presence of the cat, the glasses, the watch or the jacket impose an ambiguity in the sequence that causes his suicide –a sacrifice for the common good and the truth– to be erected, paraphrasing Bataille, "in a more significant human action than any other".
Research Interests:
Diapositivas de la sesión impartida en el curso de verano "Pensar el futuro: utopías, distopías, heterotopías".
Research Interests:
Diapositivas de la conferencia inaugural impartida en la II Semana de la Imagen 2020 (SIMUFV). El Congreso, celebrado en la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, llevaba por título "Cada imagen es un mundo". El vídeo de la conferencia está... more
Diapositivas de la conferencia inaugural impartida en la II Semana de la Imagen 2020 (SIMUFV). El Congreso, celebrado en la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, llevaba por título "Cada imagen es un mundo".
El vídeo de la conferencia está disponible en https://youtu.be/M6Ih7vJQOgQ
El vídeo de la conferencia está disponible en https://youtu.be/M6Ih7vJQOgQ
Research Interests:
Diapositivas de la conferencia inaugural del "II Congreso Filosofía y Cine"(Universidad Católica de Valencia), 28-29 de febrero de 2020.
Research Interests:
Esta ponencia examinará cómo la serie The Boys (Amazon, 2019) presenta una radical subversión de la figura tradicional del superhéroe. Basado en una novela gráfica de culto, la adaptación televisiva de The Boys cuenta, durante ocho... more
Esta ponencia examinará cómo la serie The Boys (Amazon, 2019) presenta una radical subversión de la figura tradicional del superhéroe. Basado en una novela gráfica de culto, la adaptación televisiva de The Boys cuenta, durante ocho episodios, la historia de un grupo de justicieros que combaten contra “The Seven”, una colección de personajes con poderes sobrehumanos y adorados por la opinión pública… que esconden una cara oculta siniestra: abusan constantemente de sus habilidades para su propio bien y están infectados de corrupción e hipocresía.
Mediante esta ponencia se propone una aproximación doble a The Boys. Por un lado, partiendo de la teoría de los géneros, se argumenta que la subversión del estatus heroico de “The Seven” sigue un patrón recurrente en el ciclo vital de cualquier género. Tras más de una década en la que Marvel y DC han inundado la cultura popular, ante la fatiga narrativa y estética, la propia lógica genérica da pie a la renovación/reinvención de algunos de los rasgos esenciales que caracterizan la narrativa superheroica. En este caso, The Boys dinamita la identificación moral y emocional con el superhéroe al convertirlo, secretamente, en supervillano.
Por otro lado, la ponencia explorará –desde una perspectiva más propia de los estudios culturales– cómo la permutación dramática que The Boys habilita entre justiciero y superhéroe destila una lectura sociopolítica. Salvo por el personaje de Starlight, el aparente maniqueísmo de The Boys entronca metafóricamente con una visión de la sociedad donde se pueden rastrear ecos del populismo, la antipolítica y las teorías de la conspiración de nuestros días.
Mediante esta ponencia se propone una aproximación doble a The Boys. Por un lado, partiendo de la teoría de los géneros, se argumenta que la subversión del estatus heroico de “The Seven” sigue un patrón recurrente en el ciclo vital de cualquier género. Tras más de una década en la que Marvel y DC han inundado la cultura popular, ante la fatiga narrativa y estética, la propia lógica genérica da pie a la renovación/reinvención de algunos de los rasgos esenciales que caracterizan la narrativa superheroica. En este caso, The Boys dinamita la identificación moral y emocional con el superhéroe al convertirlo, secretamente, en supervillano.
Por otro lado, la ponencia explorará –desde una perspectiva más propia de los estudios culturales– cómo la permutación dramática que The Boys habilita entre justiciero y superhéroe destila una lectura sociopolítica. Salvo por el personaje de Starlight, el aparente maniqueísmo de The Boys entronca metafóricamente con una visión de la sociedad donde se pueden rastrear ecos del populismo, la antipolítica y las teorías de la conspiración de nuestros días.
Research Interests:
Diapositivas de la conferencia impartida 24 de octubre de 2019 en la Universidad de la Sabana, Bogotá, Colombia.
Research Interests:
This paper will analyze a marginal yet increasingly popular format of serial television, often known as the “anthology series”. This type of show is different from TV series and serials in that its seasons consist of packages of episodes... more
This paper will analyze a marginal yet increasingly popular format of serial television, often known as the “anthology series”. This type of show is different from TV series and serials in that its seasons consist of packages of episodes that are not connected by a narrative throughline, but rather feature a different story and cast in each episode, and sometimes even a different diegetic universe.
Despite such notable precedents such as The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1959-64) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (CBS/NBC, 1955-65; NBC/USA Network, 1985-89), the anthology has been quite rare in contemporary television, due especially to the production demands of the format. In recent years, only Black Mirror has acquired the relevance of a cultural phenomenon, hoisted up by Netflix, and later followed by other attempts such as HBO’s Room 104, and Amazon’s Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams and Lore. Additionally, a reboot of The Twilight Zone will premiere on CBS All Access in April 1, 2019.
Far more notable in recent years has been the eruption of a new format that combines features of anthology and traditional seriality, delivering different stories with different casts and settings, not in each episode but in each season of the series. It is like the aforementioned anthology, but on narrative steroids. American Horror Story (FX, 2011), True Detective (HBO, 2014-), Fargo (FX, 2014-17), Feud (FX, 2017-), American Crime (ABC, 2015-2017), American Crime Story (FX, 2016-) or The Terror (AMC, 2018-) are successful examples of this trend.
Both in the former and latter cases (‘TV anthology’ vs. ‘anthology series’), the audience encounters a number of standalone stories that are, however, not entirely disconnected, but rather unified by non-narrative links. This is enabled by a phenomenon that is distinct of all serial narratives, but particularly unique to anthology series, and known as temporal prolongation. The term refers to the state and condition whereby a number of instances of narration influence the way in which the viewer confronts —both on a narrative and dramatic level— each and any of the instalments that compose the anthology. Memory of previous episodes creates a certain analytical framework, cueing expectations for the audience, and thus conditioning the subsequent experiences of the show. Since such influence is non-narrative in nature, the purpose of this study, therefore, is to analyze the aesthetic, thematic, and narratological elements that a set of different stories may share in order to create a constant analytical framework and sense of artistic unity, which one could label as a specific poetics of the anthology series.
Despite such notable precedents such as The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1959-64) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (CBS/NBC, 1955-65; NBC/USA Network, 1985-89), the anthology has been quite rare in contemporary television, due especially to the production demands of the format. In recent years, only Black Mirror has acquired the relevance of a cultural phenomenon, hoisted up by Netflix, and later followed by other attempts such as HBO’s Room 104, and Amazon’s Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams and Lore. Additionally, a reboot of The Twilight Zone will premiere on CBS All Access in April 1, 2019.
Far more notable in recent years has been the eruption of a new format that combines features of anthology and traditional seriality, delivering different stories with different casts and settings, not in each episode but in each season of the series. It is like the aforementioned anthology, but on narrative steroids. American Horror Story (FX, 2011), True Detective (HBO, 2014-), Fargo (FX, 2014-17), Feud (FX, 2017-), American Crime (ABC, 2015-2017), American Crime Story (FX, 2016-) or The Terror (AMC, 2018-) are successful examples of this trend.
Both in the former and latter cases (‘TV anthology’ vs. ‘anthology series’), the audience encounters a number of standalone stories that are, however, not entirely disconnected, but rather unified by non-narrative links. This is enabled by a phenomenon that is distinct of all serial narratives, but particularly unique to anthology series, and known as temporal prolongation. The term refers to the state and condition whereby a number of instances of narration influence the way in which the viewer confronts —both on a narrative and dramatic level— each and any of the instalments that compose the anthology. Memory of previous episodes creates a certain analytical framework, cueing expectations for the audience, and thus conditioning the subsequent experiences of the show. Since such influence is non-narrative in nature, the purpose of this study, therefore, is to analyze the aesthetic, thematic, and narratological elements that a set of different stories may share in order to create a constant analytical framework and sense of artistic unity, which one could label as a specific poetics of the anthology series.
Research Interests:
Paper presented at the workshop: "Exploring Broadcast Literature", held by the University of Sydney, 28 September 2018.
Research Interests:
Slides from my presentation to the SSAAANZ Conference "The Uses of Cinema. Film, TV, Screen", Monash University, 20-23 November, 2018.
Research Interests:
The Power Point I used at the seminar I gave in the School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, on the 20th of April, 2018. You can check the talk in this Youtube: https://youtu.be/eitJwUtzDh4 This talk explores... more
The Power Point I used at the seminar I gave in the School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, on the 20th of April, 2018.
You can check the talk in this Youtube:
https://youtu.be/eitJwUtzDh4
This talk explores how some recent American TV crime dramas that can be specifically labelled as 'noir' address the issue of hope and redemption by undermining one of the main thematic and ideological features that both spectators and critics tend to assign to noir narratives – i.e., the logic of hopelessness, of “no way out”, to paraphrase Porfirio’s classic article (1996). In what I have coined as “Bright Noir”, several recent, influential and popular TV noir series offer stories in which brave protagonists achieve a positive outcome and defeat evil while fulfilling a higher purpose or attaining an honourable end.
To approach this idea, I first recall that existentialism and moral alienation became essential features of film noir, which remains a controversial term. I then explain the sociological and artistic reasons that have led to this wave of morally hopeful noir. Finally, this thesis is demonstrated with in-depth analysis of key series from recent American TV crime fiction, with particular attention given to Justified (FX, 2010–15) and Fargo (FX, 2013-).
You can check the talk in this Youtube:
https://youtu.be/eitJwUtzDh4
This talk explores how some recent American TV crime dramas that can be specifically labelled as 'noir' address the issue of hope and redemption by undermining one of the main thematic and ideological features that both spectators and critics tend to assign to noir narratives – i.e., the logic of hopelessness, of “no way out”, to paraphrase Porfirio’s classic article (1996). In what I have coined as “Bright Noir”, several recent, influential and popular TV noir series offer stories in which brave protagonists achieve a positive outcome and defeat evil while fulfilling a higher purpose or attaining an honourable end.
To approach this idea, I first recall that existentialism and moral alienation became essential features of film noir, which remains a controversial term. I then explain the sociological and artistic reasons that have led to this wave of morally hopeful noir. Finally, this thesis is demonstrated with in-depth analysis of key series from recent American TV crime fiction, with particular attention given to Justified (FX, 2010–15) and Fargo (FX, 2013-).
Research Interests:
El PDF incluye, incrustados, los vídeos de la presentación (visualizar en Adobe). Sesión impartida en el VII Encuentro anual del Institute for Culture and Society (ICS): “Desarrollo y vínculos sociales (I): aproximaciones a la... more
El PDF incluye, incrustados, los vídeos de la presentación (visualizar en Adobe).
Sesión impartida en el VII Encuentro anual del Institute for Culture and Society (ICS): “Desarrollo y vínculos sociales (I): aproximaciones a la felicidad”.
Pamplona, 16 Noviembre 2017.
Sesión impartida en el VII Encuentro anual del Institute for Culture and Society (ICS): “Desarrollo y vínculos sociales (I): aproximaciones a la felicidad”.
Pamplona, 16 Noviembre 2017.
Research Interests:
Mood is an essential feature of cinema but theoretically overlooked in Cinema and Television Studies. Beyond the interest from some early cinema theorists such as Eisner or Bàlazs, recent Cognitive Media Theory has been the theoretical... more
Mood is an essential feature of cinema but theoretically overlooked in Cinema and Television Studies. Beyond the interest from some early cinema theorists such as Eisner or Bàlazs, recent Cognitive Media Theory has been the theoretical strand that has offered the most comprehensive study of mood within Screen Theory until date (Smith, Carroll, Plantinga).
As Greg M. Smith points out, “the primary emotive effect” of cinema is “to create mood” (2003: 92), a difficult notion to grasp –nor exactly tone, neither atmosphere— that emotionally spills all over the narrative. Plantinga has defined mood as “the affective character that emerges from the combination of its elements” (463) and it is construed through narrative content, character action and mise-en-scène. According to Sinnerbrink, mood determines “how the particular film-world is aesthetically revealed and how we are affectively attuned to that world” (2012: 155).
Following these authors, this papers aims to explore the distinctiveness of mood in serial television, examining, following Plantinga, the “amalgam of affective ‘charges’ or elicitors that together characterize the overall experience of the work” (461). We propose, therefore, a close analysis of both the pilot and the season finale of two heavily mood-oriented contemporary high-end TV Series: the French supernatural drama Les Revenants (Canal Plus, 2012-15) and the American indie emotional introspection Rectify (Sundance Channel, 2013-16).
As Tarvainen et al. have written, “Aesthetic features combine to create a unified mood, which attunes the viewer affectively to the film and facilitates the cueing of emotions with stylistic devices” (2015: 2). Our analysis, then, intends to explore how these two critically acclaimed narratives build a mesmerizing, hypnotic, and contemplative mood which proves essential to “attune the viewer affectively”, that is, to generate its artistic success.
As Plantinga explains, there are three mood elicitors in film: narrative emotion, cognitive dispositions and formal and stylistic qualities. We will focus our analysis on how the latter strongly creates the art mood from both Les Revenants and Rectify. Moreover, as far as extended narratives are so long, we will exemplify our analysis using audiovisual examples from the beginning and the end of both narratives, in order to test the consistency of the succession of moods that characterizes each of these two TV shows.
We will concentrate our textual analysis in three elements: editing, music and close-ups. Firstly, we will examine the rhythm of each story. Both Les Revenants and Rectify use a slow-paced montage, filled with long shots and contemplative scenes. The whole narrative unfolds calmly and peacefully, creating an almost minimalist style where the reaction seems to be more relevant than the action of the characters.
Secondly, we will examine how the soundtrack, drawing upon two very different kinds of music, favors an intimate and painful atmosphere in both TV Series. The unsettling score of Les Revenants, by Mogwai, aspire to elicit a sense of oddness and painful beauty. For its part, the Rectify soundtrack uses indie folk and pop songs that strengthen the mellowness of the narrative and the intimate journey into the soul of the damaged protagonist.
Lastly, we will dissect the insistent use of close-ups in both TV shows. The close-up becomes a powerful stylistic tool (“scenes of empathy”, following Plantinga) to transfer into the audience the riveting mood—amazed, painful, poetic—that characterizes these two stories about loss, redemption and characters out of place.
As Greg M. Smith points out, “the primary emotive effect” of cinema is “to create mood” (2003: 92), a difficult notion to grasp –nor exactly tone, neither atmosphere— that emotionally spills all over the narrative. Plantinga has defined mood as “the affective character that emerges from the combination of its elements” (463) and it is construed through narrative content, character action and mise-en-scène. According to Sinnerbrink, mood determines “how the particular film-world is aesthetically revealed and how we are affectively attuned to that world” (2012: 155).
Following these authors, this papers aims to explore the distinctiveness of mood in serial television, examining, following Plantinga, the “amalgam of affective ‘charges’ or elicitors that together characterize the overall experience of the work” (461). We propose, therefore, a close analysis of both the pilot and the season finale of two heavily mood-oriented contemporary high-end TV Series: the French supernatural drama Les Revenants (Canal Plus, 2012-15) and the American indie emotional introspection Rectify (Sundance Channel, 2013-16).
As Tarvainen et al. have written, “Aesthetic features combine to create a unified mood, which attunes the viewer affectively to the film and facilitates the cueing of emotions with stylistic devices” (2015: 2). Our analysis, then, intends to explore how these two critically acclaimed narratives build a mesmerizing, hypnotic, and contemplative mood which proves essential to “attune the viewer affectively”, that is, to generate its artistic success.
As Plantinga explains, there are three mood elicitors in film: narrative emotion, cognitive dispositions and formal and stylistic qualities. We will focus our analysis on how the latter strongly creates the art mood from both Les Revenants and Rectify. Moreover, as far as extended narratives are so long, we will exemplify our analysis using audiovisual examples from the beginning and the end of both narratives, in order to test the consistency of the succession of moods that characterizes each of these two TV shows.
We will concentrate our textual analysis in three elements: editing, music and close-ups. Firstly, we will examine the rhythm of each story. Both Les Revenants and Rectify use a slow-paced montage, filled with long shots and contemplative scenes. The whole narrative unfolds calmly and peacefully, creating an almost minimalist style where the reaction seems to be more relevant than the action of the characters.
Secondly, we will examine how the soundtrack, drawing upon two very different kinds of music, favors an intimate and painful atmosphere in both TV Series. The unsettling score of Les Revenants, by Mogwai, aspire to elicit a sense of oddness and painful beauty. For its part, the Rectify soundtrack uses indie folk and pop songs that strengthen the mellowness of the narrative and the intimate journey into the soul of the damaged protagonist.
Lastly, we will dissect the insistent use of close-ups in both TV shows. The close-up becomes a powerful stylistic tool (“scenes of empathy”, following Plantinga) to transfer into the audience the riveting mood—amazed, painful, poetic—that characterizes these two stories about loss, redemption and characters out of place.
Research Interests:
Diapositivas de la conferencia impartida en el Museo Universidad de Navarra, dentro del ciclo "TV Series Lovers".
Fecha: 25 de enero de 2017
Fecha: 25 de enero de 2017
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Paper presented at MEDIA MUTATIONS 8 "A cognitive Approach to TV Series", Bologna 25-26 May, 2016
Research Interests:
Esquema del seminario impartido en el proyecto de investigación "Cultura Emocional e Identidad", en el Instituto Cultura y Sociedad de la Universidad de Navarra.
Research Interests:
Since the late 90's, television narrative has exhibited a great change. Though the evolution was had begun with TV dramas such as Hill Street Blues (NBC, 1981-87) or Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990-91), the emergence and success of The Sopranos... more
Since the late 90's, television narrative has exhibited a great change. Though the evolution was had begun with TV dramas such as Hill Street Blues (NBC, 1981-87) or Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990-91), the emergence and success of The Sopranos (HBO, 1999-2007) paved the way for new form of television narrative: more sophisticated, complex and innovative, aimed to an spectator more and more “narratologically” educated. From complementary perspectives –sometimes even opposing perspectives– shows such as Lost, The Wire, Mad Men, Arrested Development, 24, The Good Wife or Community have contributed to transform American and British television narrative into a privileged vehicle to narrate long form stories.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the essential features of contemporary TV narrative while comparing it to the traditional film narrative. Therefore, I will first explain the differences regarding narrative unity and dramatic progression: textual duration, time of consumption and the combination of an anthology plot and a running plot. Secondly, we will pay attention to the concept of adaptation and remake, where both memory and originality play a crucial role for the success of any diegetic derivative work.
After clarifying the theoretical approach, I will analyse two recent TV series (both critically acclaimed) that have its origins in popular filmic universes: Fargo (FX, 2014-), a kind of remake-sequel of the Coen Brothers movie from 1995; and Hannibal (NBC, 2013-15), an attempt to reboot the Hannibal Lecter franchise by “filling the gaps” before the first of the Thomas Harris’ novels: The Red Dragon.
In the Fargo case, I will outline the specificities of the “anthology series” format and I will explore how, taking a highly self-conscious stance, the new version keeps the main themes and aesthetics engagement of the original movie, while taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the long-form narrative that characterises contemporary TV. As for Hannibal, Fuller approach gets to challenge the limits of TV narrative in two ways: on one hand, expanding the gore, stylish and uncanny aesthetics of the Lecter previous instalments. And, on the other, by using a handful of narrative devices that take Hannibal to a dream logic never seen before in commercial television.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the essential features of contemporary TV narrative while comparing it to the traditional film narrative. Therefore, I will first explain the differences regarding narrative unity and dramatic progression: textual duration, time of consumption and the combination of an anthology plot and a running plot. Secondly, we will pay attention to the concept of adaptation and remake, where both memory and originality play a crucial role for the success of any diegetic derivative work.
After clarifying the theoretical approach, I will analyse two recent TV series (both critically acclaimed) that have its origins in popular filmic universes: Fargo (FX, 2014-), a kind of remake-sequel of the Coen Brothers movie from 1995; and Hannibal (NBC, 2013-15), an attempt to reboot the Hannibal Lecter franchise by “filling the gaps” before the first of the Thomas Harris’ novels: The Red Dragon.
In the Fargo case, I will outline the specificities of the “anthology series” format and I will explore how, taking a highly self-conscious stance, the new version keeps the main themes and aesthetics engagement of the original movie, while taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the long-form narrative that characterises contemporary TV. As for Hannibal, Fuller approach gets to challenge the limits of TV narrative in two ways: on one hand, expanding the gore, stylish and uncanny aesthetics of the Lecter previous instalments. And, on the other, by using a handful of narrative devices that take Hannibal to a dream logic never seen before in commercial television.
Research Interests:
SLIDESHARE
Paper presented at the "Crime Days, Crime Pays" Conference. 1-2 October, 2015, Aalborg (Denmark)
Paper presented at the "Crime Days, Crime Pays" Conference. 1-2 October, 2015, Aalborg (Denmark)
Research Interests:
SLIDESHARE / Paper presented at the "Identity and Emotions in Contemporary TV-Series" workshop. Universidad de Navarra, 25-26th of October, 2013. More info about the workshop:... more
SLIDESHARE / Paper presented at the "Identity and Emotions in Contemporary TV-Series" workshop. Universidad de Navarra, 25-26th of October, 2013.
More info about the workshop:
http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/10/21/un-pequeno-congreso-y-un-capitulo-de-libro/
More info about the workshop:
http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/10/21/un-pequeno-congreso-y-un-capitulo-de-libro/
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
"The Shield (FX 2002-08) and The Wire (HBO 2002-08) are two of the most critically acclaimed TV-shows ever produced and both share a kinship with certain film noir products. The Wire transcends the cop-show genre by offering a... more
"The Shield (FX 2002-08) and The Wire (HBO 2002-08) are two of the most critically acclaimed TV-shows ever produced and both share a kinship with certain film noir products. The Wire transcends the cop-show genre by offering a multilayered portrait of the city of Baltimore: from police work to drug dealing, from union corruption to problems of the school system and to unethical journalism practices. On the other hand, The Shield takes the form of a fast-moving cop-show that displays much of the same the moral ambiguity that characterizes the noir genre.
Both series adopt complementary realist strategies (a neorealist aesthetic in The Wire; a cinéma-vérité pastiche in The Shield) that give particular narrative significance to city landscapes. Baltimore and Los Angeles are portrayed not only as a dangerous and ruined physical places, but these narratives also raise moral and political issues such as race, class, political corruption, social disintegration, economical disparities, the limitations of the justice system, and the failure of the American dream. The complex and expanded narrative of The Wire and The Shield, as Dimemberg has written about the film noir genre, “remains well attuned to the violently fragmented spaces and times of the late-modern world”.
Therefore, this paper will focus on how The Wire and The Shield reflect and re-examine several topics related to the city in the film noir tradition: the sociopolitical effects of revealing the scarred landscapes of the centripetal industrial metropolis, the implications of filming in actual localities, the dramatic presence of what Augé termed “no-places”, the bachelardian opposition between home and city, or the streets as an urban jungle where danger lurks at every corner."
Both series adopt complementary realist strategies (a neorealist aesthetic in The Wire; a cinéma-vérité pastiche in The Shield) that give particular narrative significance to city landscapes. Baltimore and Los Angeles are portrayed not only as a dangerous and ruined physical places, but these narratives also raise moral and political issues such as race, class, political corruption, social disintegration, economical disparities, the limitations of the justice system, and the failure of the American dream. The complex and expanded narrative of The Wire and The Shield, as Dimemberg has written about the film noir genre, “remains well attuned to the violently fragmented spaces and times of the late-modern world”.
Therefore, this paper will focus on how The Wire and The Shield reflect and re-examine several topics related to the city in the film noir tradition: the sociopolitical effects of revealing the scarred landscapes of the centripetal industrial metropolis, the implications of filming in actual localities, the dramatic presence of what Augé termed “no-places”, the bachelardian opposition between home and city, or the streets as an urban jungle where danger lurks at every corner."
Research Interests:
This paper will focus on how some contemporary TV-Series reflect and re-examine several topics related to the modern city. We will take six complementary dramas and the corresponding urban environments they depict: The Sopranos (New... more
This paper will focus on how some contemporary TV-Series reflect and re-examine several topics related to the modern city. We will take six complementary dramas and the corresponding urban environments they depict: The Sopranos (New Jersey), Dexter (Miami), The Shield (Los Angeles), CSI (Las Vegas), The Wire (Baltimore) and Rescue Me (New York). With that corpus of cities and shows, we will attempt to study the sociopolitical effects of revealing the landscapes of the centripetal industrial metropolis, the implications of filming in actual localities, the dramatic or ludic presence of what Augé termed “non-places”, and the image of the streets either as an urban jungle where danger lurks at every corner or as a kind idealized vision of America.
Research Interests:
SLIDESHARE / Este trabajo propone un análisis de la serie televisiva In Treatment (HBO, 2008-09), como síntoma y reflejo de nuestra cultura y de su predominante estilo terapéutico-emocional. Se parte de la idea de que a través del estudio... more
SLIDESHARE / Este trabajo propone un análisis de la serie televisiva In Treatment (HBO, 2008-09), como síntoma y reflejo de nuestra cultura y de su predominante estilo terapéutico-emocional. Se parte de la idea de que a través del estudio de ficciones audiovisuales pueden advertirse rasgos y valores predominantes, tendencias específicas o estilos de vida que se proponen como norma socialmente vinculante.
Más en concreto, la serie se revela como una manifestación de la “cultura emocional” contemporánea; una cultura caracterizada por la creciente presencia de las emociones y del discurso terapéutico en todas las esferas de la vida social. El análisis y la vinculación entre este producto televisivo y dicha cultura emocional se desarrollará en tres niveles:
a) examinando el contenido textual de la serie –esto es, su semántica–, donde las emociones constituyen el tema central de su trama y personajes;
b) estudiando la forma narrativa –o estructura retórica– de ese texto, con el uso de recursos y estrategias fílmicas que apelan en sí mismos a las emociones del público y a su interés cercano por este tema;
c) y proponiendo un análisis de contenido y de la forma narrativa (semántica y retórica) que permita la consideración de esta serie como un producto cultural específico que ha gozado de una buena acogida tanto por público como por crítica. Mediante este último nivel –el de la pragmática–, cabe concluir que este peculiar producto televisivo refleja de forma privilegiada la relevancia de las emociones en las sociedades contemporáneas y el particular modo de enfrentarlas y gestionarlas.
Más en concreto, la serie se revela como una manifestación de la “cultura emocional” contemporánea; una cultura caracterizada por la creciente presencia de las emociones y del discurso terapéutico en todas las esferas de la vida social. El análisis y la vinculación entre este producto televisivo y dicha cultura emocional se desarrollará en tres niveles:
a) examinando el contenido textual de la serie –esto es, su semántica–, donde las emociones constituyen el tema central de su trama y personajes;
b) estudiando la forma narrativa –o estructura retórica– de ese texto, con el uso de recursos y estrategias fílmicas que apelan en sí mismos a las emociones del público y a su interés cercano por este tema;
c) y proponiendo un análisis de contenido y de la forma narrativa (semántica y retórica) que permita la consideración de esta serie como un producto cultural específico que ha gozado de una buena acogida tanto por público como por crítica. Mediante este último nivel –el de la pragmática–, cabe concluir que este peculiar producto televisivo refleja de forma privilegiada la relevancia de las emociones en las sociedades contemporáneas y el particular modo de enfrentarlas y gestionarlas.
Research Interests:
SLIDESHARE / Paper presented at "VI Congreso Novela y Cine Negro" (Salamanca, April-10). It was later published as a chapter in "Previously On. Estudios interdisciplinares sobre la ficción televisiva en la tercera edad de oro de la... more
SLIDESHARE / Paper presented at "VI Congreso Novela y Cine Negro" (Salamanca, April-10).
It was later published as a chapter in "Previously On. Estudios interdisciplinares sobre la ficción televisiva en la tercera edad de oro de la televisión", edited by Miguel A. Pérez Gómez, Ed. Universidad de Sevilla, 2011, pp. 211-226.
It was later published as a chapter in "Previously On. Estudios interdisciplinares sobre la ficción televisiva en la tercera edad de oro de la televisión", edited by Miguel A. Pérez Gómez, Ed. Universidad de Sevilla, 2011, pp. 211-226.
Research Interests:
SLIDESHARE presented at "Emotional Culture and Identity" Research Project (CEMID).
Institute Culture and Society (University of Navarre)
Workshop 4 sept. 2010
Institute Culture and Society (University of Navarre)
Workshop 4 sept. 2010
Research Interests:
SLIDESHARE / La presente comunicación examina cómo las televisiones generalistas de ámbito nacional se están adaptando a las potencialidades de internet y el uso que realizan de la Web como plataforma para difundir los contenidos... more
SLIDESHARE / La presente comunicación examina cómo las televisiones generalistas de ámbito nacional se están adaptando a las potencialidades de internet y el uso que realizan de la Web como plataforma para difundir los contenidos informativos. Los recientes rediseños de las páginas web de Antena 3 y TVE y las innovaciones de los sitios web de Tele 5, Cuatro y La Sexta indican que las televisiones españolas apuestan por la convergencia en la red y su potencial informativo. En un intento por sistematizar el actual ecosistema televisivo, la comunicación compara los servicios informativos online de cada una de las cadenas, con la finalidad de encontrar similitudes y diferencias y explorar las estrategias utilizadas. Mediante un análisis de contenido se estudia cómo cada televisión aprovecha las características esenciales de la web: la multimedialidad, el hipertexto, la interactividad, el uso de contenidos generados por los usuarios y la inclusión de las redes sociales. Así mismo, se valora en qué medida las noticias se adaptan al lenguaje del soporte online o se mantiene la estructura básica propia de la televisión convencional.
Research Interests:
SLIDESHARE The Wire (HBO 2002-08) is one of the most ever critically acclaimed TV-shows. It transcends the film noir genre by offering a multilayered portrait of the whole city of Baltimore: from police work to drug dealing, getting... more
SLIDESHARE The Wire (HBO 2002-08) is one of the most ever critically acclaimed TV-shows. It transcends the film noir genre by offering a multilayered portrait of the whole city of Baltimore: from police work to drug dealing, getting through stevedores’ union corruption, tricks of local politics, problems of the school system and some unethical journalism practices. One key element in the TV-series is the realist style that David Simon and Ed Burns, executive producers, have stamped on The Wire as authorial mark; a realist style that lay the foundations of the social, cultural, and political critique The Wire exhibits.
This paper proposes to locate the representational strategies employed by The Wire in three different scopes. On the one hand, we will study the production context of the TV-series, in order to find out how the non-fiction book upon the show is based and the autobiographical background of the creators heighten the realism of The Wire. Secondly, we will analyze the filmic elements that spread the “illusion of truth”: use of non-professional actors, stylistic sobriety, and a fragmented and expanded narrative that shows the ambiguity of the real. Finally, the last part of this paper tries to enlighten certain issues intertwined with the notion of realism in The Wire: the constant presence of the city as a moral landscape and the rupture of two American myths: working hard will lead anyone to wealth and America as a place of inclusion.
This paper proposes to locate the representational strategies employed by The Wire in three different scopes. On the one hand, we will study the production context of the TV-series, in order to find out how the non-fiction book upon the show is based and the autobiographical background of the creators heighten the realism of The Wire. Secondly, we will analyze the filmic elements that spread the “illusion of truth”: use of non-professional actors, stylistic sobriety, and a fragmented and expanded narrative that shows the ambiguity of the real. Finally, the last part of this paper tries to enlighten certain issues intertwined with the notion of realism in The Wire: the constant presence of the city as a moral landscape and the rupture of two American myths: working hard will lead anyone to wealth and America as a place of inclusion.
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Wayne (1994) has labelled contemporary TV Series as a “high concept” product, that is, a recognizable object with a modular structure, able to be packaged and replicated. Pescatore & Innocenti (2012) argues how TV Series are no longer... more
Wayne (1994) has labelled contemporary TV Series as a “high concept” product, that is, a recognizable object with a modular structure, able to be packaged and replicated. Pescatore & Innocenti (2012) argues how TV Series are no longer textual objects but the result of a design that shares a high degree of consistency among its constituents, analogous to an ecosystem. A narrative ecosystem can be defined, amongst other features, as open systems formed by stories and characters that change over time and space, holding interconnected structures, and prone to maintain the balance of the fictional universe (Pescatore, Innocenti & Brembilla, 2014).
In this paper we claim that the mise-en-scène is one of the elements keeping the unity of a TV-Series; therefore it could be considered another core element conforming any narrative ecosystem. Mise-en-scène is not only related to visual style but it also helps to create a mood through emotion markers and visual signs exhibiting cognitive metaphors.
In this paper we claim that the mise-en-scène is one of the elements keeping the unity of a TV-Series; therefore it could be considered another core element conforming any narrative ecosystem. Mise-en-scène is not only related to visual style but it also helps to create a mood through emotion markers and visual signs exhibiting cognitive metaphors.
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Paper presented at the "Crime Days, Crime Pays" Conference. 1-2 October, 2015, Aalborg (Denmark)
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The main thesis of this paper is that TV fiction, given its serialized nature, is better equipped to develop a “structure of sympathy” (Smith, 1995, 5) that allows us to identify with morally defective characters who commit crimes, who... more
The main thesis of this paper is that TV fiction, given its serialized nature, is better equipped to develop a “structure of sympathy” (Smith, 1995, 5) that allows us to identify with morally defective characters who commit crimes, who abuse and deceive; the type of person that would repel us in real life. The possibility of expanding a story over many hours allows, as will be discussed, an emotional structure to be constructed that “forces” us to sympathize with protagonists who are not only dramatically complex but also morally contradictory. In other words, what we will investigate is how this moral contradiction influences the narrative engine in many of the most influential contemporary TV series and we will unravel the emotional responses demanded of the viewer.
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[See Slideshare of this paper here: https://www.academia.edu/2036830/Moving_Cities._Documenting_Urban_Space_in_American_TV-Series_2010_] This paper will focus on how some contemporary TV-Series reflect and re-examine several topics... more
[See Slideshare of this paper here: https://www.academia.edu/2036830/Moving_Cities._Documenting_Urban_Space_in_American_TV-Series_2010_]
This paper will focus on how some contemporary TV-Series reflect and re-examine several topics related to the modern city. We will take six complementary dramas and the corresponding urban environments they depict: The Sopranos (New Jersey), Dexter (Miami), The Shield (Los Angeles), CSI (Las Vegas), The Wire (Baltimore) and Rescue Me (New York). With that corpus of cities and shows, we will attempt to study the sociopolitical effects of revealing the landscapes of the centripetal industrial metropolis, the implications of filming in actual localities, the dramatic or ludic presence of what Augé termed “non-places”, and the image of the streets either as an urban jungle where danger lurks at every corner or as a kind idealized vision of America.
This paper will focus on how some contemporary TV-Series reflect and re-examine several topics related to the modern city. We will take six complementary dramas and the corresponding urban environments they depict: The Sopranos (New Jersey), Dexter (Miami), The Shield (Los Angeles), CSI (Las Vegas), The Wire (Baltimore) and Rescue Me (New York). With that corpus of cities and shows, we will attempt to study the sociopolitical effects of revealing the landscapes of the centripetal industrial metropolis, the implications of filming in actual localities, the dramatic or ludic presence of what Augé termed “non-places”, and the image of the streets either as an urban jungle where danger lurks at every corner or as a kind idealized vision of America.
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This paper examines how Spanish television networks are adapting to the Internet’s potential and how they are using the Web as a platform to elaborate and distribute news content. The redesign of the leading commercial networks... more
This paper examines how Spanish television networks are adapting to the Internet’s potential and how they are using the Web as a platform to elaborate and distribute news content. The redesign of the leading commercial networks Telecinco´s and Antena 3’s websites and the launching of an online news service by public channel RTVE indicate that Spanish broadcasters are increasing their convergence with online operations and are developing stronger journalistic offerings. This paper compares the online news services in each of these three networks, with the objective of finding similarities and differences, as well as outlining their main strategies. Using a content analysis methodology, the essential characteristics of online journalism are analysed in each website: multimedia, hypertext, interactivity, user-generated content and social networks. It is also enquired to what extent the journalistic content available in these websites is adapted to the online language or it rather maintains the basic audiovisual structure of conventional television narrative. The production of television and online news also shows an increasing level of newsroom integration in these media. Journalists’ changes in the working systems and routines, as well as their attitudes towards converged news production are explored, with particular emphasis on how it might influence the quality of their journalistic output.
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Seemingly, contemporary factual TV is immersed in a period of progressive hybridation and restylization. Unceasingly, new formats are being developed in order to maintain the attention of the audience. In this sense, it is interesting to... more
Seemingly, contemporary factual TV is immersed in a period of progressive hybridation and restylization. Unceasingly, new formats are being developed in order to maintain the attention of the audience. In this sense, it is interesting to examine how –while staging the real– these new programs are playing with the baudrillardian notion of simulacrum and Nicholsian idea of performativity, key concepts for understanding the narrative and rhetorical strategies displayed within them. In the light of those postmodern concepts, this paper will study the new formats appeared both in the Spanish and British television within the post-Big Brother era, since 2005, in order to define how terms such as “authenticity”, “realism” and “truth” are being distorted and reinvented.
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Análisis de cómo los mecanismos del falso documental se representan en la película "La seducción del caos", realizada por Basilio Martín Patino para TVE en 1992.
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Research Interests: New Media and Journalism
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Outline of the lecture given at the School of Communication and Arts (University of Queensland), within the course "Recent Approaches to Film and Television" (Prof. Ted Nannicelli)
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Pistas, sugerencias, ejemplos y ejercicios prácticos para la escritura en general y la crítica cultural en particular. Power Point empleado en las clases de "Crítica y Comunicación Cultural", Universidad de Navarra-Museo Universidad de... more
Pistas, sugerencias, ejemplos y ejercicios prácticos para la escritura en general y la crítica cultural en particular.
Power Point empleado en las clases de "Crítica y Comunicación Cultural", Universidad de Navarra-Museo Universidad de Navarra, curso 2016 en adelante.
Power Point empleado en las clases de "Crítica y Comunicación Cultural", Universidad de Navarra-Museo Universidad de Navarra, curso 2016 en adelante.
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Las diapositivas empleadas en las 4 horas de clase impartidas en el Máster en Guión de la Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, el 9 de marzo de 2017.
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Guía docente de la nueva asignatura optativa de la Facultad de Comunicación: "Comunicación Cultural", impartida junto con el Museo Universidad de Navarra.
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Power Point empleado en la sexta sesión del Curso de verano "El guión de ficción televisiva. Una introducción al relato serial", impartido por el Máster de Guión de la Universidad de Navarra y la Universidad Miguel Hernández. Alicante,... more
Power Point empleado en la sexta sesión del Curso de verano "El guión de ficción televisiva. Una introducción al relato serial", impartido por el Máster de Guión de la Universidad de Navarra y la Universidad Miguel Hernández.
Alicante, 29-31 de julio de 2013.
Más info: http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/06/18/curso-de-verano-en-alicante-29-31-de-julio/
Alicante, 29-31 de julio de 2013.
Más info: http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/06/18/curso-de-verano-en-alicante-29-31-de-julio/
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Power Point empleado en la tercera sesión del Curso de verano "El guión de ficción televisiva. Una introducción al relato serial", impartido por el Máster de Guión de la Universidad de Navarra y la Universidad Miguel Hernández.... more
Power Point empleado en la tercera sesión del Curso de verano "El guión de ficción televisiva. Una introducción al relato serial", impartido por el Máster de Guión de la Universidad de Navarra y la Universidad Miguel Hernández.
Alicante, 29-31 de julio de 2013.
Más info: http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/06/18/curso-de-verano-en-alicante-29-31-de-julio/
Alicante, 29-31 de julio de 2013.
Más info: http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/06/18/curso-de-verano-en-alicante-29-31-de-julio/
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Primera sesión del Curso de verano "El guión de ficción televisiva. Una introducción al relato serial", impartido por el Máster de Guión de la Universidad de Navarra y la Universidad Miguel Hernández. Alicante, 29-31 de julio de 2013.... more
Primera sesión del Curso de verano "El guión de ficción televisiva. Una introducción al relato serial", impartido por el Máster de Guión de la Universidad de Navarra y la Universidad Miguel Hernández.
Alicante, 29-31 de julio de 2013.
Más info: http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/06/18/curso-de-verano-en-alicante-29-31-de-julio/
Alicante, 29-31 de julio de 2013.
Más info: http://gentedigital.es/comunidad/series/2013/06/18/curso-de-verano-en-alicante-29-31-de-julio/
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El ácido humorista y columnista publica "Woke" firmado con un pseudónimo que encarna a una poeta feminista, vegana, interseccional, polirracial, ecologista y justiciera. Un fenómeno de las redes sociales anglosajonas ha desembarcado en... more
El ácido humorista y columnista publica "Woke" firmado con un pseudónimo que encarna a una poeta feminista, vegana, interseccional, polirracial, ecologista y justiciera.
Un fenómeno de las redes sociales anglosajonas ha desembarcado en España en forma de libro: Woke (Alianza Editorial, 2020). La autora es Titania McGrath, una máscara tuitera inventada por Andrew Doyle, un doctor en poesía renacentista de la Universidad de Oxford… que ha devenido en humorista, guionista y columnista, especialmente preocupado por el diálogo intelectual, la libertad de expresión y el ensanchamiento de lo decible.
Un fenómeno de las redes sociales anglosajonas ha desembarcado en España en forma de libro: Woke (Alianza Editorial, 2020). La autora es Titania McGrath, una máscara tuitera inventada por Andrew Doyle, un doctor en poesía renacentista de la Universidad de Oxford… que ha devenido en humorista, guionista y columnista, especialmente preocupado por el diálogo intelectual, la libertad de expresión y el ensanchamiento de lo decible.
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La Universidad de Yale, y la remodelación de su curso “Introducción a la Historia del Arte: del Renacimiento al presente", son los protagonistas de la controversia última sobre si los principios de visibilidad de determinadas minorías... more
La Universidad de Yale, y la remodelación de su curso “Introducción a la Historia del Arte: del Renacimiento al presente", son los protagonistas de la controversia última sobre si los principios de visibilidad de determinadas minorías deben estar por encima de los criterios académicos.
Canon. Arte. Prejuicio. Eurocentrismo. Inclusividad. Estética. Calidad. Son algunas de las palabras clave de la penúltima polémica del identitarismo en las universidades anglosajonas. Por eso se trata, simplemente, del “penúltimo” episodio: es un asunto que lleva debatiéndose desde el aterrizaje de los post-estructuralistas franceses en las humanidades estadounidenses y que dista de estar cerrado. La Universidad de Yale y la remodelación de su curso “Introducción a la Historia del Arte: del Renacimiento al Presente” son los protagonistas de la controversia más reciente en torno a un dilema docente que podría encapsularse en una pregunta: ¿deben los principios de visibilidad de determinadas minorías estar por encima de los criterios académicos?
Canon. Arte. Prejuicio. Eurocentrismo. Inclusividad. Estética. Calidad. Son algunas de las palabras clave de la penúltima polémica del identitarismo en las universidades anglosajonas. Por eso se trata, simplemente, del “penúltimo” episodio: es un asunto que lleva debatiéndose desde el aterrizaje de los post-estructuralistas franceses en las humanidades estadounidenses y que dista de estar cerrado. La Universidad de Yale y la remodelación de su curso “Introducción a la Historia del Arte: del Renacimiento al Presente” son los protagonistas de la controversia más reciente en torno a un dilema docente que podría encapsularse en una pregunta: ¿deben los principios de visibilidad de determinadas minorías estar por encima de los criterios académicos?
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Este documento presenta las reseñas semanales de la adaptación que HBO ha realizado de "Patria", la aclamada novela de Fernando Aramburu. Realizadas conforme la serie se iba emitiendo, los análisis pretenden combinar la evaluación... more
Este documento presenta las reseñas semanales de la adaptación que HBO ha realizado de "Patria", la aclamada novela de Fernando Aramburu. Realizadas conforme la serie se iba emitiendo, los análisis pretenden combinar la evaluación estética y narrativa con una valoración sociopolítica de cómo la serie trabaja las relaciones entre la realidad y la ficción.
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En los últimos dos años, el escritor canadiense y profesor de Psicología en la Universidad de Toronto Jordan B. Peterson (Edmonton, Canadá, 1962) ha construido un discurso firme y a contracorriente sobre cuestiones controvertidas del... more
En los últimos dos años, el escritor canadiense y profesor de Psicología en la Universidad de Toronto Jordan B. Peterson (Edmonton, Canadá, 1962) ha construido un discurso firme y a contracorriente sobre cuestiones controvertidas del pensamiento actual. Además, lo ha hecho llegar a un público amplio, a través de la distribución en las redes sociales de sus clases, conferencias y publicaciones y del contacto directo con personas que discrepan de sus ideas.
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Un repaso a la cultura de indignación en los campus norteamericanos y más allá. La Universidad, de forma más sonora en países anglosajones, vive uno de sus momentos más frágiles de las últimas décadas. La libertad de expresión –esencial... more
Un repaso a la cultura de indignación en los campus norteamericanos y más allá.
La Universidad, de forma más sonora en países anglosajones, vive uno de sus momentos más frágiles de las últimas décadas. La libertad de expresión –esencial para poder enseñar a pensar– se está achicando, acorralada por la corrección política y la primacía de los sentimientos sobre los hechos.
La Universidad, de forma más sonora en países anglosajones, vive uno de sus momentos más frágiles de las últimas décadas. La libertad de expresión –esencial para poder enseñar a pensar– se está achicando, acorralada por la corrección política y la primacía de los sentimientos sobre los hechos.
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Ensayo divulgativo sobre la serie de televisión "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu, 2017-). En el texto se analiza la exagerada lectura política en la recepción crítica de la serie, se cuestiona la debilidad dramática y, por último, se examinan... more
Ensayo divulgativo sobre la serie de televisión "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu, 2017-). En el texto se analiza la exagerada lectura política en la recepción crítica de la serie, se cuestiona la debilidad dramática y, por último, se examinan las cuestiones estilísticas.
Publicado en mi propia web.
Publicado en mi propia web.
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Siguiendo la estela de la literatura y el cine, los relatos zombis de la televisión han comenzado a proponer muertos vivientes mucho más empáticos, emocionales y complejos.
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Las series de televisión son como una fiesta en la que hay que estar. Desde hace una década, parece que en el café de media mañana en el trabajo uno era un bicho raro si no conocía el último terrorista contra el que luchaba Jack Bauer en... more
Las series de televisión son como una fiesta en la que hay que estar. Desde hace una década, parece que en el café de media mañana en el trabajo uno era un bicho raro si no conocía el último terrorista contra el que luchaba Jack Bauer en 24 o si llevaba retraso en la transformación moral de Walter White en Breaking Bad. Hay a quien se le adivinan las legañas tras una noche “maratoneando” la entretenidísima Fargo o ese otro que aún considera snob reivindicar las bondades de las series nórdicas, como si su popularidad fuera nueva.
Múltiples factores explican esta tercera edad dorada de la televisión, pero no hay duda que la hondura dramática y el grosor moral son la nitroglicerina de este boom. Porque la posibilidad de contar con decenas de horas para desarrollar un relato ha facilitado la generalización del antihéroe en las teleficciones contemporáneas, con el triángulo entre identidad, familia y ambigüedad moral en tensión constante.
Hasta el mismísimo Robert McKee, el padre de los manuales de guión cinematográfico, optó por la sentencia provocativa en una entrevista de 2012 en El País: “Tony Soprano es mucho más complejo que Hamlet porque Hamlet solo dura cuatro horas (…). En Los Soprano hay una vida amorosa, una profesional, están el hogar, el FBI, la esposa, el psiquiatra, las amantes, los enemigos y demás. Creo que el nuevo estándar para las grandes historias será de cien horas y para eso los escritores tendrán que desarrollar personajes muy complejos que sean capaces de sostenerse durante cinco temporadas, a tal punto que en el quinto año ese personaje tome decisiones que no hubiera podido tomar en los cuatro años anteriores”.
Este artículo propone una radiografía –mejor: una ficha policial– de este fenómeno a través de sus personajes imprescindibles. Como toda lista que se precie, la polémica está asegurada, por limitación de espacio y por gustos. Habrá quien eche en falta la carismática rudeza del Daryl Dixon de The Walking Dead o quien piense que El Libanés de Romanzo Criminale ha de estar sí o sí en cualquier lista. El de más allá se indignará de que no haya personajes cómicos como el eterno Sheldon Cooper de The Big Bang Theory o la pizpireta Liz Lemmon de 30 Rock. Pero miremos el lado bueno: hay tantos personajes inolvidables que esto no puede ser más que un aperitivo; el lector decidirá el resto del menú.
Múltiples factores explican esta tercera edad dorada de la televisión, pero no hay duda que la hondura dramática y el grosor moral son la nitroglicerina de este boom. Porque la posibilidad de contar con decenas de horas para desarrollar un relato ha facilitado la generalización del antihéroe en las teleficciones contemporáneas, con el triángulo entre identidad, familia y ambigüedad moral en tensión constante.
Hasta el mismísimo Robert McKee, el padre de los manuales de guión cinematográfico, optó por la sentencia provocativa en una entrevista de 2012 en El País: “Tony Soprano es mucho más complejo que Hamlet porque Hamlet solo dura cuatro horas (…). En Los Soprano hay una vida amorosa, una profesional, están el hogar, el FBI, la esposa, el psiquiatra, las amantes, los enemigos y demás. Creo que el nuevo estándar para las grandes historias será de cien horas y para eso los escritores tendrán que desarrollar personajes muy complejos que sean capaces de sostenerse durante cinco temporadas, a tal punto que en el quinto año ese personaje tome decisiones que no hubiera podido tomar en los cuatro años anteriores”.
Este artículo propone una radiografía –mejor: una ficha policial– de este fenómeno a través de sus personajes imprescindibles. Como toda lista que se precie, la polémica está asegurada, por limitación de espacio y por gustos. Habrá quien eche en falta la carismática rudeza del Daryl Dixon de The Walking Dead o quien piense que El Libanés de Romanzo Criminale ha de estar sí o sí en cualquier lista. El de más allá se indignará de que no haya personajes cómicos como el eterno Sheldon Cooper de The Big Bang Theory o la pizpireta Liz Lemmon de 30 Rock. Pero miremos el lado bueno: hay tantos personajes inolvidables que esto no puede ser más que un aperitivo; el lector decidirá el resto del menú.
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En el condado de Harlan, Kentucky, ser duro no es una opción, sino el primer mandamiento. Raylan Givens es quien mejor predica esa Biblia: “Si me haces desenfundar, te liquido”, avisa ya desde el episodio piloto. Jamás rehúye un duelo ni... more
En el condado de Harlan, Kentucky, ser duro no es una opción, sino el primer mandamiento. Raylan Givens es quien mejor predica esa Biblia: “Si me haces desenfundar, te liquido”, avisa ya desde el episodio piloto. Jamás rehúye un duelo ni pospone una pelea. Con revólver humeante o sin él, Raylan Givens siempre acude puntual a su cita con el peligro.
Seis años después de aquella primera amenaza disfrazada de promesa, Harlan ha cerrado el círculo. Justified –la grandiosa Justified– se despidió sin renunciar a ninguno de los ingredientes que han hecho de ella un bourbon inaudito, de sorbo largo y adictivo: estructura de western, moralidad noir, humanismo a raudales, diálogos sulfúricos, acentos arrastrados, tóxicas herencias paternas y esa intensidad emocional, hirviente, que caracteriza al melodrama sureño. Pero, sobre todo, Justified (en España por Calle 13) entonó su última balada con una sensacional sexta temporada que confirmaba el mantra: en la última década seguro que ha habido series más complejas y profundas, pero ninguna tan gloriosamente entretenida como Justified.
Seis años después de aquella primera amenaza disfrazada de promesa, Harlan ha cerrado el círculo. Justified –la grandiosa Justified– se despidió sin renunciar a ninguno de los ingredientes que han hecho de ella un bourbon inaudito, de sorbo largo y adictivo: estructura de western, moralidad noir, humanismo a raudales, diálogos sulfúricos, acentos arrastrados, tóxicas herencias paternas y esa intensidad emocional, hirviente, que caracteriza al melodrama sureño. Pero, sobre todo, Justified (en España por Calle 13) entonó su última balada con una sensacional sexta temporada que confirmaba el mantra: en la última década seguro que ha habido series más complejas y profundas, pero ninguna tan gloriosamente entretenida como Justified.
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Artículo divulgativo sobre la serie 'Apparitions' (BBC, 2008), escrito para un número en papel de la revista Jot Down centrado en el color negro.
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No hay ficción televisiva que se abra y se cierre mejor que The Shield. El primer asalto es salvaje: una crochet de realismo sucio y adrenalina en la jungla de asfalto, una hora que castiga el hígado hasta noquearte. «Lo del poli bueno y... more
No hay ficción televisiva que se abra y se cierre mejor que The Shield. El primer asalto es salvaje: una crochet de realismo sucio y adrenalina en la jungla de asfalto, una hora que castiga el hígado hasta noquearte. «Lo del poli bueno y el poli malo se acabó por hoy. Yo soy un tipo de policía diferente», clama Vic Mackey antes de partirle los dientes a un pederasta en la sala de interrogación.
Como el protagonista, The Shield (FX, 2002-08) también es un relato diferente, arriesgado, que aspira a contar «esas historias que podías ver en The Shield y no encontrar en ninguna otra serie», como confesaba su creador, Shawn Ryan. Unas veces empleando la sutileza del planchazo en la cara y otras optando por la suavidad del tiro en la cabeza. Enérgica, brutal y ambigua hasta lo insoportable, la trama agarra al espectador por las pelotas y no lo suelta hasta su imborrable adiós, el más deslumbrante que ha ofrecido la serialidad contemporánea. Siempre fue un chute adictivo y cañero, pero su séptima y última temporada —capaz de competir en agonía e intensidad con la quinta de Breaking Bad— la aupó al Olimpo, multiplicando el sentido narrativo y la implicación emocional del viaje que el espectador había recorrido con los personajes.
Como el protagonista, The Shield (FX, 2002-08) también es un relato diferente, arriesgado, que aspira a contar «esas historias que podías ver en The Shield y no encontrar en ninguna otra serie», como confesaba su creador, Shawn Ryan. Unas veces empleando la sutileza del planchazo en la cara y otras optando por la suavidad del tiro en la cabeza. Enérgica, brutal y ambigua hasta lo insoportable, la trama agarra al espectador por las pelotas y no lo suelta hasta su imborrable adiós, el más deslumbrante que ha ofrecido la serialidad contemporánea. Siempre fue un chute adictivo y cañero, pero su séptima y última temporada —capaz de competir en agonía e intensidad con la quinta de Breaking Bad— la aupó al Olimpo, multiplicando el sentido narrativo y la implicación emocional del viaje que el espectador había recorrido con los personajes.
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Research Interests: Cinema Studies and Avatar
'Fargo', 'True Detective' o 'American Horror Story' han levantado la veda de un formato en auge.
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Durante este 2007 se están estrenando las nuevas películas de Mel Gibson, Robert de Niro, Clint Eastwood, Emilio Estévez, Ethan Hawke, Ben Affleck o Sean Penn. ¿Y eso es noticia? Sí, si son ellos quienes gritan ¡corten! desde detrás de... more
Durante este 2007 se están estrenando las nuevas películas de Mel Gibson, Robert de Niro, Clint Eastwood, Emilio Estévez, Ethan Hawke, Ben Affleck o Sean Penn. ¿Y eso es noticia? Sí, si son ellos quienes gritan ¡corten! desde detrás de las cámaras. Hoy quedan pocos actores, de los de verdad, que no se hayan dejado seducir por la dirección. Todo un desafío. Unos lo superaron con éxito, otros sin pena ni gloria ni taquilla; incluso hay quien se ha empezado a mover con más soltura entre las claquetas que con los caprichos de las estrellas que un día fueron. Son los “diractores”, los actores que han transitado por los caminos de la dirección cinematográfica.
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10 razones para entender por qué la ficción televisiva británica goza de tan buena salud.
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Artículo breve sobre los límites de la imagen cinematográfica para la representación de la realidad.
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«Imagine el fantástico bestiario de Borges tomando el té con Alicia. Imagine a Jonathan Swift y James Thurber intercambiando notas. Imagine a una rana del Condado de Calaveras que hubiera leído realmente a Mark Twain: he aquí Monterroso.»... more
«Imagine el fantástico bestiario de Borges tomando el té con Alicia. Imagine a Jonathan Swift y James Thurber intercambiando notas. Imagine a una rana del Condado de Calaveras que hubiera leído realmente a Mark Twain: he aquí Monterroso.» Así define el escritor mexicano Carlos Fuentes al Premio Príncipe de Asturias de 2000, Augusto "Tito" Monterroso.
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Diapositivas de la charla impartida a padres de adolescentes explicando las inmensas posibilidades de buen entretenimiento televisivo que ofrecen las plataformas en la actualidad y reflexionando sobre el estado actual de la serialidad.
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Conferencia inaugural de la Semana de la Imagen 2020 de la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (SIMUFV). El Congreso llevaba por título "Cada imagen es un mundo". La charla tuvo lugar el 5 de marzo de 2020. Se puede acceder a las... more
Conferencia inaugural de la Semana de la Imagen 2020 de la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (SIMUFV). El Congreso llevaba por título "Cada imagen es un mundo".
La charla tuvo lugar el 5 de marzo de 2020.
Se puede acceder a las diapositivas empleadas en mi perfil de academia.edu.
La charla tuvo lugar el 5 de marzo de 2020.
Se puede acceder a las diapositivas empleadas en mi perfil de academia.edu.
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Sesión impartida en el VII Encuentro anual del Institute for Culture and Society (ICS): “Desarrollo y vínculos sociales (I): aproximaciones a la felicidad”. Pamplona, 16 Noviembre 2017.
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This is the seminar I gave in the School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, on the 20th of April, 2018. https://communication-arts.uq.edu.au/event/session/2904 Abstract: This talk explores how some recent American... more
This is the seminar I gave in the School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, on the 20th of April, 2018.
https://communication-arts.uq.edu.au/event/session/2904
Abstract:
This talk explores how some recent American TV crime dramas that can be specifically labelled as 'noir' address the issue of hope and redemption by undermining one of the main thematic and ideological features that both spectators and critics tend to assign to noir narratives – i.e., the logic of hopelessness, of “no way out”, to paraphrase Porfirio’s classic article (1996). In what I have coined as “Bright Noir”, several recent, influential and popular TV noir series offer stories in which brave protagonists achieve a positive outcome and defeat evil while fulfilling a higher purpose or attaining an honourable end.
To approach this idea, I first recall that existentialism and moral alienation became essential features of film noir, which remains a controversial term. I then explain the sociological and artistic reasons that have led to this wave of morally hopeful noir. Finally, this thesis is demonstrated with in-depth analysis of key series from recent American TV crime fiction, with particular attention given to Justified (FX, 2010–15) and Fargo (FX, 2013-).
https://communication-arts.uq.edu.au/event/session/2904
Abstract:
This talk explores how some recent American TV crime dramas that can be specifically labelled as 'noir' address the issue of hope and redemption by undermining one of the main thematic and ideological features that both spectators and critics tend to assign to noir narratives – i.e., the logic of hopelessness, of “no way out”, to paraphrase Porfirio’s classic article (1996). In what I have coined as “Bright Noir”, several recent, influential and popular TV noir series offer stories in which brave protagonists achieve a positive outcome and defeat evil while fulfilling a higher purpose or attaining an honourable end.
To approach this idea, I first recall that existentialism and moral alienation became essential features of film noir, which remains a controversial term. I then explain the sociological and artistic reasons that have led to this wave of morally hopeful noir. Finally, this thesis is demonstrated with in-depth analysis of key series from recent American TV crime fiction, with particular attention given to Justified (FX, 2010–15) and Fargo (FX, 2013-).
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From the MOOC: https://miriadax.net/web/la-3-edad-de-oro-tv I was interviewed about the acclaimed TV-Series "The Wire". I explain my view on the HBO show about topics such as its narrative form, its realistic approach, its political... more
From the MOOC: https://miriadax.net/web/la-3-edad-de-oro-tv
I was interviewed about the acclaimed TV-Series "The Wire". I explain my view on the HBO show about topics such as its narrative form, its realistic approach, its political implications, its production process...
It was recorded via skype, on spring 2014, and was part of the MOOC "La 3ª edad de oro de la televisión" (Unidad 2: El inicio de la serie"), organized by Jorge Carrión and Carlos Scolari, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
I was interviewed about the acclaimed TV-Series "The Wire". I explain my view on the HBO show about topics such as its narrative form, its realistic approach, its political implications, its production process...
It was recorded via skype, on spring 2014, and was part of the MOOC "La 3ª edad de oro de la televisión" (Unidad 2: El inicio de la serie"), organized by Jorge Carrión and Carlos Scolari, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
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Calle 13, el canal producido por Universal Networks International, presentó la tercera temporada de JUSTIFIED (FX) el lunes 11 de febrero de 2013 a las 20.30 horas en la sala de cine de Sony Pictures. Después del visionado, Alberto... more
Calle 13, el canal producido por Universal Networks International, presentó la tercera temporada de JUSTIFIED (FX) el lunes 11 de febrero de 2013 a las 20.30 horas en la sala de cine de Sony Pictures.
Después del visionado, Alberto Nahum García, profesor de la Universidad de Navarra y autor del blog "Diamantes en serie" charló con Juan Carlos Galindo, coordinador del blog "Elemental" de El País.es para profundizar tanto en los detalles de la serie como en otras adaptaciones del género negro literario en televisión. El debate fue moderado por Alberto Rey, autor del blog "Asesino en serie".
Después del visionado, Alberto Nahum García, profesor de la Universidad de Navarra y autor del blog "Diamantes en serie" charló con Juan Carlos Galindo, coordinador del blog "Elemental" de El País.es para profundizar tanto en los detalles de la serie como en otras adaptaciones del género negro literario en televisión. El debate fue moderado por Alberto Rey, autor del blog "Asesino en serie".
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Me entrevistó la periodista Nerea Alejos para la sección de Cultura del Diario de Navarra.
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Interview made by Anderson Lopes da Silva for the Vol. 13 of the Brasilian academic journal "AÇÃO MIDIÁTICA - Estudos em Comunicação, Sociedade e Cultura" (June 2017, pp. 279-293). Abstract: In this interview the researcher Alberto... more
Interview made by Anderson Lopes da Silva for the Vol. 13 of the Brasilian academic journal "AÇÃO MIDIÁTICA - Estudos em Comunicação, Sociedade e Cultura" (June 2017, pp. 279-293).
Abstract: In this interview the researcher Alberto Nahum García
Martínez (University of Navarra, Spain) discuss the importance of
research on television series in the Spanish academic outlook and, in
a specifically way, discusses two of the themes that has attracted him
attention in the most recent works on audiovisual market: the issue of
emotion in the TV shows and the peculiar figure of the “sentimentalized
undead/zombie” as a phenomenon of the television productions.
Finally, as a background to the discussions on the television series, the
spanish researcher debating issues such as glocalization and new logics
of production, distribution, display and consumption of audiovisual
in streaming platforms.
Abstract: In this interview the researcher Alberto Nahum García
Martínez (University of Navarra, Spain) discuss the importance of
research on television series in the Spanish academic outlook and, in
a specifically way, discusses two of the themes that has attracted him
attention in the most recent works on audiovisual market: the issue of
emotion in the TV shows and the peculiar figure of the “sentimentalized
undead/zombie” as a phenomenon of the television productions.
Finally, as a background to the discussions on the television series, the
spanish researcher debating issues such as glocalization and new logics
of production, distribution, display and consumption of audiovisual
in streaming platforms.
Research Interests:
Comentando algunas de las tendencias y series más relevantes de la temporada.
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Entrevista realizada en junio de 2011, durante las clases impartidas en la Universidad de los Andes (Chile). Alberto Nahúm García, subdirector del MGA --Máster en Guión Audiovisual- de la Universidad de Navarra, España, profesor del... more
Entrevista realizada en junio de 2011, durante las clases impartidas en la Universidad de los Andes (Chile).
Alberto Nahúm García, subdirector del MGA --Máster en Guión Audiovisual- de la Universidad de Navarra, España, profesor del módulo "Las claves del éxito de las series anglosajonas" en el Máster en Guión y Desarrollo Audiovisual.
Alberto Nahúm García, subdirector del MGA --Máster en Guión Audiovisual- de la Universidad de Navarra, España, profesor del módulo "Las claves del éxito de las series anglosajonas" en el Máster en Guión y Desarrollo Audiovisual.
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Entrevista realizada por Rafael Castrillo, a raíz de la publicación del volumen "Emotions in Contemporary TV Series" (Palgrave, 2016)
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Entrevista realizada en el magazine de tarde de Navarra TV, el 20 de enero de 2016, para hablar de algunas de las tendencias y series relevantes para este año.
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Entrevista realizada en el programa de Carlos Herrera, sobre el triunfo de "Juego de tronos" en los Emmy 2015.
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Entrevista realizada por el guionista Javier Meléndez para su blog "La solución elegante".
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Entrevista realizada por David Cano para la revista Magma.
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En Hora 25 hablamos del boom de las series de televisión. Alberto Nahum García y José Manuel Romero analiza a qué se debe esta edad de oro que estos contenidos televisivos están viviendo. A principios de los 90, David Lynch con Twin Peaks... more
En Hora 25 hablamos del boom de las series de televisión. Alberto Nahum García y José Manuel Romero analiza a qué se debe esta edad de oro que estos contenidos televisivos están viviendo. A principios de los 90, David Lynch con Twin Peaks revolucionaba el mundo de las series de televisión en Estados Unidos, y después, en el resto del mundo. Violencia, humor, tramas y subtramas, relaciones secretas, amor, dinero y poder. Fue un salto en la ficción televisiva que a nadie dejo impasible.
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(A partir del minuto 9)
Entrevista realizada el martes 17 de febrero, a raíz del ciclo de conferencias "Pamplona en serie", organizado por la red Civivox del Ayuntamiento de Pamplona.
Entrevista realizada el martes 17 de febrero, a raíz del ciclo de conferencias "Pamplona en serie", organizado por la red Civivox del Ayuntamiento de Pamplona.
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The 35th International Communication Conference (CICOM) of the School of Communication of the University of Navarra will be held on the 24th and 25th of June 2020 in Pamplona, Spain. The Conference is organized by the School of... more
The 35th International Communication Conference (CICOM) of the School of Communication of the University of Navarra will be held on the 24th and 25th of June 2020 in Pamplona, Spain.
The Conference is organized by the School of Communication of the University of Navarra in collaboration with the Research Project “Interacciones entre valores cognitivos y propiedades estéticas en las serialidad contemporánea” (Interactions between cognitive and aesthetic values in contemporary seriality).
In order to ensure timely notification of shortlisted delegates and subsequent travel planning, please note the deadline for the submission of all proposals/abstracts by March 15, 2020 (see details below).
* * *
The theme of CICOM 35 is “Genre and Series: Hybridisation Aesthetics”.
Genre theory is a well-trodden field in literature, cinema, and, more recently, television. Genre on the “small screen”, especially in the US, has traditionally been institutionalised through strict format stipulations (e.g., episode length and number), speciality channels, awards categories, etc.
However, the impressive amount of original scripted content airing—or streaming—in the current entertainment landscape is historically unparalleled. Industry research carried out in the US shows that 2019 peaked with 532 shows available to consumers (FX Networks Research), confirming the growing tendency from previous years. Much of this is owed to the increase in production from OTT services and digital platforms, some of which seem to be more eager to experiment with new formats, series structures, and genres.
Amidst such fierce competition, creative innovation is a necessity for networks and content brands. To this end, genre hybridisation appears to be one of the most frequent means. Nevertheless, several questions arise: Has this wave of widespread competition brought a boom in genre hybridisation? Does it represent any aesthetically important advances? Is it possible to single out any generic new trend or aesthetic phenomena of particular relevance?
Against this backdrop, we invite proposals for papers concerned with the relationship between aesthetic and cognitive values in increasingly cross-pollinated genre shows. We encourage, although not required, approaches from the field of cognitive media studies entering a dialogue with traditional genre theory, narrative analysis, TV studies, and the emerging field of TV aesthetics.
We are particularly interested in abstracts for presentations on (but not limited to) the following topics:
• Generic innovation from OTT services and digital content brands: Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube Originals, etc.
• Generic evolution across seasons of long-running TV shows
• Experimentation in “special” episodes: breaking away from the reader’s contract
• Dissolution of generic boundaries in peak-TV
• Aesthetic innovation in genre hybrids, paying particular attention to new content brands
• Aesthetic evolution across genre phases: classical, revisionist, mannerist, deconstructive
• Genre hybridisation as cognitive framing
• Genre alternation in anthology TV series and limited series
• Awards controversies vis-à-vis genre hybridisation
These topic suggestions are not exclusive and are meant to foster academic reflection around the central theme of the Conference. Other approaches to the subject matter are welcome and will be equally considered by the scientific and organizing committees.
* * *
Submission of abstracts
Abstracts no longer than 300 words can be sent as either a Word or PDF file to albgarcia@unav.es, including a brief author bio.
Deadline for submission of all proposals: March 15, 2020. Earlier submissions are most welcome.
The Committee’s decision regarding which papers are accepted will be made before March 30, 2020.
All presentations must be original research conducted by the presenter and delivered in person. Two presenters are allowed for co-written papers. The language of the Conference is English.
Website and registration
The CICOM 35 website will go live within a few weeks from the posting of this call for papers. It will include useful information about registration, travel arrangements, and accommodation. Subsequently, it will also display the programme of the Conference.
Organizing committee
• Dr. Alberto Nahum García, Associate Professor
• Dr. Pablo Echart Orús, Associate Professor
• Dr. Pablo Castrillo, Assistant Professor
Please address any query regarding abstracts, registration or program to albgarcia@unav.es.
The Conference is organized by the School of Communication of the University of Navarra in collaboration with the Research Project “Interacciones entre valores cognitivos y propiedades estéticas en las serialidad contemporánea” (Interactions between cognitive and aesthetic values in contemporary seriality).
In order to ensure timely notification of shortlisted delegates and subsequent travel planning, please note the deadline for the submission of all proposals/abstracts by March 15, 2020 (see details below).
* * *
The theme of CICOM 35 is “Genre and Series: Hybridisation Aesthetics”.
Genre theory is a well-trodden field in literature, cinema, and, more recently, television. Genre on the “small screen”, especially in the US, has traditionally been institutionalised through strict format stipulations (e.g., episode length and number), speciality channels, awards categories, etc.
However, the impressive amount of original scripted content airing—or streaming—in the current entertainment landscape is historically unparalleled. Industry research carried out in the US shows that 2019 peaked with 532 shows available to consumers (FX Networks Research), confirming the growing tendency from previous years. Much of this is owed to the increase in production from OTT services and digital platforms, some of which seem to be more eager to experiment with new formats, series structures, and genres.
Amidst such fierce competition, creative innovation is a necessity for networks and content brands. To this end, genre hybridisation appears to be one of the most frequent means. Nevertheless, several questions arise: Has this wave of widespread competition brought a boom in genre hybridisation? Does it represent any aesthetically important advances? Is it possible to single out any generic new trend or aesthetic phenomena of particular relevance?
Against this backdrop, we invite proposals for papers concerned with the relationship between aesthetic and cognitive values in increasingly cross-pollinated genre shows. We encourage, although not required, approaches from the field of cognitive media studies entering a dialogue with traditional genre theory, narrative analysis, TV studies, and the emerging field of TV aesthetics.
We are particularly interested in abstracts for presentations on (but not limited to) the following topics:
• Generic innovation from OTT services and digital content brands: Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube Originals, etc.
• Generic evolution across seasons of long-running TV shows
• Experimentation in “special” episodes: breaking away from the reader’s contract
• Dissolution of generic boundaries in peak-TV
• Aesthetic innovation in genre hybrids, paying particular attention to new content brands
• Aesthetic evolution across genre phases: classical, revisionist, mannerist, deconstructive
• Genre hybridisation as cognitive framing
• Genre alternation in anthology TV series and limited series
• Awards controversies vis-à-vis genre hybridisation
These topic suggestions are not exclusive and are meant to foster academic reflection around the central theme of the Conference. Other approaches to the subject matter are welcome and will be equally considered by the scientific and organizing committees.
* * *
Submission of abstracts
Abstracts no longer than 300 words can be sent as either a Word or PDF file to albgarcia@unav.es, including a brief author bio.
Deadline for submission of all proposals: March 15, 2020. Earlier submissions are most welcome.
The Committee’s decision regarding which papers are accepted will be made before March 30, 2020.
All presentations must be original research conducted by the presenter and delivered in person. Two presenters are allowed for co-written papers. The language of the Conference is English.
Website and registration
The CICOM 35 website will go live within a few weeks from the posting of this call for papers. It will include useful information about registration, travel arrangements, and accommodation. Subsequently, it will also display the programme of the Conference.
Organizing committee
• Dr. Alberto Nahum García, Associate Professor
• Dr. Pablo Echart Orús, Associate Professor
• Dr. Pablo Castrillo, Assistant Professor
Please address any query regarding abstracts, registration or program to albgarcia@unav.es.
Research Interests:
We are pleased to announce the Conference: TV Supervillains. Comics Ecosystems on Television: The Cognitive Impact of Supervillains Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), February 12-14, 2020 We invite you to participate in the TV Supervillains... more
We are pleased to announce the Conference:
TV Supervillains. Comics Ecosystems on Television: The Cognitive Impact of Supervillains
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), February 12-14, 2020
We invite you to participate in the TV Supervillains Conference. Comics Ecosystems on Television: The Cognitive Impact of Supervillains, which will take place in the School of Communication (Av. Americo Vespucio, s/n. 41092-Sevilla) on February 12 to 14, 2020.
TV Supervillains. Comics Ecosystems on Television: The Cognitive Impact of Supervillains
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), February 12-14, 2020
We invite you to participate in the TV Supervillains Conference. Comics Ecosystems on Television: The Cognitive Impact of Supervillains, which will take place in the School of Communication (Av. Americo Vespucio, s/n. 41092-Sevilla) on February 12 to 14, 2020.
Research Interests:
Call for Papers. The aim of this international conference is to explore the relationship between television series and the arts. While the interaction of TV programs with the fields of cinema and literature has been studied for some... more
Call for Papers.
The aim of this international conference is to explore the relationship between television series and the arts. While the interaction of TV programs with the fields of cinema and literature has been studied for some time, there is now a promising, interdisciplinary field of research connecting contemporary TV series to other artistic fields such as architecture, sculpture, painting, music and dance.
We therefore invite reflections from television scholars on the narrative, aesthetic, social or cultural values of art in TV series. We also seek to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue, whereby scholars from fields such as the history of art and design, musicology, architecture and urbanism, photography or aesthetics can share their expertise to enrich our understanding of how the arts shape our experience as spectators. The purpose of this conference is to encourage critical analysis of the traffic of ideas, narratives and aesthetics between the arts and television serials, promoting studies that can identify phenomena of interest.
The aim of this international conference is to explore the relationship between television series and the arts. While the interaction of TV programs with the fields of cinema and literature has been studied for some time, there is now a promising, interdisciplinary field of research connecting contemporary TV series to other artistic fields such as architecture, sculpture, painting, music and dance.
We therefore invite reflections from television scholars on the narrative, aesthetic, social or cultural values of art in TV series. We also seek to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue, whereby scholars from fields such as the history of art and design, musicology, architecture and urbanism, photography or aesthetics can share their expertise to enrich our understanding of how the arts shape our experience as spectators. The purpose of this conference is to encourage critical analysis of the traffic of ideas, narratives and aesthetics between the arts and television serials, promoting studies that can identify phenomena of interest.