Leonhardt / Viebrock Popular Series in English Language Education

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-3-381-10703-2
Verlag: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 300 Seiten

Reihe: narr STUDIENBÜCHER LITERATUR- UND KULTURWISSENSCHAFT

English language education that wants to be relevant for today's learners in a media-influenced social environment needs to include series and serials. Our publication enables (future) language teachers to implement series and serials in their English language classrooms purposefully and equip their learners with series_serials literacy, i.e. the ability to deal with series and serials in an autonomous and critical manner. Three introductory chapters provide substantial theoretical and conceptual considerations on serial narratives, objectives and methods of teaching series and serials. Subsequently, experts in the field of language teaching introduce 17 selected series and serials from different genres, ranging from comedies to sci-fi. Each chapter provides in-depth analyses of the chosen example as well as practical teaching suggestions which are accessible online.

Jan-Erik Leonhardt arbeitet als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter in der Englischdidaktik der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. Porf. Dr. phil. Britta Viebrock leitet den Bereich Didaktik der englischen Sprache und Literatur an der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Leonhardt, Jan-Erik

Viebrock, Britta

Leseproben

1.3 Characteristics of series and serials
TV series and serials, or those distributed through digital streaming services, have a number of salient characteristics concerning structural elements, stylistic devices, and the cultural practices of storytelling. Strictly speaking, most of these characteristics are not only valid for popular series and serials, but for serial narratives in general, which have a much longer tradition (cf. section 4). The focus of this chapter, however, will be on popular audio-visual formats. To start with, some terminology needs to be clarified: Both series and serials denote (audio-visual) narratives that are released in a serial manner. Series rely on “repetitive variation” (Kelleter 2017b: 12) in what are otherwise self-contained episodes; in contrast, continuous serials work with “progressing story arcs” (ibid.). Series are thus characterised by recurring characters, settings, or plot structures, but no continuous storyline (e.g., The Simpsons). The episodes can be watched in any order, which makes series an example of ‘vertical narration’ (cf. Henseler/Möller 2017b). Serials, in comparison, are an example of ‘horizontal narration’ (ibid.), where each episode relies on the previous one and needs to be watched in the designated order to grasp the storyline (e.g., Atypical). Kelleter (2017b: 12ff.) argues that when thinking about serial narratives as part of commercial storytelling, it might be more helpful to take a process-oriented approach and look at the related cultural practices instead of structural definitions, which rely on a product-oriented understanding of serial narratives and tend to be too formalist to cover all types (e.g., flexi-narratives that combine self-contained episodes with a progressing storyline). Kelleter suggests setting serial narratives apart from ‘complete compositions’ – even though these might be released in a serial manner – and identifies ‘evolving narratives’ as one of the defining elements of seriality. Evolving narratives are process-oriented both in view of their production and reception. They are characterised by the interaction of the narrative’s reception with its continuous development and the potential involvement of the viewer: Repeated temporal overlap between ongoing publication and ongoing reception allows serial audiences to become involved in a narrative’s progress. In more general terms, seriality can extend – and normally does extend – the sphere of storytelling onto the sphere of story consumption. (ibid.: 13, italics in the original) Kelleter’s definition of seriality does not extend to narratives that have already achieved closure when being serialised. It explicitly rules out so-called mini-series (or serials for that matter), which consist of a limited number of episodes (e.g., When They See Us). It also rules out literary works (e.g., novels) that have been turned into serials as both represent complete compositions. Examples such as 13 Reasons Why, however, whose first season relied on a complete composition (Jay Asher’s novel of the same name), but which then further evolved in the following seasons, or Heartstopper, whose first season relied on the initial two parts of Alice Oseman’s four-part graphic novel, but has then been announced to be continued by (at least) two seasons that might or might not go beyond the source material, show that Kelleter’s definition is not without ambiguities. It might only be applied in retrospect or from an advanced point in time in the development of a serial narrative. What is more, from the perspective of teaching English as a foreign language in school contexts, which relies on the reduction of complexity, complete compositions such as mini serials may be attractive because of the fact that they have achieved closure and that all their narrative options have already been decided and materialised. Closed serial narratives offer an opportunity to analyse salient aesthetic features and stylistic devices, nonetheless. Moreover, serials based on literary works may lend themselves for additional objectives such as the study of ‘transmedia storytelling’ (Jenkins 2012), i.e., the realisation of the same story or content in different media (cf. also Gymnich 2009). Transmedia considerations also play a role in another characteristic of popular seriality identified by Kelleter (2017b): ‘proliferation’, which describes the extension of serial narratives through side formats (e.g., a new serial based on a minor character of the original as in Better Call Saul) or beyond their original medium (e.g., serials turned into computer games as in The Walking Dead, Southpark). Such proliferation may concern authorised spin-offs or unauthorised formats such as fan fiction or fan videos. From a methodological point of view, the proliferating nature and transmedia expansions of popular serial narratives are interesting because they allow for greater variation in teaching and learning as well as extended generic reflections (Hallet 2016; Viebrock 2022). They also enable the participation in real-world discourses, e.g., by producing contributions to fan fiction (Goldmann 2016) or online discussion forums. Reflecting on these terminological elaborations in view of our context, the EFL classroom, we employ a product-oriented understanding of serial narratives that upholds the structural distinction between series and serials but is also aware of the process-oriented aspects of serial storytelling. Hence, our definition includes serialised complete compositions, which comes at the expense that not all characteristics of serial narration, in particular the need to align each evolving episode with the simultaneously evolving overall narrative, may be studied from this perspective. Questions of alignment are less likely to pose a challenge in serialised complete compositions as the narrative has already achieved closure and all storytelling decisions, both concerning the overall story arc as well as each episode, are geared towards the established ending. Similarly, as opposed to ongoing serials, the narrative of serialised complete compositions may only evolve within pre-defined margins as the ending has already been established. Yet the aspect of proliferation can also be focused on in serialised complete compositions. The characteristics of popular series and serials are also reflected in specific aesthetic choices and stylistic devices such as cliffhangers, voice-overs, flashbacks, flashforwards, outlooks, or recaps. A cliffhanger describes the interruption of the narrative at a point of great suspense to keep the viewer’s interest for the next episode. Voice-overs are off-camera narrations that are not part of the action (non-diegetic). They provide additional information or explanation. Flashbacks and flashforwards are used to link the narrative across several episodes by either looking back at scenes and reminding the viewer of what has previously happened or by looking forward at scenes to come and attempting to keep the viewer’s interest for a longer period of time. Recaps and outlooks work in a similar way but cover longer sequences or a greater selection of scenes. Recaps provide a summary of what has previously happened in a serial up to a certain point, outlooks provide information on how the narrative will develop. These elements cause the audience to stay hooked. The release of entire seasons may also provoke a specific consumption behaviour as it allows ‘binge-watching’ several episodes in one sitting. Last but not least, audience retention is reinforced by enabling long-lasting relationships with the series’/serials’ characters whose development takes place over a much longer period of time (for a detailed discussion cf. Surkamp in this volume). Info box 3: Examples of series and serials The Simpsons is a US-American animated sitcom which satirically depicts the life of the Simpson family. The series serves as a parody of American life and enjoys great popularity. Having been introduced in 1989, the animated, yellow-skinned characters enjoy iconic status today. The Netflix comedy-drama Atypical focuses on how the protagonist, 18-year-old Sam Gardner who has been diagnosed with autism, has his first experiences with dating, love, and sexuality. When They See Us (2019) is a four-part mini serial produced by the streaming service Netflix. It explores the lives of five Black and Latino teenagers in New York who were wrongfully suspected of a rape assault. 13 Reasons Why tells the story of high school student Hannah Baker and – by way of numerous flashbacks – the events that led up to her suicide. Four seasons were released between 2017 and 2020. The serial sparked some concerns regarding a teenager audience’s mental health because of its graphic representation of challenging issues (cf. Kreft/Lohe 2020). The first season of Heartstopper was released by Netflix in 2022. It is a coming-of-age story of two queer teenagers in a homosexual relationship and based on a web comic and graphic novel of the same name by Alice Oseman. The serial Better Call Saul tells the background story of the notorious lawyer Saul Goodman who first appeared in the Breaking Bad franchise. Based on a comic book series, The Walking Dead franchise features a post-apocalyptic world in which zombies threaten the existence of humankind. The franchise consists of several serials, accompanied by board games, video games,...