Transgressive Television

Politics and Crime in 21st-Century American TV Series. Edited by Birgit Däwes, Alexandra Ganser and Nicole Poppenhagen.

Since the turn of the 21st century, the landscape of television has decisively changed. Whereas seriality had been part and parcel of television entertainment since the 1940s, the past two decades have witnessed the rise of new technologies and increasingly »complex and elaborate forms« (Jason Mittell), with HBO and Netflix playing leading roles. Particularly in its manifold transgressions of political, social, and ethical boundaries, the contemporary American TV serial serves as both a laboratory for and diagnostic platform of current epistemes and ideological codes. In 15 interdisciplinary perspectives from the United States and Europe, this volume provides a critical diagnosis of the genre's politics of gender and ethnicity, difference, normativity and representational control. Contesting the popular term 'quality TV', this volume provides original work on TV series as diverse as "Twin Peaks", "The Sopranos", "Breaking Bad", "The Wire", "House of Cards", "Homeland", and many others. 358 Seiten mit 5 Abb., gebunden (American Studies - A Monograph Series; Vol. 264/Universitätsverlag Winter 2015)