In:Language and Characterisation in Television Series: A corpus-informed approach to the construction of social identity in the media
Monika Bednarek
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 106] 2023
► pp. v–viii
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Published online: 1 March 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.106.toc
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.106.toc
Table of contents
AcknowledgmentsIX
Language notesXI
Chapter 1.Televisual characterisation1
1.1Introduction1
1.2Creating characters: Processes and authorship3
1.3Characters and the audience7
1.4Features of the televisual character9
1.4.1Stability9
1.4.2Aspects of character identity11
1.5Frameworks for the linguistic study of televisual characterisation12
1.5.1Cognitive stylistics: Schemas and textual cues13
1.5.2Sociolinguistics: Telecinematic indexicalities18
1.5.3A mixed approach to televisual characterisation22
1.6This book’s case study approach24
Chapter 2.Corpus linguistic analysis of televisual characterisation: Data and approach27
2.1Introduction27
2.2Corpus linguistic analyses of televisual characterisation27
2.3Corpus linguistic techniques and concepts30
2.3.1Frequency and keyness30
2.3.2Distribution32
2.3.3Collocation and concordance analysis35
2.3.4A note on statistics37
2.4Data38
2.5Units and levels of analysis40
2.6Concluding remarks43
Chapter 3.Character differentiation and character stability45
3.1Introduction45
3.2Gilmore Girls45
3.3Case study 1: Character differentiation47
3.3.1Lorelai as unique character48
3.3.2Lorelai as an emotional character53
3.4Case study 2: Character stability58
3.4.1Lorelai: An example of a “stable” televisual character?58
3.4.2Diachronic character stability re-visited61
3.4.3Intersubjective stability re-visited64
3.4.4Revisiting stability: The Gilmore Girls reboot69
3.5Conclusion71
Chapter 4.Characters and stereotypes73
4.1Introduction73
4.2The Big Bang Theory74
4.3Nerd stereotypes/schemas75
4.4Methods77
4.4.1Concordance and key word analysis77
4.4.2Scene-based analysis78
4.5Results80
4.5.1Character insights from concordance analysis80
4.5.2Character insights from key word analysis84
4.5.3Character insights from scene-based analysis90
4.5.4Sheldon compared to other television characters96
4.5.5Beyond Sheldon: Nerds in The Big Bang Theory97
4.6Conclusion102
Chapter 5.Flawed female characters105
5.1Introduction105
5.2Female gender representation in television series106
5.3Swear/taboo words109
5.3.1Swear/taboo words and televisual characterisation109
5.3.2Swear/taboo words and gender113
5.4Nurse Jackie, Weeds and Saving Grace115
5.5The use of swear/taboo words by the three “flawed” women119
5.5.1(Very) strong swear/taboo words119
5.5.2“Female” and “male” swear/taboo words123
5.6Conclusion129
Chapter 6.Characterisation and the use of marginalised varieties of English133
6.1Introduction133
6.2Indigenous characters and Australian Aboriginal English134
6.3Marginalised and “non-standard” Englishes in telecinematic discourse138
6.4Methodology140
6.4.1Redfern Now140
6.4.2The RFN corpus142
6.4.3Approach144
6.5Findings145
6.5.1Key words and their range146
6.5.2Australian English/Culture147
6.5.3Aboriginal ways of using English149
6.5.4Kinship terms155
6.5.5Additional AAE lexis160
6.6Conclusion163
Chapter 7.Beyond individual series: Analyses of US and Australian television dialogue corpora167
7.1Introduction167
7.2Case study 1: The use of a stigmatised language feature in US television168
7.2.1Background: Ain’t as a stigmatised language feature168
7.2.2Ain’t and characterisation169
7.3Case study 2: AAE lexis in Indigenous-authored television series175
7.3.1Background: Indigenous representation and AAE175
7.3.2Using lexical profiling to analyse AAE lexis179
7.3.3Corpus and methodology182
7.3.3.1The Ngara corpus182
7.3.3.2Methodology185
7.3.4Results189
7.3.4.1AAE words: Frequency, range, and character diffusion189
7.3.4.2AAE words: Character ethnicity191
7.3.5Case study summary198
7.4Chapter conclusion199
Chapter 8.Conclusion203
8.1Introduction203
8.2Using corpus linguistic techniques to study televisual characterisation204
8.3Televisual characterisation and stylistics207
8.4Concluding remarks209
List of TV series (and movies)211
References221
Appendix243
Index of TV series (and movies)261
General index261
