Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 4-1-2019 2:30 PM Watching and Working Through: Navigating Non-being in Television Storytelling Tiara Lalita Sukhan The University of Western University Supervisor Sliwinski, Sharon The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Tiara Lalita Sukhan 2019 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Television Commons Recommended Citation Sukhan, Tiara Lalita, "Watching and Working Through: Navigating Non-being in Television Storytelling" (2019). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 6082. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/6082 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract This dissertation explores various examples of the concept of symbolic non-being within television drama. It seeks to investigate the ways and degrees to which television storytelling can represent and perform the psychoanalytic process of “working through.” The medium of television provides a unique framework for investigation as television does not just illustrate (represent) working through as something a fictional character experiences, but it also performs it structurally, through the incorporation of three medium-specific features: duration, immersion and repetition. Television represents working through on a mass scale – imagining a collective audience by addressing big political, personal and/or institutional issues that shape our understanding of what it means to be human, navigating a complicated, painful, and too often unjust, world. Symbolic non-being is relevant to this process as it represents a stage in the middle of a loss or trauma, where some element of the self has retreated from actualised personhood, and there are only two possible outcomes: reintegrated being (a successful working through), or non-symbolic permanent non-being (death or irreparable biological damage to that which constitutes personhood). The range of specific issues that television addresses can be broad but working through requires a point of identification for the viewer. Three case studies provide examples representing anxieties about the nature of existence through their depiction of narratives of non-being.: 1) moral injury in the season finale of M*A*S*H; 2) dementia and mother/daughter relationality in Grey’s Anatomy; and 3) prison temporality and social death in Rectify. The non-being that is experienced by the characters in each of these examples is almost always a temporary state – they enter the zone of non-being in different ways, specific to the nature of the kind of loss they have suffered. They may leave this zone by the end of the narrative, but the real-world correlation being gestured to in each case allows viewers to encounter a much broader zone of relationality which can then be more fully addressed in the real world, with a heightened awareness of the full range of implications of what has been lost and what has been taken. i Keywords Television, psychoanalysis, non-being, working through, trauma, memory, witness, storytelling, social death, loss ii Acknowledgements There are many people, without whom, this journey to completion would have been much more difficult, if not impossible. I believe everyone we encounter has something to offer us, if we can take the time and find the common ground to see it. For this reason, I could make this list of thankyous exceedingly long, but I’ll temper those inclinations and instead focus on the highlights. My supervisor, Sharon Sliwinski, has been integral in helping me to shape my project and better understand the nature of my own work, particularly in terms of navigating the emotional minefields of the intersection of scholarship and lived experience. Her mentorship has had an enormously positive impact on me, both as a scholar and a teacher. Alison Hearn, my second reader, has supported me in numerous ways throughout my time in grad school, and her feedback has always been thoughtful, generous and challenging – I’m glad that she could be in the room with me at the end. Norma Coates took the time to read a chapter for me at very short notice – I appreciate her good will in doing this, and also in serving on my examining committee, along with Will Straw, Joel Faflak and Susan Knabe. I was assured that the defense would be a great conversation, and it lived up to those expectations. I’m very grateful for the intellectual generosity and engagement of everyone who was in that room. While I can’t say I would want to repeat the process any time soon, I must acknowledge how deeply rewarding it has been to immerse myself in academic study for the last few years. I am grateful for the cohort and community that I started with – many of whom have moved on now, but still keep in touch – particularly, Andrea Benoit, Richard Davila, Laura Cayen, Lili Dang, David Burty, Conan Masterton, Atle Kjosen, Trent Cruz, Jill McTavish, Luke Arnott, Warren Steele, Siobhan Watters, and Henry Svec. These folks are always there when I need them, whether it’s visits to the hospital, seeing me through surgery and chemotherapy, helping me move, celebrating holidays when we can’t get home to family, offering me a bed for the night, sharing countless meals/drinks and couches at parties, or to copy-edit my entire dissertation days before submission. After my cohort moved on, I found new community with the help of the new building. iii While the layout of the 4th floor of FNB might be a quagmire of confusion for some to navigate successfully, I have only seen opportunities, for more face time with colleagues and mentors, shared food, shared stories, shared problems and solutions. These connections have provided a second wind of community support and I’m particularly grateful to Nicole Dalmer (whose inclusive spirit fosters community effortlessly – you are a real inspiration), Lola Wong (the purveyor of mason jar salads and other delicious treats), Claire Burrows (who started FIMS Runs – a legacy I will try to maintain as long as I can), Amy Freier (a fellow Manitoban), Eugenia Canas (our Williams writing sessions have been everything these last 6 months), Zak Bronson (my office-mate and general sounding-board), Yimin Chen (who always knows how to lighten the mood), Kelsang Legden (I’m grateful for all the library hacks) and so many others who congregate in the kitchen, for their friendship and collegiality. All of you guys have been one of the best things that grad school has given me. I’m also grateful for the people who make the trains run on time at FIMS – particularly, Lili Dang, Cindy Morrison, Ella Young, Shelley Long, and Susan Knabe. Your institutional support, guidance and friendship have been invaluable, and a testimony to your own determination to build community in your workplace. I want to acknowledge my parents in Winnipeg (thanks for driving to London for the public lecture Dad – it’s many hours in the car for just one day, but it was awesome to share it with you), and my extended family, who have always inquired after me and supported my choices, no matter where in the world they have taken me or for how long. My ladies – Robyn Harrington, Marnie Patterson, Kathleen Barnes and Claudine Rose Kuffner – have known me for most of my life, and I love that I can always count on them for support and encouragement. Knowing that other people believe in you is everything in completing this often-lonely task. Giles Whitaker was the first person to encourage me to pursue a doctorate, and he didn’t mind that we left New Zealand and travelled to Canada to do it. Neither of us expected to find ourselves still in London, Ontario nearly 10 years after this journey began, but I couldn’t have reached the end of it without his love and support. I’m forever grateful. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Keywords ............................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Preface.............................................................................................................................. viii Introduction: Some ruminations on mourning, dying, and mediation ................................ 1 1 Television ontologies: Being, non-being, and working through ................................. 10 Telling/watching stories .............................................................................................. 19 Therapeutic television – history, forms and narrative strategies ................................. 23 Uncertainty, closure, and working through ................................................................. 36 Case study overview ..................................................................................................