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This article utilizes Channel 4’s television series Humans (2015–2019) as a case study to examine the relationship between surveillance and citizenship. I argue that surveillance is represented as a symbolic condition of citizenship, especially during times of national crisis. That is, surveillance has become a new core performance of national embodiment; citizens must perform surveillance against othered bodies to themselves be deemed worthy of national protections and recognition. Surveillance, then, is a technology that dually constructs and reinforces which bodies are barricaded outside of the national space. Humans offers a representation of surveillance practices that help to rethink the relationship between surveillance and the state, as well as surveillance and citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis article uses the comedy television series The Good Place as a starting point to theoretically explore the value of guerrilla government as a measure to disrupt administrative evil. Drawing from the literature of administrative evil and Rosemary O’Leary’s work on the ethics of dissent and guerrilla government, this article considers the personal ethics and organizational cultural motivations for dissent as well as how administrators work to disrupt administrative evil while navigating through various strategies including loyalty, neglect, voice, and exit. This article demonstrates how popular media can be used as a means of theorizing for public administration scholars as well as a space where ideas related to public administration can apply existing theories in a method that can be engaging to mainstream audiences. The paper concludes with a proposed model of how administrative evil and guerrilla government may be conceptualized to interact with one another as well as potential areas of opportunity for administrators to practice dissent within the broader maze of bureaucracy administrative evil can become lost amongst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates why women in Southern Italy are attracted to Turkish TV serials, which may seem culturally distant at first glance. By conducting semi-structured interviews with 30 women, the research aims to uncover the specific elements of Turkish serials that resonate with these women. The findings reveal that participants appreciate the portrayal of strong, independent female characters in Turkish serials, which challenge their preconceptions about Muslim women and foster a sense of shared human experiences across cultures. The romantic ideals depicted, without overt sexualization, and the subtle reinforcement of traditional gender roles, align with the viewers' cultural values, offering a comforting blend of familiarity and novelty. Additionally, the high production values and aesthetically pleasing depiction of Turkish settings and lifestyles enhance the appeal. These serials not only entertain but also prompt audiences to reflect on their own cultural and feminist issues. This study highlights the intricate dynamics of cross-cultural media consumption and its impact on cultural perceptions and viewer engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TV drama A Love for Dilemma (2021) has sparked widespread debates on motherhood and gender in China. This article explores the intricacy of the show's representation of "bad mother." While conventional perspectives often view motherhood as a realm of private intimacy, insufficient attention has been given to the distinctiveness of Chinese-style motherhood and its intersection with family, neoliberalism, and state politics. This article addresses the importance of analyzing the televisual representation of motherhood to gain insight into how the interplay between patriarchy, the market and the state configures maternal subjectivity, particularly under the leadership of Xi Jinping. By examining the emotional meaning of motherhood produced by the TV series, this study unveils the inherent contradiction of mother love as a site of political investment. It argues that the ambivalence surrounding mother love stems from its entanglement with patriarchal expectations, the burdens of emotional labor, and the state's vested interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational portrayals are omnipresent in adolescents' favorite television (TV) series. Insights regarding such portrayals remain largely lacking. This study aimed to fill this gap via a content analysis of 334 characters across six TV series that are popular among adolescents. This study specifically examined portrayals of work values – qualities that an occupation should satisfy (e.g. skill utilization, earning potential) – because work values are a crucial part of adolescents' vocational identity that guide career choices and affect well-being. By examining the content of such portrayals, scholars can better understand the potential effects of exposure to such portrayals. Therefore, we examined the extent to which various intrinsic, extrinsic, social, and prestige work values were portrayed as being upheld, violated, or mixed (RQ1). Work values were most frequently portrayed as being upheld among characters with a notable focus on portrayals of extrinsic work values (e.g. the upholding of a safe work environment). Attention was given to differences in work value portrayals according to characters' job type (RQ2), gender (RQ3), and ethnicity (RQ4). High-skilled white-collar workers, male characters, and White characters were most positively portrayed, with work values shown as upheld in their occupations. Impact Summary: Prior State of Knowledge: Adolescents may learn about work values – qualities that an occupation should satisfy – when viewing series. Insights into the prevalence of work value portrayals and how such portrayals relate to characters' gender, ethnicity, and job type in fiction series remain lacking. Novel Contributions: This study demonstrated that portrayals of the upholding of work values occurred most often. White-collar workers, male- and White-identified characters were more likely to be portrayed with work values being upheld compared to blue-collar workers, female, and racially minoritized characters. Practical Implications: Career counselors who guide adolescents in their career trajectories should be aware that TV series provide adolescents with work value-related information. These counselors should be aware of unfavorable portrayals of certain groups (e.g. blue-collar workers) that may guide adolescents' perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically reflects on a television trend that remains poorly documented, namely that of representing male virginity as being caused by a form of neurodivergence. As part of an interdisciplinary research project on sexually inexperienced emerging adults (SIEA) in North American films and TV series, a textual analysis has been conducted for four TV series portraying sexually inexperienced men on the spectrum (The Good Doctor, Atypical, The Big Bang Theory, L’Heure bleue). Our research shows that this tendency to associate men’s sexual inexperience with autism is an important issue that reveals the persistence of gender and ableist norms in TV series. For instance, TV series contribute to the reproduction of the stereotype that a man on the spectrum is de facto sexually inexperienced, and then prioritize a “virginity loss” narrative. Characters also acquire maturity after their first sexual encounter, resulting in increased masculine capital. Considering that such series seek to represent neurodiversity, the lack of diversity when it comes to representing sexual inexperience is questioning. The fact that narratives invariably allow neurodivergent men to gain sexual experience seems to reinforce the cultural norm that sexual activity is mandatory, especially for adult men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eighth season of the American medical drama series Chicago Med (2015–) represented the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in a hospital environment with multiple storylines. Born in the 1950s, medical dramas are among the most popular forms of serial television. Traditionally, the genre aims for a certain amount of accuracy and has educational goals. Former studies investigated the entertainment education and cultivation effects of these series, concluding that these dramas have the potential to contribute information and shape viewers' opinions on various health-related topics. Chicago Med is a long-running broadcast production with a worldwide audience and considerable viewership. This paper analyzes the series' representation of medical AI and discusses how this portrayal potentially shapes the audience's opinion. The research started by identifying artificial intelligence-related storylines in the 22 episodes of the season. The analysis focused on the reasons and outcomes of AI applications, the character's attitudes, and the ethical issues, including transparency, selective adherence, automation bias, responsibility gap, hallucination, unequal access, and political dimensions. The storyline analysis concluded that Chicago Med provided thought-provoking positive and negative scenarios about applying different types of AI in the surgical and emergency departments. The complex portrayal included groundbreaking opportunities, challenges, dangers, and ethical considerations. The main characters' attitudes varied, from strong support or opposition to more nuanced, shifting opinions. The educative and engaging content has a potential for knowledge transfer and encourages critical thinking about medical AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the depiction of digital journalists in popular culture. Researchers conducted a textual analysis of the films Contagion (2011) and State of Play (2009) and the television series House of Cards (2013-2018) and Veep (2012-2019). They found that digital journalists are not depicted as "real" journalists, digital journalists typically are bad when they attempt to do "real" journalism, digital journalists sometimes do "real" journalism, and digital journalists are unethical. These findings are then discussed in terms of boundary work and the impact of popular culture mythmaking on real-world digital journalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies about representations of Latinidad in US and European media have identified stereotypes like criminalization and hypersexualization. Furthermore, it has been argued that comedy operates as a double-edged sword in exposing racism, as humor can be deployed to simultaneously mask/justify and show/denounce racial discrimination and monolithic representations of Latinidad. Using a feminist intersectional perspective that foregrounds constructions of masculinities and racialization/migration as exclusionary factors, this essay discusses how RTVE Playz, the digital platform of the Spanish public television aimed at young audiences, represents Latinidad in its series Riders (2021). Situated within the dynamics of racialization in Spain, Riders stands out as an example of dark humor that both complicates and reinforces stereotypes. Through a close reading of the series, we assess its response to current social, political and cultural citizenship challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a decade of dormancy following the release of Tōhō Studios' Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Godzilla and other kaijū burst back onto the scene with Legendary Pictures' Godzilla (2014). Several American sequels and a television series set in Legendary's MonsterVerse quickly followed over the next ten years. Meanwhile, Japan's Tōhō used their radioactive creation's global success to reignite their own films with Shin Godzilla (2016), an animated trilogy, and Godzilla Minus One (2023). Short-format media like Chibi Godzilla and Godziban also circulated thanks to streaming services. Similarly, Godzilla's longtime competitor Gamera also emerged from hibernation in an animated series produced by Kadokawa Corporation, Gamera Rebirth (2023). But how do these new installations relate to or depart from their predecessors' predilection to address environmental concerns? This article continues the ecocritical analysis of kaijū eiga, expanding it to the 2010s and 2020s, as a coda to our duograph Japan's Green Monsters (2018). This article picks up where we left off, examining the recent releases from an ecocritical standpoint. This analysis reveals that today's films remain steeped in environmental commentary, but both fragmented and updated for the new concerns of the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study set out to understand how student audiences make sense of fictional representations of journalism in television series. To do so, we conducted five focus groups with American students. First, participants expressed a need for more diversity in representations of journalism in terms of narratives and characters as they see fiction as a complementary source of information on the profession. They relied on non-fictional reference media, normative journalistic discourses, and if applicable, experiences with working in (school) newsrooms to make sense of these representations. Second, they discussed how public opinion on journalism is influenced by fiction and consequently fear that one-sided and stereotypical representations of journalism contribute to increasing the already low levels of mistrust in U.S. news media. This fear was also found to be gendered as the participants expressed concerns about the stereotypical representation of female and minority journalists as "bitchy" and "promiscuous." This manuscript puts forward journalism fiction as a metajournalistic discourse in which non-fictional and fictional journalism blur in confounding ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has experienced substantial transformations since the Economic Reform in 1978, as echoed by cultural changes in many facets of life. Previous research has examined cultural changes in China by focusing on books and other cultural products, albeit with a limited scope across various life domains. In the current study, we aim to explore a more comprehensive range of realms encompassing diverse aspects of Chinese life. To achieve this, we utilize an informative yet underexamined cultural product: TV dramas. Successful TV dramas appeal to the audience's preferences and needs and reflect cultural characteristics of the time. We collected information on top-rated Chinese urban TV dramas between 1980 and 2019 and coded them into 17 common themes reflecting various aspects of life. We then examined the trajectory of each theme over time from 1980 to 2019. Overall, the following themes became more prevalent in TV dramas over time: affair, divorce, family, romantic love, wedding, the pursuit of wealth, dinner party, house rental, house purchase, shopping, and death. The early 1990s mark a pivotal period. Specifically, the depiction of career pursuit in TV dramas switched from decreasing to increasing in the early 1990s. Around the same period, the depiction of survival stopped increasing and started to go down. Consistent with past literature, we found rising trends for themes indicating both traditional (e.g., family) and modern values (e.g., divorce), suggesting the coexistence of modernity and traditionality in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the social and cultural challenges Muslim women face in the TV series Mata A Yau, which airs on Arewa 24, a Hausa-language channel catering to Hausa-speaking audiences in Northern Nigeria. The show premiered in August 2023, sparking debates about the media’s portrayal of contemporary Muslim women and their identity. The study employed sociocultural theory, mixed methods of interviews, and focus group discussions to analyse the program and uncover the root causes of these cultural and social disputes. The findings reveal that Islamic popular culture often intersects with religious and cultural practices, leading to debates about women’s identity, particularly within the context of media and Islamic popular culture. The study uncovers society’s unfounded biases and unjustified insults and condemnation against a particular gender as a result of hasty judgments or responding to contentious or religious issues without fully understanding the topic. The conflicts experienced by Muslim women within the series provide a valuable opportunity to delve into the complexities of contemporary Muslim women’s identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discusses the intricate relationship between science, technology, engineering and mathematics field representation by the media and the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field in reality, centring on two pivotal inquiries: (i) How is gender within science, technology, engineering and mathematics portrayed in visual culture? (ii) How do gendered representations in visual culture impact science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals? By scrutinizing two Turkish TV series featuring science, technology, engineering and mathematics characters, namely, Sıcak Kafa (Hot Skull, 2022, by Mert Baykal) and Yakamoz S-245 (Into the Deep, 2022, by Tolga Karaçelik and Umut Aral), we assert that recent Netflix productions in Turkey showcase science, technology, engineering and mathematics characters in a less marginalized manner compared to mainstream series content. The study explores the intersection of science, technology, engineering and mathematics portrayals with actual gender experiences in the Turkish context. Findings show science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals, particularly women, to be rendered invisible in being confined to gender-based definitions. Despite portraying male and female science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals as equal and non-marginalized, male characters predominate in decision-making and implementation processes within many series. Furthermore, science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals do not identify with their own character representations in media content, as they express through interviews. The study underscores there is room to challenge patriarchal norms, fostering more equitable depictions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals, including women, to dismantle gender biases and foster inclusivity within science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies show that when Hollywood professionals develop and produce films and television series, they consult experts in social and political issues. These experts may be private individuals or representatives of various governmental, social movement, or research organisations. Drawing on ethnography and interviews, I focus on organisational experts and explore how they provide their expertise to Hollywood. I argue that these organisations form a peculiar social space surrounding Hollywood, which I refer to as 'the relational space of organisational expertise provision', which demonstrates some field effects like similar practices and habitus, but does not show overt competition. I argue that the provision of organisational expertise in Hollywood is undertaken by organisational boundary spanners who operate within this relational space through the enactment of expertise networks, the construction of connecting interfaces, and the trading of expertise as short-lived, or proxy, capital. These findings contribute to the Bourdieusian field analysis and sociology of expertise by elucidating how social spaces interact, how social agents gain power through the inter-field exchange of expertise, and what happens in the field of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that the alternating rhythms with which AMC's Better Call Saul moves though time, and the alternating temporal frames of reference with which it represents Saul Goodman's "hustling" specifically, represent self-conscious efforts to clarify the narrative affordances of the serial television medium. These temporal experiments also elucidate the felt endlessness of waged work in the context of go-nowhere careers. In both capacities, Better Call Saul adumbrates formal and thematic concerns central not only to Breaking Bad, but also to twenty-five years of prestige TV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article first resumes up-to-date conceptualisations of the superego in psychoanalytic theory, stretching from the superegoic sense of guilt (Freud) up to the superego as an "imperative od jouissance" (Lacan), and at the same time as an imperative of transgression insofar as enjoyment is by definition based upon transgression of the law. Against this background, the article develops another conceptualisation of the superego, which consist in the completion of the superegoic dialectics of "dirty and necessary" in perversion. This conception is based upon perverse self-instrumentalisation of the subject, which transforms the "dirtiness" of subjective enjoyment and transgression into their necessity. The article then moves toward the analysis of how especially this new conceptualisation of the superego manifests itself in the popular crime series Chicago Police Department (CPD), and in some logically and structurally similar phenomena, which occurred during Donald Trump's presidency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how death is represented in the popular Netflix television series Squid Game. While death is an overarching theme in this series, there is one feature of its storytelling that sets it apart from other fictional deadly games' televisual or cinematic franchises. Indeed, Squid Game depicts players implicitly consenting to die if they lose the game. This narrative is centered on the deep vulnerabilities that come from social inequalities and create conditions in which death can be staged as merchandise to be sold or bought for entertainment purposes. This paper describes and analyzes how the implicit consent to death was portrayed as the ultimate outcome of social inequalities, as a commodity, and as an object of leisure. We will conclude the paper by discussing the implications of exposure to this discourse during leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Recently, there has been a proliferation of narratives that recount the daily experiences of Africans in White spaces. However, the scholarship on how Black people navigate predominantly White spaces has remained scanty. This article aims to help fill this gap by interrogating how Kenyans abroad negotiate, re-imagine and maintain their Kenyanness, especially in Euro-American urban spaces. This article argues that the Daring Abroad TV series by Alex Chamwada re-imagines, resituates and worlds Kenyanness through retention and continual use of Kenyan food and Sheng' as a lingua franca. The paper locates itself within the Bhabhasquan idea of third space and Afropolitanism theory in interpreting the use of Sheng' language and Kenyan food in Euro-American urban spaces. Employing a lit-crit methodology, the paper mines data comprising running motifs, tropes, and themes found in narrations of Kenyans abroad in these episodes. The argument developed is that Chamwada's show Daring Abroad is not just about how Kenyans are conquering Majuu [abroad] but also a show deconstructing the idea of home as a geographical place by presenting it as a state of mind using Kenyan food and Sheng' language to craft a worlding of Kenyanness in the globalised world that threatens and constantly ignores its existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Midwifery & Health Sciences is the property of Ataturk University Coordinatorship of Scientific Journals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents a fresh perspective on the interplay among visual, verbal, and auditory modalities, positing that these modalities, as semogenic resources, compete to express dynamic meanings. The theoretical paradigm emphasizes that whether a modality or an element within a modality gets or loses semantic status, it will elicit an additional layer of social meaning to depict a comprehensive picture of a story together with an explicit semiotic meaning. The article adopts a qualitative method to analyze the data, which are drawn from The Good Wife and My Roommate is a Gumiho and annotated in ELAN 6.3. It was found that modal competition can shed light on the dynamic meaning-making processes in semiotic and societal orientations. Modal competition may distort space and time of different stories, and reconstruct a different discursive spatio-temporal dimension in the TV world. It can diversify the dynamic orientations from New to Given in visual, verbal, and auditory texts of multimodal discourses to tell stories. Modal competition provides a lens to understand the multidimensional reality and to appreciate the aesthetics of a modern TV series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos.info is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Facultad de Comunicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study quantitatively examines the coeducation of television series and films between 1986 and 2023. This analysis has been facilitated by applying bibliometric analysis to scientific production using a relevant Web of Science (WoS) database. Analyses of 190 documents were conducted using quantitative and descriptive methods. These results present a multifaceted analysis of scientific production, evaluating historical development, the productivity of countries and institutions, authors' productivity, and sources' productivity. The study indicates that scientific production has grown exponentially in the last decade; this coincides with the emergence of video-on-demand platforms, multiscreen consumption, and equality policies. The conclusions must emphasize the significant role played by fiction series and film productions as socializing agents and their educational potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how the return to Westeros demonstrates the audiences' desire for "repetition with a difference," focusing on the political underpinnings of worldbuilding and storytelling presented in House of the Dragon (2022–). A prequel to Game of Thrones, HOTD repeats the setting and many crucial figures, dynamics, and plot points of the original. Seemingly in response to fan criticism of the politics of representation in terms of race, gender, and sexuality in GOT, though, HOTD envisions a past of Westeros that strangely seems more progressive than its storyworld's "future." We argue that these temporal shifts can be read productively through the concept of queer temporality, challenging linear notions of time and progress. HOTD presents a seemingly progressive narrative that locates queerness and racial diversity in the past; in this vision, any potential progress thus becomes confined to the past, disappearing from the future of this fantasy storyworld. We argue that attending to the slight shifts in emphasis between GOT and HOTD provides an opportunity to identify changes in audiences' expectations. We ask: what kind of queer pleasures are mobilized when audiences are invited to revisit a familiar world, but also to re-memory GOT, the original text, with the knowledge of its diverse past as depicted in HOTD? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the representation of repetition in Viva la Dirt League's online fantasy television series Epic NPC Man. The show is a parodic depiction of a fictional multiplayer fantasy computer game in which a variety of non-player characters (NPCs) exhibit varying degrees of self-awareness. The very concept of the show entails an underlying formal reliance upon strategies of reproduction, with the series providing live-action reenactment of various conventional situations from video games. But repetition also appears within the show as an explicit theme, with the characters defined by and in tension with the repetitive dialogue and routines of the game. This article argues that the significance of repetition in Epic NPC Man is defined by its relationship to the show's broader investment in thematizing the escapist properties of fantasy. At one level, repetition emerges as a limit point, the moment at which fantasy breaks down. But the show also asserts repetition's imaginative potential, situating it in opposition to a ludic, instrumental conception of gaming. The resulting image of fantasy gaming constructs the genre as both liberatory and surprisingly fragile, threatened both by the limitations of technology and by the actions of the players themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper offers a description of the names used in four seasons (1-4) of the Polish TV series "Rancho." The analysis aims to show the mentality of the rural society that lives in Wilkowyje, its characteristics, and its views on political and social changes after Poland's accession to the European Union. Europe is not the only symbol of the West entering this community. It is also, above all, America, embodied by the film's protagonist, a Polish woman born in New York. For the local inhabitants, the ongoing changes are puzzling and sometimes painful, which they express vocally in their assessments of the West. Due to the specifics of the film language, proper names are studied in their contexts: in the dialogues between the characters and in the situations in which they find themselves. Occasionally, the interpretation of the onymes also requires a deeper look at the source (the film) from which they originated - as an audiovisual work (film editing, music, acting, visuals, colours, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As there is lack of research on how drugs are presented in crime literature, we read nearly 25,000 pages of crime literature written between 1890 and 2023 to provide an overview on the pharmacological content in this genre. Correct presentation of pharmacological information decreased over time. Misconceptions about certain substances, especially narcotics and anesthetics appear in many of the analyzed examples. Also, in comparison with crime TV series, books are inferior in providing the reader with additional information and pharmacological plausibility. This especially applies for the newer books which contained less additional information than the older ones. In contrast, some books educate their readers. Newer books show a greater variety of substances also introducing recently developed drugs or new ways of application. On the contrary, older books stick to a small selection of well-known substances during that time, especially metals like arsenic and toxins like strychnine. Gender involvement in poisoning is not realistically presented in the novels. Male victims are overrepresented compared to reality. Also, the etiology is commonly presented incorrectly. Poisoning by accident or for suicidal purposes are rarely presented in the novels, despite their significance in reality. Overall, crime novels educate but also misinform their readers. We discuss the consequences of our findings for the individual reader and public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of International Journal of Language Academy is the property of Rota Kariyer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 2021, three documentary series revitalised the unsolved murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in 1996 in West Cork, Ireland, for a global audience of true crime enthusiasts. This article analyses the podcast West Cork (Audible 2018/iTunes 2021) and two streaming series, Murder at the Cottage: The Search for Justice for Sophie (Sky Crime 2021) and Sophie: A Murder in West Cork (Netflix 2021) and argues that they conferred documentary celebrity on their central figures, Sophie Toscan du Plantier and Ian Bailey. The celebritisation of these individuals as victim and villain, was achieved through the development of a convergent narrative across the three series, one salted with the plot twists, end-of-episode cliff hangers, emotional confrontations and supernatural speculation familiar to viewers of true crime, reality television and serial drama. Moreover, the gendered discourse deployed by these documentaries posthumously transformed Sophie Toscan du Plantier into a world-famous victim while providing an opportunity for Ian Bailey, who remains the prime suspect, to self-brand as a Gothic villain. Bailey's 2022 announcement that he would launch a podcast and television series and his self-promotional activity on TikTok confirm the cultural capital associated with documentary celebrity, even, or especially, for the infamous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the audience response to the death of narrative-driven fictitious characters with predetermined fates, whether part of a virtual or cinematic story, and specifically from video games and TV series. Our aim is to contribute to the studies of identification and empathy with fictitious characters in media, as well as to close the research gap around these studies by specifically focusing on the death of the characters. We collected 3000 online comments on the deaths of 16 characters from video games and TV series. We coded each comment according to the five stages of grief by Kübler-Ross and Kessler and performed quantitative (using LIWC2015 psycholinguistic analysis software) and qualitative analysis (using thematic analysis). Overall, we found a strong resemblance between the processes of grief for real and fictitious characters and uncovered differences of language when discussing the death of a character based on (a) their gender; (b) their role in the story; (c) their interactivity mode; and (d) the form of media. Finally, qualitative analysis revealed unique and novel themes for on-screen deaths, such as (a) the effects of aural cues; (b) nostalgia and beauty; (c) resurrection and transmedia; (d) spoilers; (e) comparisons and real-life connotations; (f) the effects on the franchise; and (g) the effects of the gender of the viewer on these discussions. We discuss our findings in detail, along with implications for future character development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including debate about a current concern in Television Studies; single television series as a way of opening up and forms of television comedy.

Language is the weapon of any nation. The extinction of a language means the extinction of the history of that nation because the language highlights the nature of a person and how that nation differs from others. It is the tool that makes a person know who they are and what nation they come from. This study examines the role played by the television series uShaka iLembe in the development and preservation of isiZulu. The purpose of this research is to look at the message that this drama has sent and the steps it has taken to develop and preserve isiZulu. This study used the qualitative research method to gather information about what has been written about the uShaka iLembe drama, following the comments of its fans and what happened while the drama aired. This research is supported by the language management theory (LMT) to discover and analyse the facts about the use of isiZulu in the drama uShaka iLembe, which the researchers perceive as a way to improve and preserve the language. The data were analysed by sorting information according to categories (thematic coding). This study found that although the drama uShaka iLembe focuses on educating people about the history of the Zulu nation, it appears that they also emphasise the use of isiZulu, especially proverbs, idioms and the language of honour (ulimi lokuhlonipha). This shows that they use the depth and beauty of the langauge to promote authentic isiZulu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This oral history research explores the experience of ten retired elite Australian football players during their careers in the period from 1970 to 1995. The ex-players were interviewed about their careers by sports journalist, Mike Sheahan, in the long-running Australia Fox Sports Open Mike television series. The particular focus of this historical research is ex-players' experience of on-field violence. Findings indicated that ex-players were willing to break the Australian football rules and engage in on-field violence either as intimidation or retaliation against opponents. When ex-players did engage in violent intimidatory behavior, they were cool and callous, and anger rarely played a role. Violent retaliation to opposition player transgressions was either immediate or delayed until a future opportunity presented itself. For one Indigenous ex-player, violent responses during games were often sparked by opponents' verbal racial abuse. In retrospect, he considered this a form of intimidation aimed at putting him off his game that was just part of Australian football at the time. Some ex-players did feel remorse about their violent acts, but others were adamant that they had no regrets about their behavior. Violence was almost expected as an everyday aspect of their football experience and was accepted as an occupational hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at an interdisciplinary analysis of the various roles of prejudice and discrimination in fantasy. It focuses on the ways the storyworlds of The Witcher and The Lord of the Rings portray racial discrimination. Reading the books of J.R.R. Tolkien and Andrzej Sapkowski through jurisprudential lenses allows us to draw conclusions as to the meaning of the implicit and explicit presentation of discriminatory practices by authors in storyworlds. Remarks on movie and TV series adaptations are included to develop transmedia storytelling analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional media and contemporary digital communication platforms have been instrumental in developing environmental awareness and educating the general public about the entrenched dangers of ecoprecarity. Visual references like ecocinema, short films, documentaries and television series have shown how the Anthropocene is affecting the world and how important human‐centred survival models are. These visual references have played a big part in ecological knowledge and shown possible ways to use socio‐ecological practices. The present article critically analyses Kaala Paani, a contemporary Indian Hindi‐language survival drama seven‐episode television series, and foregrounds how this series not only represents the ecological issues we face but also fosters a stronger sense of ethical accountability towards the long‐term impact of our decisions and actions on the natural environment. Through its focus on dramatizing environmental toxins and the power of indigenous and tribal knowledge to fight them, the series effectively tells viewers about the harmful effects of illegally exploiting the environmental buffer zone and the results of capitalist‐driven developmentalism. The series also inspires them to recognize the overwhelming existence of nature that the discourse of the ‘Anthropocene’ has downplayed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of inherited or family wealth in reproducing and even exacerbating wealth inequalities has been addressed in various studies in recent years. Bringing together representation studies with studies on cultural and moral economies, this article analyses how cultural norms indispensable to the preservation of dynastic wealth are negotiated through contemporary popular culture and television series. It introduces the concept of family succession drama, referring to television fiction that focuses on issues concerning intergenerational transmission of wealth and/or privileges and analyses the series Downton Abbey as a case study for interrogating the ambiguous affirmation of inherited wealth and dynastic privileges in a historical melodrama. By focusing on Downton Abbey, the article considers how hereditary rights and dynastic privileges are negotiated in a heritage drama in ways that also enable the legitimation of contemporary dynasty-making. While acknowledging the anxieties caused by class differences, Downton Abbey nevertheless affirms the necessity for various hereditary privileges and fortunes, thereby excluding any true alternatives for (contemporary) dynastic dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a theoretical exploration of the nuanced connections between the notion of affect and representations of sexuality in postfeminist television series. Drawing on gender studies, media studies and affect theory, it addresses the manifestation of postfeminist ideals in popular media and how it shapes the audience's understanding of gender and sexuality, acknowledging the complex negotiation of sexual identities, and emphasising the role of affective experiences in viewer engagement and interpretation of sexual scripts. Contributing to the ongoing dialogue on feminism, media, and affect theory, the study theoretically examines the affective dimensions of postfeminist learning to enhance comprehension of emotional responses to depictions of sex on contemporary television, using the series Fleabag as an illustrative example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Akademik Hassasiyetler is the property of Huzeyfe Suleyman Arslan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explores the factors influencing the rising global appeal of Turkish TV series, focusing on the production process and economic dynamics with the global and local media distribution of these dramas. It assesses how market-driven media production conditions and creative professionals' roles influence the creation of Turkish series by interviewing nine industry insiders. The study found that market-oriented media practices and executives' understanding of Turkish audience preferences significantly direct the creative output, which is predominantly aimed at local viewers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the charged line between "laughing with" and "laughing at" people with disabilities. It documents how "the line" is structured, how the line between "laughing with" and "laughing at" is manifested, and how we might reasonably surmise when it has been crossed. Two television series are examined and compared. The first, Love on the Spectrum, is an Australian reality series that follows a number of young adults on the autism spectrum, as they search for love and go on dates with others who also are on the spectrum. Much of the charm of the series is that it evokes laughter, frequently at the seriousness of the people it portrays. The laughter raised during Love on the Spectrum is compared with the laughter encouraged by British comedian Ricky Gervais's 2012–2014 series Derek, which is about a character who many viewers identified as being on the autism spectrum. The paper discusses similarities between the two series, but concludes by proposing that the laughter invited by the protagonists' seriousness during these two series in fact is structured very differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Arts & Social Sciences (JASS) is the property of Sultan Qaboos University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Chinese classic TV series Journey to the West was dubbed into English by China Central Television in 2020. While it enjoys some popularity in the English-speaking world, many Chinese viewers learn English from this dubbed drama, aided by timely danmu dictionaries and back translations. This article delves into the directions of this dubbing's dissemination by utilizing translational spaces, a conceptual tool substantiated by incorporating the concept of diaspora. It contends that the dubbing possesses a diasporic nature and is somewhat situated in the 'third space' through intercultural adjustments. There is no contradiction between the 'outgoing' of Chinese culture and the 'inward' flow for Chinese viewers learning English or seeking entertainment. The dichotomous 'in-and-out' mindset might be discarded, given the reality of multi-/non-/anti-directional dissemination. The perspective of translational spaces allows us to witness a collective online carnival sparked by cultural untranslatability, where multiple purposes and pursuits are celebrated. This challenges the notion of translation as a straightforward, single-directed practice and illuminates the mechanism of cross-cultural exchange through audiovisual translation in the current digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]