Popular audiences, populist narratives in contemporary European Film & TV Series

Workshop organized by Valerio Coladonato and Dominic Holdaway, 2024 Paris IAS Research Fellows, as part of the Constructive Advanced Thinking (CAT) program

Open to the public. Online only.
Register via the form at the bottom of the page to receive the connection link.

Presentation

This workshop aims to explore how popular audiences interact with populist narratives in contemporary European cinema and television series.

The event is at the intersection of two projects: first, “Screening European Populisms (2008-2020): Audiovisual Fiction, Social Media, and Political Affect”, supported by the Constructive Advanced Thinking (CAT) scheme of the European Network of Institutes of Advanced Studies (NETIAS). The second is “Circulating Populist Sentiments in 21st Century Film and TV Fiction in Italy”, supported by RRP funding from the European Union – Next Generation EU and the Italian Ministry for Universities and Research (PRIN 2022).

Together, the scholars involved in these networks – ranging from film and television, media studies, cultural studies and political communication – seek to understand how fictional film and TV engages, promotes or challenges populist narratives, especially through emotional discourses.

The first part of the workshop will explore methodological and theoretical issues: it will frame the study of popular culture from the top-down and bottom-up perspectives of audiences and creatives/professionals, within the framework of political questions, particularly relating to nationality and regionality.

The two afternoon sessions will delve into case studies of recent films and TV series, examining the presence – or absence – of populist discourses in and around French, Italian and Spanish TV and films, both in terms of representation and in (online) circulation patterns. Key themes that they pick out include identity (gender and age), national and political histories, and populist narratives such as anti-elitism or anti-intellectualism.

Open to the public. Online only.
Register via the form below to receive the connection link.