Old Wine in New Bottles. Narrative complexity in the dawn of Netflix Originals (2013-2017)

  1. José Antonio Planes 1
  2. Alberto N. García 2
  1. 1 Universidad de Medellín
    info

    Universidad de Medellín

    Medellín, Colombia

    ROR https://ror.org/030kw0b65

  2. 2 Universidad de Navarra
    info

    Universidad de Navarra

    Pamplona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02rxc7m23

Revista:
Comunicación y sociedad = Communication & Society

ISSN: 2386-7876

Any de publicació: 2024

Volum: 37

Número: 1

Pàgines: 1-19

Tipus: Article

DOI: 10.15581/003.37.1.1-19 WoS: WOS:001146304700011 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAccés obert editor

Altres publicacions en: Comunicación y sociedad = Communication & Society

Resum

This article explores how the first five years of Netflix Originals dramatic storytelling fit the “Complex TV” label that Mittell defined, with its innovative season-drop delivery strategy. We focus on one narratological device: the delimited flashback, the predominant type of analepsis in the 33 pilot episodes that made up our sample. Although the delimited flashbacks analyzed are semantically diverse, the discussion combines quantitative data with a qualitative analysis focusing on three key elements: the objects and places that trigger the characters’ memories, the contradictory or parallel relationship between timeframes, and the violation of boundaries between narrative layers.

Referències bibliogràfiques

  • Booth, P. (2011). Memories, temporalities, fictions: temporal displacement in contemporary television. Television & New Media, 12(4), 370-388. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/15274764103928
  • Bordwell, D. (1992). Narration in the Fiction Film. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
  • Bordwell, D., Thompson, K. & Smith, J. (2017). Film Art: An Introduction (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Branigan, E. (1992). Narrative Comprehension and Film. London: Routledge.
  • Buonanno, M. (2019). Seriality: Development and disruption in the contemporary medial and cultural environment. Critical Studies in Television, 14(2), 187-203. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1749602019834
  • Burch, N. (1981). Theory of Film Practice. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
  • Chatman, S. (1978). Story and Discourse. Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press.
  • Cohn, D. & Gleich, L. S. (2012). Metalepsis and Mise en Abyme. Narrative, 20(1), 105-114. https://www.doi.org/10.1353/nar.2012.0003
  • Gaudreault, A. & Jost, F. (2017). Le Récit Cinématographique. Films et series télévisées. Paris: Armand Colin.
  • Genette, G. (1972). Figures III. Paris: Editions du Seuil.
  • Genette, G. (1980). Narrative Discourse. An Essay in Method. Ithaca/New York: Cornell University Press.
  • Gordejuela, A. (2021). Flashbacks in Film. A Cognitive and Multimodal Analysis. London: Routledge.
  • Hemingway, T. (2021). ‘Next Episode in 5...’ – Binge-Watching and Narrative in Streaming Television Comedy. In M. Jenner (Ed.), Binge-Watching and Contemporary Television Research (pp. 224-235). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Jenner, M. (2016). Is this TVIV? On Netflix, TVIII and binge-watching. New media & society, 18(2), 257-273. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1461444814541523
  • Jenner, M. (2018). Netflix and the Re-invention of Television. Cham: Palgrave McMillan.
  • Johnson, C. (2019). Online Television. London/New York: Routledge.
  • Jowett, L. (2016). ‘Centuries of evil... wacky sidekicks... yadda, yadda’: Vampire television, Vampire time and the Conventions of Flashback. In L. Jowett, D. Simmons & K. L. Robinson (Eds.), Time on TV: Narrative Time, Time Travel and Time Travellers in Popular Television Culture (pp. 121–133). London/New York: I. B. Tauris.
  • Konigsberg, I. (1987). The Complete Film Dictionary. New York: Nal Books.
  • Kozak, L. & Zeller-Jacques, M. (2021). Digressions and Recaps: The Bingeable Narrative. In M. Jenner (Ed.), Binge-Watching and Contemporary Television Research (pp. 207–223). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Kozak, L., Zeller-Jacques, M., Hemingway, T., Can, O., Havas, J. & Horeck, T. (2021). Bingeing Narratives: Conclusion. In M. Jenner (Ed.), Binge-Watching and Contemporary Television Research (pp. 274-277). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Lavie, N. (2023). The constructed quality of Israeli TV on Netflix: The cases of Fauda and Shtisel. Critical Studies in Television, 18(1), 62-80. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/17496020221137661
  • Logan, E. (2016). Breaking Bad and Dignity: Unity and Fragmentation in the Serial Television Drama. Basingstoke: Palgrave McMillan
  • Mittell, J. (2015). Complex TV. The Poetics of Contemporary Storytelling. New York: New York University Press.
  • Naranjo, A. & Fernández-Ramírez, L. (2022). Netflix in Web of Science: a bibliometric approach. Communication & Society, 35(4), 133-145. https://www.doi.org/10.15581/003.35.4.133-145
  • Niemeyer, K. & Wentz, D. (2014). Nostalgia is not what it used to be: Serial nostalgia and nostalgic television series. In K. Niemeyer (Ed.), Media and nostalgia: Yearning for the past, present and future (pp. 129-138). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Planes Pedreño, J. A. (2018). El presente devorado por el pasado: declinaciones del flashbackmetaléptico y sus resonancias en el discurso memorístico de La prima Angélica. Hispanic Research Journal, 19(1), 89-104. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/14682737.2018.1419005
  • Planes, J. A., García, A. N. & Pérez-Morán, E. (2022). Flashbacks in Netflix Original TV Series (2013–2017): Predominant Categories, Formal Features, and Semantic Effects. International Journal of Communication, 16, 3443-3469. Retrieved from https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/19013
  • Smith, A. N. (2018). Storytelling Industries: Narrative Production in the 21st Century. Cham: Palgrave McMillan.
  • Tryon, C. (2015). TV got better: Netflix’s original programming strategies and the on-demand television transition. Media Industries Journal, 2(2), 104-116. https://www.doi.org/10.3998/mij.15031809.0002.206
  • Turim, M. (1989). Flashbacks in Films. Memory & History. London/New York: Routledge.
  • Van Es, K. (2022). Netflix & Big Data: The Strategic Ambivalence of an Entertainment Company. Television & New Media. Epub ahead of print 26 September 2022. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/15274764221125745
  • Warhol, R. R. (2014). Binge-watching: how Netflix’s original programs are changing serial form. Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht, 47(1-2), 145–158. Retrieved from https://verlag.koenigshausen-neumann.de/product/9783826058844-literatur-in-wissenschaft-und-unterricht-serial-narratives-lwu-xlvii-1-2-2014/
  • Zoller-Seitz, M. (2019, April 4). Is Game of Thrones the Last Show We’ll Watch Together? Vulture. Retrieved from https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/game-of-thrones-the-last-show-we-watch-together.html
  • Zündel, J. (2019). Serial skipper: Netflix, binge-watching and the role of paratexts in old and new televisions. Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, 16(2), 196-218. Retrieved from https://www.participations.org/16-02-11-zundel.pdf
Fuente de los datos: Dialnet