The Pedagogy of Queer TV

This book examines queer characters in popular American television, demonstrating how entertainment can educate audiences about LGBT identities and social issues like homophobia and transphobia. Through case studies of musical soap operas (Glee and Empire), reality shows (RuPaul's Drag Race, The Prancing Elites Project and I Am Cait) and quality dramas (Looking, Transparent and Sense8), it argues that entertainment elements such as music, humour, storytelling and melodrama function as pedagogical tools, inviting viewers to empathise with and understand queer characters. Each chapter focuses on a particular programme, looking at what it teachesits representation of queernessand how it teaches thisits pedagogy. Situating the programmes in their broader historical context, this study also shows how these televisual texts exemplify a specific moment in American television.

Explores the concept of entertainment as pedagogy, arguing that queer characters, narrative devices, music, music video aesthetics, melodrama and emotion are all part of televisual teaching Closely analyses a wide range of queer entertainment programmes Frames case studies in their historical context

Autorentext
Ava Parsemain is an Educational Developer at The University of New South Wales, Australia

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Entertaining to Educate.- Part I: Historical Context.- 2. Looking Back: The Evolution of Queer TV.- Part II: Musical Soap Operas on Broadcast Television.- 3. It Gets Better: The Pedagogy of Glee.- 4. Burning Boxes: The Pedagogy of Empire.- Part III: Reality TV on Basic Cable.- 5. Queering and Policing Gender: The Pedagogy of RuPaul's Drag Race.- 6. Butch Queens and Femme Queens: The Pedagogy of The Prancing Elites Project.- 7. The Self and the Other: The Pedagogy of I Am Cait.- Part IV: Quality Drama on Premium Cable and Streaming.- 8. It's not TV: The Pedagogy of Looking.- 9. Realistic Entertainment: The Complex Pedagogy of Transparent.- 10. I Am Also a We: The Pedagogy of Sense8.- 11. Conclusion: Engaging With the Other.