UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES FACULTÉ DE PHILOSOPHIE ET LETTRES
Section Langues et Lettres
A Critical Analysis of Ideological Narratives in Contemporary US Network Television Series
Thèse présentée en vue de l’obtention du grade de
Docteur en Philosophie et Lettres, orientation Langues et Lettres.
par Mathieu de Wasseige
Promoteur :
Le Professeur Christophe Den Tandt
Année académique 2010-2011
Content
Introduction………1
1. Cultural Studies, the Popular, Ideology and Representation………8
1.1 Mass Culture and the Popular………..9
1.2 Politics and Ideology ... 13
1.3 Power and Knowledge ... 21
1.4 Containment and Resistance, Encoding and Decoding ... 24
1.5 Popular Culture as a Means of Empowerment ... 28
1.6 Jameson, Postmodernism and Utopia ... 32
2 Television, Television Studies and Series ... 38
2.1 Television ... 39
2.2 Television Studies ... 54
2.3 US Series in Context ... 62
3 National Security and Terrorism ... 74
3.1 Political Anchorage and Ideological Containment ... 75
3.1.1 24 ... 78
3.1.2 The West Wing ... 81
3.2 Narrative Dynamics ... 84
3.2.1 24 ... 84
3.2.2 The West Wing ... 127
4 Gender and sexuality ... 144
Gender in 24 and The West Wing ... 148
4.1 Desperate Housewives ... 166
4.1.1 Context and political anchorage ... 166
4.1.2 Strong female characters ... 171
4.2 Grey’s Anatomy ... 192
4.2.1 Political anchorage ... 195
4.2.2 Strong Female Characters ... 203
4.2.3 Sexuality ... 209
5 Representing the Social Margins ... 219
24 and The West Wing ... 221
Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy ... 233
5.1 CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) ... 238
5.1.1 Political Anchorage ... 242
5.1.2 CSI and marginality ... 250
5.2 Cold Case ... 264
Representing Minorities ... 269
Forgotten or ignored minorities ... 277
Forgotten history of inequality ... 281
Conclusion ... 287
Notes
... 292List of Works Cited……….304
