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We “other victorians”? Novelistic remains, therapeutic devices, contemporary televisual dramas

Publication ,  Journal Article
Chow, R; Sarfan, A
Published in: Daedalus
January 1, 2020

In reference to the work of Michel Foucault and to residual Victorian novelistic features, this essay explores the biopolitical dimension of contemporary televisual dramas, focusing on the popular crime genre as seen in The Sopranos (1999– 2007), Breaking Bad (2008–2013), and The Fall (2013–2016). Emphasizing the confessional context of criminality and policing, we demonstrate how such shows rely on the conventions of modern psychological discourse in depicting criminals, thus foregrounding what Eva Illouz in Saving the Modern Soul (2008) has called the “therapeutic emotional style.” By updating aspects of D. A. Miller’s conception of the policing plot in The Novel and the Police (1988), we argue that confession in contemporary televisual dramas exemplifies a cultural transition from power as force to power as communication. The ascendance of communicative power pathologizes aspects of masculinity and introduces a new dramatic/narra-tive device: the therapeutic couplet.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Daedalus

DOI

EISSN

1548-6192

ISSN

0011-5266

Publication Date

January 1, 2020

Volume

150

Issue

1

Start / End Page

118 / 133

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
  • 43 History, heritage and archaeology
  • 36 Creative arts and writing
  • 21 History and Archaeology
  • 19 Studies in Creative Arts and Writing
 

Citation

APA
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ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Chow, R., & Sarfan, A. (2020). We “other victorians”? Novelistic remains, therapeutic devices, contemporary televisual dramas. Daedalus, 150(1), 118–133. https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_01837
Chow, R., and A. Sarfan. “We “other victorians”? Novelistic remains, therapeutic devices, contemporary televisual dramas.” Daedalus 150, no. 1 (January 1, 2020): 118–33. https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_01837.
Chow, R., and A. Sarfan. “We “other victorians”? Novelistic remains, therapeutic devices, contemporary televisual dramas.” Daedalus, vol. 150, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 118–33. Scopus, doi:10.1162/DAED_a_01837.
Journal cover image

Published In

Daedalus

DOI

EISSN

1548-6192

ISSN

0011-5266

Publication Date

January 1, 2020

Volume

150

Issue

1

Start / End Page

118 / 133

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
  • 43 History, heritage and archaeology
  • 36 Creative arts and writing
  • 21 History and Archaeology
  • 19 Studies in Creative Arts and Writing