Archive for October 2022

[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]

[Commlist] CFP The Ethics of TV series' aesthetics

Tue Oct 04 21:34:33 GMT 2022






*/The Ethics of TV series’ Aesthetics/*

**

*Conference, October 5th and 6th, 2023*

Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3

RIRRA21, EMMA, IUF

Organization board: Claire Cornillon, Sarah Hatchuel, Monica Michlin, David Roche,

Advisory board: Julien Achemchame (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3), Luca Barra (Università di Bologna), Paola Brembilla (Università di Bologna), Samuel Chambers (Johns Hopkins University), Claire Cornillon (Université de Nîmes), Florent Favard (Université de Lorraine), Sarah Hatchuel (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3), Monica Michlin (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3), Ariane Hudelet (Université Paris-Cité), David Roche (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Institut Universitaire de France), Sarah Sepulchre (Université catholique de Louvain), Guillaume Soulez (Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle)

In her book /Nos vies en series/ (2019) and an issue of /Open Philosophy/ (2021-22), Sandra Laugier invites us to understand how television shows, through their duration and the various kinds of attachment they elicit, may educate viewers morally and make them attentive to what seems to be unremarkable within ordinary life. Her work focuses on situations, dialogues, gestures, dilemmas, identity politics and (political or moral) choices made by (groups of) characters, but it does not necessarily take into account the way specific narrative structures may encourage spectators to adopt a particular ethical view. Similarly, Skorin-Kapov (2019) and Watson and Arp (2011) engage with ethical issues through film or television; but do not address the very ethics of film or television.

The aim of this conference is precisely to focus on the ethics involved in the aesthetics and narration of tv series. The logics of seriality are indeed multiple and historicized: they establish models that are both inscribed in patterns recognizable from one series to another and specific to a single series. Yet these models produce meaning, particularly in ethical terms.

From formula to semi-serialized or serialized shows, each type of audiovisual serial narrations opens up a specific space for ideological and ethical negotiation, for instance regarding the status of characters, the interaction of characters with various forms of space, the show’s inscription in time, the relationship between the narrative structure and a logic of causality and/or contingency.

Even if semi-serialized shows construct strong serial arcs, they seem to maintain the importance of the episode as a metaphor of human beings in their very individualities and specificities (Cornillon/Hatchuel 2020). For instance, in /E.R./, NBC, 1994-2009, it is precisely through the time devoted to everyday life, rather than to the overarching storylines, that patients get to exist within the diegesis. The very fact that the series creates a balance between serialized storylines and formulaic ones asserts an ideological position regarding alterity and empathy. In the space of the episode, what we already know (about the doctors or the nurses) and what we do not know (about the new patients) are connected: we are encouraged to care for “others” in order to evolve. In /Person of Interest /(CBS, 2011-2016), the fight between the two super-computers reflects the tension between the two major dynamics at work in serial writing – that which favours the macro/serial arc with its recurring, evolving heroes and that which concentrates on the micro/formulaic arc hosting many non-recurring characters, for instance in the form of guest stars.While the series unfolds serial arcs that build a true mythology for the series, /Person of Interest/ also preserves its most formulaic aspects. In its last season, at a point when the heroes would like to fight exclusively against computer Samaritan, the Machine keeps sending them the Social Security numbers of unknown individuals whose lives may be in danger. Our desire to experience a serial narrative freed from the usual “case of the week”, is thus constantly frustrated. But the strength of the series is that it inspires within us a commitment and attachment to the formulaic format, because if we reject the numbers, if we disparage the week’s “person of interest”, we become exactly like Samaritan, endorsing a dehumanizing ideology in which some individuals “don’t count” or count less than others. /Person of Interest/ thus creates a tension between our wish to see the Machine evolve (and the narrative become more complex) and the necessary awareness that each life (each episode) is invaluable. The show appears, therefore, as an ethical justification of formulaic repetition versus the powerful forces of evolving seriality.In this case, the “persons of interest” come to represent and anchor the viewers themselves within the story world. In this process, the expression “person of interest” is invested in a new meaning: beyond the usual meaning of “person the police is trying to locate” or “potential suspect”, it can signify, in the context of the series, “person of true interest to us”, “person that we (must) care about”, “person that we cannot give up on”.

What about other serial forms? To what extent is a series or an episode driven by the aim of a certain conception of a “good life” (Taylor 1989; Ricoeur 1990, 1995)? What ethical positioning can be implied by such and such variations on the soap opera’s extreme serialization or on the sitcom's conditions of production? How can we situate ourselves in a story where everything always starts from scratch at the episode level? What do tensions between narrative forms (e.g. serial versus formulaic) within a series say about its ethical project? What does the evolution of aesthetics and/or narrative structure within the same series reveal about its ethical position? How can power relations, violence and voyeurism be treated in a particular serial aesthetic? How can series by the same showrunner respond to each other on an ethical level – for instance, is /Better Call Saul/ an ethical response to /Breaking Bad/? Is /The Leftovers/ a cynical nod to the disappointed audience of /LOST/?

In the wake of GUEST's work, we are soliciting by *30 January 2023* proposals for 30-minute papers (abstract of 300 words with a biographical note of 100 words to be sent to (sarah.hatchuel /at/ univ-montp3.fr) <mailto:(sarah.hatchuel /at/ univ-montp3.fr)>and (claire.cornillon /at/ unimes.fr) <mailto:(claire.cornillon /at/ unimes.fr)>) on one or more series, in a pluri- and interdisciplinary perspective. The "tv series" object must however remain at the centre of the analyses. The choice of less studied series, such as older series, will be particularly appreciated.

References

Chambers, Samuel Allen (2009). /The Queer Politics of Television/. London: I. B. Tauris, coll.  « Reading contemporary television ».

Cornillon, Claire (2017). “La fin d’/Angel/ ou le primat de l’épisodique”. /La Forge numérique/ (MSH Caen), http://www.unicaen.fr/recherche/mrsh/forge/4398 <http://www.unicaen.fr/recherche/mrsh/forge/4398>.

Cornillon, Claire (2018). “Opening credits”. /Episodique/. https://episodique.hypotheses.org/158 <https://episodique.hypotheses.org/158>.

Cornillon, Claire (2019). “La forme semi-feuilletonnante formulaire : l’exemple d’/Ally McBeal/”. /TV/Series /15, https://journals.openedition.org/tvseries/3400 <https://journals.openedition.org/tvseries/3400>.

Cornillon, Claire and Sarah Hatchuel (2020). “Analysing Semi-Serialized Television Fictions: the Ethical Stakes of Narrative Structures”, /SERIES/, VI.1, 57-64, https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454x/10393 <https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454x/10393>.

Dunleavy, Trishia (2018). /Complex Serial Drama and Multiplatform Television/. New York: Routledge.

Esquenazi, Jean-Pierre (2017). /Éléments pour l’analyse des séries/. Paris: L’Harmattan.

Favard, Florent (2018). /Ecrire une série tv: La promesse du dénouement/. Tours: Presses universitaires François Rabelais.

Glevarec, Hervé (2012). /La Sériephilie : Sociologie d’un attachement culturel/. Paris: Ellipses.

Hatchuel, Sarah (2018). “Nous vivons dans un rêve genré : ce que /Twin Peaks/ fait aux femmes.” In Sarah Hatchuel (ed.), /Twin Peaks: à l’intérieur du rêve/. Lormont: Le Bord de l’eau, 187-204.

Hatchuel, Sarah and Pacôme Thiellement (2019). /The Leftovers : le troisième côté du miroir/. Paris: Playlist Society.

Laugier, Sandra (2014). “L’éthique comme attention à ce qui compte.” In//Yves Citton (ed.), /L’Economie de l’attention/. Paris: La Découverte.

Laugier, Sandra (2019). /Nos vies en séries/. Paris: Climats.

Laugier Sandra, ed. (2021-22). “Ethics and Politics of TV Series”, /Open Philosophy/, https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/opphil/5/1/html <https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/opphil/5/1/html>.

Lifschutz, Vladimir (2018). /This is the end: Finir une série tv/. Tours: Presses universitaires François Rabelais.

Mittell, Jason (2015). /Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling/. New York and London: New York University Press.

Ricœur, Paul (1990). /Soi-même comme un autre/. Paris: Seuil.

Ricoeur, Paul (1995). /Le Juste/. Paris: Esprit.

Sinnerbrink, Robert (2016). /Cinematic Ethics: Exploring Ethical Experience through Film/. London: Routledge.

Soulez, Guillaume (2013). “La délibération des images. Vers une nouvelle pragmatique du cinéma et de l’audiovisuel”. /Communica//tion & langages/, 176, 3‑32.

Skorin-Kapov, Jadranka (2019). /Professional and Business Ethics Through Film: The Allure of Cinematic Presentation and Critical Thinking/. Cham.

Taylor, Charles (1989). /Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity/. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Watson Carlin, Jamie and Robert Arp (2011). /What’s Good on TV?/: /Understanding Ethics Through Television/. New York.//

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------




[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]