American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) ISSN (Print) 2313-4410, ISSN (Online) 2313-4402 © Global Society of Scientific Research and Researchers http://asrjetsjournal.org/ A Woman Among Men the Language of Madness and Power on TV – The Case of Carrie Mathison in Homeland * Claudia Monacelli UNINT University, Via Cristoforo Colombo 200, Rome 00147, Italy Email:
[email protected] Abstract This study analyzes the language used in the TV series Homeland that represents a predominantly male working environment, the world of intelligence, when a key female empowered protagonist, Carrie Mathison, becomes disempowered due to her mental illness, bipolarity. After conducting an initial pilot study consisting of one episode from each of the seven seasons, we decided to focus on the ideolect and slang of intelligence circles, deixis and pronominal reference, irony, variations in register, patterns of repetition and doublespeak for this purpose. This paper concludes with a discussion of how each of these analytical tools work toward either strengthening Carrie Mathison’s power or indicating her disempowerment in relation to her social context and working environment. Keywords: Power; Madness; Women Empowerment; Deixis; Pronominal Reference; TV Series. 1. Introduction This study examines the language used in a TV series that represents a predominantly male working environment, the world of intelligence, when a key female empowered protagonist becomes disempowered due to her mental illness, bipolarity. The main protagonist is Carrie Mathison, a CIA agent, in the series Homeland. Homeland has achieved high acclaim and was one of the most watched TV shows in the United States [1:54].