Mediamorphosis of the great realistic Novel: From the Bildungsroman to modern Tv Serial

  • Emanuela Piga University of Bologna
Keywords: Mediamorphosis, Realism, Bildungsroman, Tv Series, Cliffhanger.

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to compare the different approaches to serialising which characterize the 19th century novel and the modern quality TV drama.  Through a symptomatic critic of the episode endings, which are read here as a clue of other stylistic features, the focus of this study is on the common themes and textual forms which charachterize literature and televisual serial narrative.

In particular, I’ll consider some of these serials as an evolution of the classic realistic novel, and of his sub-genre Bildungsroman, considering some long lasting themes, such as the return of the repressed past in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (1860-1861) and Matthew Weiner’s TV serial Mad Men (AMT, 2007-2015).  In this perspective, the narration of the modern TV serial is read as a “mediamorphosis” (R. Fidler) of the classic novel, and as a possible answer to the so-called death of novel. 

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Author Biography

Emanuela Piga, University of Bologna
Emanuela Piga is Tutor in Comparative Literature and Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes at the University of Bologna, and Research Fellow at the University of Cagliari. She has extensively written on the relationship between novel and television series. Among her latest publications, she coedited and contributed to the monographic issue of the Comparative Literature journalBetween: "Technology, imagination and narrative forms" (2014).

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Published
2016-09-10
How to Cite
Piga, E. (2016). Mediamorphosis of the great realistic Novel: From the Bildungsroman to modern Tv Serial. Between, 6(11). https://doi.org/10.13125/2039-6597/2147