Callaghan, Daniel (2016) The representation of prohibition in fully-serialised American prestige television. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis brings together three recent examples of fully-serialised American prestige television drama for sustained close textual analysis, focused on the way that the subject of prohibition is represented in each series. The Wire, Boardwalk Empire and Breaking Bad all involve prolonged engagement with prohibited markets as a major component of their storylines, but the importance of this subject has been under-appreciated or ignored within television criticism. This research explores how each series characterises the topic of prohibition, with particular emphasis on the way that each case study’s narrative organisation and aesthetic construction influence aspects of representation.

The focus of this thesis stays predominantly on the representation of prohibition, but the approach taken in each chapter differs according to the specific aesthetic and narrative features of each series. What remains consistent throughout each chapter is the emphasis on the narrative momentum present in each series, understood within this research as a shifting scale between centrifugal and centripetal narrative complexity. In addition to examining the influence of these different approaches to narrative organisation, this research also emphasises the importance of integrating critical approaches that address questions of television style and interpretation. This approach blends more traditional television studies concerns regarding formal and representational matters with approaches to criticism and aesthetic analysis more typically found in film studies, and demonstrates the value of bringing these practices more closely together in future study.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Prohibition, Television series -- United States -- Criticism and interpretation
Official Date:	March 2016
Dates:	Date Event March 2016 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Film and Television Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Brunsdon, Charlotte
Extent:	354 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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