Series Seriously By Jorge Carrión
Television series are mirrors that travel along the highways of the twenty-first century. Faithful, rear-view, concave or convex mirrors – mirrors of all kinds. But does it make sense to take TV series seriously? Do their discourses and representations transcend the figures and values of the contexts they are produced in? Do they help us to understand the European and Latin American world as well as North American society? Have series redefined our notions of authorship, craftsmanship and art in the contemporary world? What transmissions, mutations and debates are they bringing about?
Through an analysis of some of the paradigmatic series of the last decade: their scripts, plots and scenes and their (global) contexts of production, distribution and decoding, this seminar offers a new reading of television mythologies.
In the wake of Teleshakespeare (Errata Naturae, 2011) – the essay on the world of US television series that became the key text in its field in Spain – Jorge Carrión transfers the process of writing his follow-up book (with the working title La mirada del drone. Cultura contemporánea y Universo Teleshakespeare) to the context of a seminar at MACBA. Carrión will be joined by fellow experts Concepción Cascajosa and Jordi Balló for some of the sessions.
With his course, MACBA begins a process of reflection and critique of the production of collective meanings and forms in popular culture.
Programme
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
6-9 pm Jorge Carrión
Introduction: Are TV series keys to understanding the contemporary world?
Topic 1: The screen and biocontrol (The Newsroom, Homeland and Person of Interest)
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
6-7 pm Jorge Carrión
7-9 pm Concepción Cascajosa
Topic 2: Communication and politics (The Good Wife and House of Cards)
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
6-9 pm Jorge Carrión
Topic 3: Post-genres (Orange is the New Black, American Horror Story and True Detective)
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
6-7 pm Jorge Carrión
7-9 pm Jordi Balló
Topic 4: Seriality, addiction and therapy (Breaking Bad and In Treatment)
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
6-9 pm Jorge Carrión
Topic 5: The reversal of values and contemporary art (Dexter, Mad Men and Hannibal)
Conclusions
TEACHERS
Jorge Carrión holds a Doctorate in Humanities from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, where he teaches in the Creative Writing and Cultural Journalism Masters programmes. He has published several travel and fiction books, as well as the essays Viaje contra espacio. Juan Goytisolo y W.G. Sebald, Teleshakespeare and Librerías. He regularly contributes to the Cultura/s supplement of La Vanguardia.
Concepción Cascajosa holds a Doctorate in Audiovisual Communication and teaches at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid. She has written the books Prime Time: Las mejores series americanas, de CSI a Los Sopranos, El espejo deformado: Versiones, secuelas y adaptaciones en Hollywood and De la TV a Hollywood: Un repaso a las películas basadas en series.
Jordi Balló is a lecturer at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, a film producer and a cultural manager. He was Director of Exhibitions at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). He co-authored, with Xavier Pérez, the essays La semilla inmortal and Yo ya he estado aquí. Ficciones de la repetición.
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