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GEC02
Representing Gender, Sexuality and Romance
PP 253
Urban Queers and Rural Hicks LGBTQ Characters as Markers of Late Modernity in Flemish Quality Fiction Television
F. Vanlee
1
, S. Van Bauwel
1
, F. Dhaenens
1
1
Ghent University, Communication Science, Ghent, Belgium
While Flanders stands out as one of the smallest local television markets, relying in part on foreign imports for its fiction television programming, the region
is characterized by a thriving and diverse domestic fiction television industry (Lavie & Dhoest, 2014). Dhoest (2007) argues that this popularity of domestic
television output in Flanders can to some extent be attributed to its reliance on ‘everyday nationalism’. It both confirms and perpetuates commonplace
assumptions about Flemish identity and culture, facilitating recognition and identification while also reaffirming hegemonic images of Flemish ‘normality’.
Building on this observation, Dhoest further surmises this tendency to be a homogenizing force, with a nefarious effect on - among other issues - the rep‑
resentation of LGBTQs. As Dhoest (2007) points out, many LGBTQ characters in Flemish soap operas, dramas and sitcoms thus function as token characters
that highlight the white straightness of idealised Flemish society. However, we argue that the role of these characters differs significantly in a particular
strain of domestic television fiction: namely ‘quality television’. More often than not, quality television fiction in Flanders can be conceptualised as what
we call ‘parish narratives’. These particularly Flemish narratives feature a hyperbolically rural setting of a Flemish village and portrays the rustic daily lives
and interactions of its inhabitants. In these narratives, LGBTQ characters do not function as tokens, but rather serve as markers accentuating the imagined
outmoded nature of Flemish rural life, and shape middle and upper class urban identities as hierarchically superior and inherently oppositional to rural
identities. Drawing on Judith Halberstam’s notion of queer locality and the use of LGBTQ characters as‘markers of modernity’(Halberstam, 2005), Gramsci’s
(1982) writings on the intellectual and Bourdieu’s (1984) concept of distinction, we set out to map, conceptualize and comprehend these representational
practices. To formulate our argument, we have selected a sample of three Flemish quality fiction television series (i.e. Met Man en Macht (Vier, 2013), Mars‑
man (Een, 2014) and Bevergem (Canvas, 2015)), characterised by their reliance on a ‘parish narrative’. With our textual analysis we illustrate how LGBTs are
constructed as outsiders and unnatural inhabitants of Flemish rural areas, connoting the Flemish village with bias and pettiness while privileging the absent
city as the site of modernity and progress. Works Cited - Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction. London: Routledge - Dhoest, A. (2007). The National Everyday in
Contemporary European Television Fiction: The Flemish Case. Critical Studies in Television: Scholarly Studies in Small Screen Fictions, 2(2): 60–76 - Gramsci,
A. (1982). Selections from the Prison Notebooks. London: Lawrence &Wishart - Halberstam, J. (2005). In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Sub‑
cultural Lives. NewYork NY: NewYork University Press - Lavie, N. & Dhoest, A. (2015). QualityTelevision in the
Making:TheCase of Flanders and Israel. Poetics
PP 254
The Representation of Romantic Love in Fiction Series Aimed at Young People. Perpetuating Myths and Gender Differences
M.J. Masanet
1
, P. Medina-Bravo
1
, S. Aran-Ramspott
2
1
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Communication Department, Barcelona, Spain
2
Universitat Ramon Llull, Facutat de Comunicació i Relacions Inetrnacionals Balnquerna, Barcelona, Spain
The aim of this research is to detect the romantic love stereotypes present in series produced in Spain and aimed at young people. In this research we analyze
the way these stereotypes are expressed and produced. Our research focuses on series because they can act as elements for comprehending social reality and
they also are one of the most consumed media products by young people. Recognition of certain models is reinforced through viewer identification mech‑
anisms or through recognition of the common social universe. In young audiences, these identifications mechanisms play a vital role as active components
in the process of constructing their individual identities, particularly as indicators of what young people expect from a love relationship. In this point it is
important to consider the forms taken on by love relationships represented in series. These are established as the desire to renovate roles yet are coupled
with a deep-rooted social model based on presenting a dominant masculinity and a submissive femininity, closely bound to the conception of romantic love.
This paper falls within this focus and is concerned with the study of television fiction targeting young people. We use as a case study two highly popular
teen drama series that were first shown in 2011: Los protegidos and El barco. For the analysis of the series we have used the qualitative methodology based
on the semiotic framework (Greimas, 1989; Ruiz-Collantes et al., 2006). This system enables to identify the most important features of the audiovisual
product from the object of value, which is the starting point of the storylines. When the character is situated within a narrative role other aspects of this
character may be identified, such as physical and emotional features, what makes him/her act, his/her beliefs, objectives, contact with other characters,
the results of his/her objectives, etc. In order to be able to analyse the relationships represented in the fictional series it is important to find out what drives
the characters to act, to carry out their interventions, etc. The construction of the image of the love relationship is closely related to the actions and motiva‑
tions of the characters. Results of the analysis indicate that romantic love survives in modern storylines and is still subject to perpetuating age-old myths
and gender stereotypes, despite the requirements of healthy interpersonal relationships in societies of equality. One of the major conclusions reached is
that classical forms of patriarchy have evolved into more modern forms where love ends up being a manifestation of power relations yet still with gender
differences. The old socio-cultural models are still prevalent in new TV formats. An idea that stands out from our analysis is that the set of romantic myths
is in fact furnishing a meta-myth of a higher order that views romantic love as forbidden love. What remains is the continued existence of love relationships
based on emotional inequality between men and women, where the idealization of love as a forbidden dream covers up the risks of abusive relationships.