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Dominic Schmiedl (Dresden): "Crisis and Masculinity in Breaking Bad
and Contemporary American Television"
Abstract
Both the “crisis of masculinity” and “quality TV” have been popular discourses in academia in recent years. Breaking Bad (2007-2013) in its first season presents one of the alleged masculinities in crisis, i.e. a white middle class American male who seems “soft” and economically finds himself at the peril of losing his middle class status. In the course of five seasons, this “unmanly” man is transformed into an exemplar of what R.W. Connell calls hegemonic masculinity (thereby securing and enhancing his economic status). The aim of this project is to find out how masculinities are constructed in Breaking Bad, in how far “crisis” plays a role in doing so and how Breaking Bad sets itself apart from other serial constructions of masculinity in contemporary American “quality TV”. As such, the thesis will present a close reading of Breaking Bad that will be contrasted with other series that feature male main characters. In terms of text selection, original series airing on the basic cable channels AMC (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Mad Men) and The FX (Justified, Sons of Anarchy) are taken into account. Considering the brand-enhancing value original programming has for cable channels, it will also be interesting to see in how far the masculinities differ among these two channels and to what end, i.e. where can the series be positioned within contemporary American (popular) culture?
Bio
I am currently working on my doctoral thesis at the University of Technology Dresden, which is also where I graduated with a Magister degree in Amerikanistik in 2010. My Magister thesis Postmodern Narratives of Coming of Age analyzed coming of age novels by authors affiliated to Bennington College, a small liberal arts college in Vermont. Reading works by Bret Easton Ellis, Donna Tartt and Jill Eisenstadt, the thesis concluded that the traditional coming of age novel is, for the most part, deconstructed in works such as Less Than Zero or The Rules of Attraction as a singular coming of age moment cannot be identified in these works due to the performative aspects of postmodern identities and a culture that values youth over everything else. It concluded by suggesting the plural from, comings of age, to replace the notion of a coming of age.
My doctoral thesis is currently in-between planning and writing stage. I have not yet taken part in any conferences as a speaker and I am looking forward to making this new experience and getting a chance to network with my peers.
My doctoral thesis is currently in-between planning and writing stage. I have not yet taken part in any conferences as a speaker and I am looking forward to making this new experience and getting a chance to network with my peers.