Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling

by Jason Mittell

$28.00

Account Type

Format

Quantity

Author: Jason Mittell

Publisher: NYU Press

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0814769608
ISBN 13: 978-0814769607

Over the past two decades, new technologies, changing viewer practices, and the proliferation of genres and channels has transformed American television. One of the most notable impacts of these shifts is the emergence of highly complex and elaborate forms of serial narrative, resulting in a robust period of formal experimentation and risky programming rarely seen in a medium that is typically viewed as formulaic and convention bound.

Complex TV offers a sustained analysis of the poetics of television narrative, focusing on how storytelling has changed in recent years and how viewers make sense of these innovations. Through close analyses of key programs, including The Wire, Lost, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Veronica Mars, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Mad Men the book traces the emergence of this narrative mode, focusing on issues such as viewer comprehension, transmedia storytelling, serial authorship, character change, and cultural evaluation. Developing a television-specific set of narrative theories, Complex TV argues that television is the most vital and important storytelling medium of our time.

» Browse a gallery of supplemental video clips on the Complex TV website.

Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling

Review

About the Author

Filters

Dissociative Disorders

Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling