Adventures in Shondaland: Identity Politics and the Power of Representation

Published by Rutgers University Press 2018

Adventures in Shondaland

Identity Politics and the Power of Representation

Edited by: Rachel Alicia Griffin and Michaela D.E. Meyer
With contributions by: Michaela D.E. Meyer , Rachel Alicia Griffin , Richard G Jones , Emily Vajjala , Joan Faber McAlister , Jessica L Furgerson , Jennifer Billinson , Jade Petermon , Shadee Abdi , Bernadette Calafell , Stephanie Young , Vincent Pham , Myra Washington , Tina Harris , Mark P Orbe , Mary Ingram-Waters , Leslie Balderas , Melissa Ames and Sean Swenson

https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813596358

Overview
Contents

About this book

Innovator Award for Edited Collection from the Central States Communication Association (CSCA)

Shonda Rhimes is one of the most powerful players in contemporary American network television. Beginning with her break-out hit series Grey’s Anatomy, she has successfully debuted Private Practice, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, The Catch, For The People, and Station 19. Rhimes’s work is attentive to identity politics, “post-” identity politics, power, and representation, addressing innumerable societal issues. Rhimes intentionally addresses these issues with diverse characters and story lines that center, for example, on interracial friendships and relationships, LGBTIQ relationships and parenting, the impact of disability on familial and work dynamics, and complex representations of womanhood. This volume serves as a means to theorize Rhimes’s contributions and influence by inspiring provocative conversations about television as a deeply politicized institution and exploring how Rhimes fits into the implications of twenty-first century television.

Author / Editor information

RACHEL ALICIA GRIFFIN is an associate professor of race and communication at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

MICHAELA D.E. MEYER is a professor in the department of communication at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.

Reviews

" Recommended."

— Choice

"Full of sophisticated analysis, this comprehensive and robust edited collection explores a diverse range of topics, including identity, representation, fandom, the media industry, and reception/meaning-making. Adventures in Shondaland is an impressive, necessary contribution to scholarship."

— Robin R. Means Coleman, coeditor of Fight the Power! The Spike Lee Reader

"This is a must-read collection of research and essays on the showrunner whose shows have transformed must-see TV in the age of social media. Insightful, critical—and fun."

— Catherine R. Squires, author of The Post-Racial Mystique: Media and Race in the Twenty-First Century

"Chronicle of Higher Education new scholarly books weekly book list, by Nina C. Ayoub

— Chronicle of Higher Education

With Good Reason Radio "The Shondaland Revolution" interview with Michaela D. E. Meyer

— With Good Reason Radio

"Offers a thorough account of the complex politics of representation in Shondaland and offers important insights for readers in television studies, feminist media studies and critical race studies."

— Critical Studies in Television

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction: Riding Shondaland’s Rollercoasters: Critical Cultural Television Studies in the 21^st Century Michaela D. E. Meyer and Rachel Alicia Griffin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Quality television’s cultural dominance: the auteur comes to television studies
1. Trauma, Spin, and Murder: The Carnival Spectacle in Shondaland Richard G. Jones and Emily Vajjala Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
2. Wounded Detachments, Differential Alliances: Beyond Identity and Telos in Shondaland’s Heterotopia Joan Faber Mcalister Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
3. Abortion in Shondaland: Daring Departures from Oppressive Industry Conventions Jessica L. Furgerson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
4. Soundtracking Shondaland: Televisual Identity Mapped through Music Jennifer Billinson and Michaela D. E. Meyer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
Part II: Shondaland’s paradoxical identity politics and the fantastical “post”
5. Race (Lost and Found) in Shondaland: The Rise of Multiculturalism in Prime-Time Network Television Jade Petermon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
6. Emb(Race)ing Visibility: Callie Torres’s (Im)Perfect Operation of Bisexuality on Grey’s Anatomy Shadee Abdi and Bernadette Marie Calafell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	120
7. The Problematics of Postracial Colorblindness: Exploring Cristina Yang’s Asianness in Grey’s Anatomy Stephanie L. Young and Vincent Pham Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
8. Interracial Intimacies: From Shondaland to the Postracial Promised Land Myra Washington and Tina M. Harris Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
Part III: Consumption, ethics, and morality: shondaland fandom as cultural meaning making
9. #BlackLivesMatter on Scandal: Analyzing Divergent Fan Reactions to “The Lawn Chair” Episode Mark P. Orbe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
10. Blurring Production Boundaries with Fan Empowerment: Scandal as Social Television Mary Ingram-Waters and Leslie Balderas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
11. Media Criticism and Morality Policing on Twitter: Fan Responses to How to Get Away with Murder Melissa Ames Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
12. Dying for the Next Episode: Living and Working within Shondaland’s Medical Universe Sean Swenson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259

Language: English
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 278
Illustrations
- Other: 5 tables
Keywords: Shondaland; Shonda Rhimes; diversity; television; melodrama; identity; culture; media; Shondaland Productions; intersectionality; marginalized; communication; journalism; identity politics; queer; race; ethnic; disability

eBook

Published: September 10, 2018
ISBN: 9780813596358