Speculative Television and the Doing and Undoing of Religion

Speculative Television and the Doing and Undoing of Religion

Author: Gregory Erickson

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-09-16

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1000648281

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This book explores the concept that, as participation in traditional religion declines, the complex and fantastical worlds of speculative television have become the place where theological questions and issues are negotiated, understood, and formed. From bodies, robots, and souls to purgatories and post-apocalyptic scenarios and new forms of digital scripture, the shows examined – from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Westworld – invite their viewers and fans to engage with and imagine concepts traditionally reserved for religious spaces. Informed by recent trends in both fan studies and religious studies, and with an emphasis on practice as well as belief, the thematically focused narrative posits that it is through the intersections of these shows that we find the reframing and rethinking of religious ideas. This truly interdisciplinary work will resonate with scholars and upper-level students in the areas of religion, television studies, popular culture, fan studies, media studies, and philosophy.


Book Synopsis Speculative Television and the Doing and Undoing of Religion by : Gregory Erickson

Download or read book Speculative Television and the Doing and Undoing of Religion written by Gregory Erickson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-09-16 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the concept that, as participation in traditional religion declines, the complex and fantastical worlds of speculative television have become the place where theological questions and issues are negotiated, understood, and formed. From bodies, robots, and souls to purgatories and post-apocalyptic scenarios and new forms of digital scripture, the shows examined – from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Westworld – invite their viewers and fans to engage with and imagine concepts traditionally reserved for religious spaces. Informed by recent trends in both fan studies and religious studies, and with an emphasis on practice as well as belief, the thematically focused narrative posits that it is through the intersections of these shows that we find the reframing and rethinking of religious ideas. This truly interdisciplinary work will resonate with scholars and upper-level students in the areas of religion, television studies, popular culture, fan studies, media studies, and philosophy.


Television’s Streaming Wars

Television’s Streaming Wars

Author: Arienne Ferchaud

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-11-03

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1000991318

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This volume addresses contemporary debates and trends regarding the production and distribution, content, and audience engagement with the television streaming industry. The book interrogates the economics and structure of the industry, questions the types and diversity of content perpetuated on streaming services, and addresses how audiences engage with content from US and global perspectives and within various research paradigms. Chapters address television streaming wars, including the debates and trends in terms of its production and competition, diversity and growth of programming, and audience consumption, focusing on multiple platforms, content, and users. This timely and creative volume will interest students and scholars working in television studies, media industry studies, popular culture studies, audience studies, media psychology, critical cultural studies and media economics.


Book Synopsis Television’s Streaming Wars by : Arienne Ferchaud

Download or read book Television’s Streaming Wars written by Arienne Ferchaud and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-11-03 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses contemporary debates and trends regarding the production and distribution, content, and audience engagement with the television streaming industry. The book interrogates the economics and structure of the industry, questions the types and diversity of content perpetuated on streaming services, and addresses how audiences engage with content from US and global perspectives and within various research paradigms. Chapters address television streaming wars, including the debates and trends in terms of its production and competition, diversity and growth of programming, and audience consumption, focusing on multiple platforms, content, and users. This timely and creative volume will interest students and scholars working in television studies, media industry studies, popular culture studies, audience studies, media psychology, critical cultural studies and media economics.


Television Directors, Race, and Gender

Television Directors, Race, and Gender

Author: Jonathan J. Cavallero

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-07-17

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1040108636

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This book challenges the predominant framing of US television as a writer’s or producer’s medium by suggesting that television directors are a vital component of TV artistry. Looking beyond a perspective that favors the narrative and economic aspects of television but undervalues the medium’s formal elements, the book explores how directors use the visual and aural to contribute layers of meaning that add to the thematic development of television texts. Starting from the belief that television aesthetics partially reveal the ways in which directors (and their collaborators) contribute to the overall thematic development of a program, the author offers five case studies that map out the ways that directors have contributed to television drama throughout the medium’s approximately 80-year history. By devoting special attention to the presence and voices of directors from marginalized backgrounds, the book creates opportunities to discuss television from perspectives that emphasize issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This original and insightful work will appeal to students and scholars of television studies, television production and media production, critical media studies, media authorship, gender studies, and race and media.


Book Synopsis Television Directors, Race, and Gender by : Jonathan J. Cavallero

Download or read book Television Directors, Race, and Gender written by Jonathan J. Cavallero and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-07-17 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book challenges the predominant framing of US television as a writer’s or producer’s medium by suggesting that television directors are a vital component of TV artistry. Looking beyond a perspective that favors the narrative and economic aspects of television but undervalues the medium’s formal elements, the book explores how directors use the visual and aural to contribute layers of meaning that add to the thematic development of television texts. Starting from the belief that television aesthetics partially reveal the ways in which directors (and their collaborators) contribute to the overall thematic development of a program, the author offers five case studies that map out the ways that directors have contributed to television drama throughout the medium’s approximately 80-year history. By devoting special attention to the presence and voices of directors from marginalized backgrounds, the book creates opportunities to discuss television from perspectives that emphasize issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This original and insightful work will appeal to students and scholars of television studies, television production and media production, critical media studies, media authorship, gender studies, and race and media.


Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis

Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis

Author: Holly Willson Holladay

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-06-21

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 1040086330

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This volume demonstrates that television comedies are conduits through which we might resist normative ways of thinking about cultural crises. By drawing on Gramscian notion of crisis and the understanding that crises are overlapping, interconnected, and mutually constitutive, the essays in this collection demonstrate that situation comedies do more than make us laugh; they also help us understand the complexities of our social world’s moments of crisis. Each chapter takes up the televisual representation of a modern cultural crisis in a contemporary sitcom and is grounded in the extensive body of literature that suggests that levity is a powerful mechanism to make sense of and cope with these difficult cultural experiences. Divided into thematic sections that highlight crises of institutions and systems, identity and representation, and speculation and futurism, this book will interest scholars of media and cultural studies, political economy, communication studies, and humor studies.


Book Synopsis Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis by : Holly Willson Holladay

Download or read book Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis written by Holly Willson Holladay and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-06-21 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume demonstrates that television comedies are conduits through which we might resist normative ways of thinking about cultural crises. By drawing on Gramscian notion of crisis and the understanding that crises are overlapping, interconnected, and mutually constitutive, the essays in this collection demonstrate that situation comedies do more than make us laugh; they also help us understand the complexities of our social world’s moments of crisis. Each chapter takes up the televisual representation of a modern cultural crisis in a contemporary sitcom and is grounded in the extensive body of literature that suggests that levity is a powerful mechanism to make sense of and cope with these difficult cultural experiences. Divided into thematic sections that highlight crises of institutions and systems, identity and representation, and speculation and futurism, this book will interest scholars of media and cultural studies, political economy, communication studies, and humor studies.


Post-heritage Perspectives on British Period Drama Television

Post-heritage Perspectives on British Period Drama Television

Author: Will Stanford Abbiss

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-06-09

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 1000894002

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Drawing upon the existing scholarship of period drama and emerging research into new media ecologies, instigated by television streaming services such as Netflix, this book establishes a critical framework for understanding the representation of nationhood and cultural identity in television drama. By formalising the term ‘post-heritage’ the book proposes a methodology which recognises the interplay of traditional and innovative elements within period drama productions. The book applies this critical perspective to popular British period drama productions from the 2010s, with examples including The Crown, the ‘society dramas’ of Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey, Steven Knight’s Dickens adaptations, and Stephen Poliakoff’s recent oeuvre, to demonstrate the benefits of evaluating period drama as part of twenty-first century television’s developments. It challenges the assumptions around characteristics and ideological purpose that period drama discourse often contends with, and offers new perspectives on understanding the past through televisual representations. This book will be important reading for students and scholars of television studies, film studies and cultural studies.


Book Synopsis Post-heritage Perspectives on British Period Drama Television by : Will Stanford Abbiss

Download or read book Post-heritage Perspectives on British Period Drama Television written by Will Stanford Abbiss and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-06-09 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing upon the existing scholarship of period drama and emerging research into new media ecologies, instigated by television streaming services such as Netflix, this book establishes a critical framework for understanding the representation of nationhood and cultural identity in television drama. By formalising the term ‘post-heritage’ the book proposes a methodology which recognises the interplay of traditional and innovative elements within period drama productions. The book applies this critical perspective to popular British period drama productions from the 2010s, with examples including The Crown, the ‘society dramas’ of Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey, Steven Knight’s Dickens adaptations, and Stephen Poliakoff’s recent oeuvre, to demonstrate the benefits of evaluating period drama as part of twenty-first century television’s developments. It challenges the assumptions around characteristics and ideological purpose that period drama discourse often contends with, and offers new perspectives on understanding the past through televisual representations. This book will be important reading for students and scholars of television studies, film studies and cultural studies.


Netflix, Dark Fantastic Genres and Intergenerational Viewing

Netflix, Dark Fantastic Genres and Intergenerational Viewing

Author: Djoymi Baker

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-04

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1000900061

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Focusing on Netflix’s child and family-orientated platform exclusive content, this book offers the first exploration of a controversial genre cycle of dark science fiction, horror, and fantasy television under Netflix’s "Family Watch Together TV" tag. Using a ground-breaking mix of methods including audience research, interface, and textual analysis, the book demonstrates how Netflix is producing dark family telefantasy content that is both reshaping child and family-friendly TV genres and challenging earlier broadcast TV models around child-appropriate family viewing. It illuminates how Netflix encourages family audiences to "watch together" through intergenerational dynamics that work on and offscreen. The chapters in this book explore how this "Netflixication" of family television developed across landmark examples including Stranger Things, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and even Squid Game. The book outlines how Netflix is consolidating a new dark family terrain in the streaming sector, which is unsettling older concepts of family viewing, leading to considerable audience and critical confusion around target audiences and viewer expectations. This book will be of particular interest to upper-level undergraduates, graduates, and scholars in the fields of television studies, screen genre studies, childhood studies, and cultural studies.


Book Synopsis Netflix, Dark Fantastic Genres and Intergenerational Viewing by : Djoymi Baker

Download or read book Netflix, Dark Fantastic Genres and Intergenerational Viewing written by Djoymi Baker and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-07-04 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on Netflix’s child and family-orientated platform exclusive content, this book offers the first exploration of a controversial genre cycle of dark science fiction, horror, and fantasy television under Netflix’s "Family Watch Together TV" tag. Using a ground-breaking mix of methods including audience research, interface, and textual analysis, the book demonstrates how Netflix is producing dark family telefantasy content that is both reshaping child and family-friendly TV genres and challenging earlier broadcast TV models around child-appropriate family viewing. It illuminates how Netflix encourages family audiences to "watch together" through intergenerational dynamics that work on and offscreen. The chapters in this book explore how this "Netflixication" of family television developed across landmark examples including Stranger Things, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and even Squid Game. The book outlines how Netflix is consolidating a new dark family terrain in the streaming sector, which is unsettling older concepts of family viewing, leading to considerable audience and critical confusion around target audiences and viewer expectations. This book will be of particular interest to upper-level undergraduates, graduates, and scholars in the fields of television studies, screen genre studies, childhood studies, and cultural studies.


Channels of Belief

Channels of Belief

Author: John P. Ferre

Publisher:

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Channels of Belief by : John P. Ferre

Download or read book Channels of Belief written by John P. Ferre and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Small Screen, Big Picture

Small Screen, Big Picture

Author: Diane Winston

Publisher:

Published: 2020-11-15

Total Pages: 535

ISBN-13: 9781481314794

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A pioneering study at the intersection of religion and media, Small Screen, Big Picture treats television as a virtual meeting place where Americans across racial, ethnic, economic and religious lines find instructive and inspirational narratives. An interdisciplinary tour de force, this book describes how television converts social concerns, cultural conundrums and metaphysical questions into stories that explore and even shape who we are and would like to be--the building blocks of religious speculation.


Book Synopsis Small Screen, Big Picture by : Diane Winston

Download or read book Small Screen, Big Picture written by Diane Winston and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-15 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pioneering study at the intersection of religion and media, Small Screen, Big Picture treats television as a virtual meeting place where Americans across racial, ethnic, economic and religious lines find instructive and inspirational narratives. An interdisciplinary tour de force, this book describes how television converts social concerns, cultural conundrums and metaphysical questions into stories that explore and even shape who we are and would like to be--the building blocks of religious speculation.


Religion vs. Television

Religion vs. Television

Author: Jay Newman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1996-08-20

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 0313024227

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The subject of competition between religion and television has, if only indirectly, received considerable attention, particularly from religionists disturbed by the threat posed by television programming to traditional religious beliefs, values, and attitudes. This detailed study considers the competing cultural forces of television and religion from a wider and more theoretical perspective. Newman examines the major forms of competition and the various motives and strategies of the people and groups involved. His philosophical approach allows us to see that the most important aspect of competition between television and religion is their rivalry as cultural forces. In this rivalry, religion continues to have a profound influence on the shaping of television, just as it has always had on all newly developing forms of culture.


Book Synopsis Religion vs. Television by : Jay Newman

Download or read book Religion vs. Television written by Jay Newman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1996-08-20 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subject of competition between religion and television has, if only indirectly, received considerable attention, particularly from religionists disturbed by the threat posed by television programming to traditional religious beliefs, values, and attitudes. This detailed study considers the competing cultural forces of television and religion from a wider and more theoretical perspective. Newman examines the major forms of competition and the various motives and strategies of the people and groups involved. His philosophical approach allows us to see that the most important aspect of competition between television and religion is their rivalry as cultural forces. In this rivalry, religion continues to have a profound influence on the shaping of television, just as it has always had on all newly developing forms of culture.


Television and Religion

Television and Religion

Author: William F. Fore

Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Pub

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 9780806622682

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Book Synopsis Television and Religion by : William F. Fore

Download or read book Television and Religion written by William F. Fore and published by Augsburg Fortress Pub. This book was released on 1987 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: