Sociology of TV series

The objective of the course is to study Anglophone TV series (including occasionally sitcoms, mostly from the United
States, but occasionally also from Great Britain and Canada) and better understand the ways in which they echo and
comment on the world of audiences. In their own varied and specific ways, these series not only reflect but try to
make sense of their social, political and economic environment and to produce meaning(s) for their audiences. Our
goal will be to understand the many ways they can do so, from aesthetic, narrative, thematic and ideological
perspectives as these can hardly be separated – although we will focus on the thematic, social and ideological
perspectives. We will rely on critical and theoretical tools and concepts from a variety of authors and schools of
thought to discuss the representation(s) in these series of key issues. Weekly classes will consist of micro-analyses of
scenes or sequences (including the opening credits), sometimes individual shots. The marketing paratext will
occasionally be discussed (e.g., posters). We will try to understand in exactly what ways can TV series address topical
issues and offer relevant commentaries for their audiences. This include discussing the nature of these audiences
and taking into account the industrial context behind these individual series (who made and funded them, on which
networks or platforms they are shown, at what time, etc.)