Narrative Complexity in American Television

Is Popular Culture Good For You? For You, Is Popular Culture Good? What Is Popular Culture Good For?

Formal Properties of Television Narrative Complexity
Interplay between episodic & serial norms
Experimental storytelling strategies
Explicit authorial identity
Self-conscious & explicit storytelling mechanics

The Operational Aesthetic
Pleasure of process, not just product
Narrative as machine to be admired
Storytelling as special effect
Elegance of design & construction
Pleasure in being manipulated & analyzing storytelling process
Viewers as amateur narratologists

Why Complexity? Why Now?
Industry: Dedicated Quality Audiences
Technology: Rewatchability, Precision
Audience: Generational Savviness, Participatory Culture
Culture: Procedural Literacy

Narrative Complexity in American Television

by Jason Mittell on Apr 03, 2007

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