Functions of Intermediality in the Simpsons
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Functions of Intertextuality and Intermediality in The Simpsons Der Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften der Universität Duisburg-Essen zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) eingereichte Dissertation von Wanja Matthias Freiherr von der Goltz Datum der Disputation: 05. Juli 2011 Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Josef Raab Prof. Dr. Jens Gurr Table of Contents List of Figures...................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 5 1.1 The Simpsons: Postmodern Entertainment across Generations ................ 5 1.2 Research Focus .............................................................................................11 1.3 Choice of Material ..........................................................................................16 1.4 Current State of Research .............................................................................21 2. Text-Text Relations in Television Programs ....................................... 39 2.1 Poststructural Intertextuality: Bakhtin, Kristeva, Barthes, Bloom, Riffaterre .........................................................................................................39 2.2 Forms and Functions of Intertextual References ........................................48 2.3 Intertextuality and Intermediality ..................................................................64 2.4 Television as a Site of Intertextual Events ...................................................73 2.4.1 Specifics of Television and the Television Series ..................................73 2.4.2 Aspects of Audience Reception ............................................................78 2.5 Types of Intertextual References in Animation ............................................86 2.6 From Intertextuality to Meta-reflexivity.........................................................91 3. Functions of Intertextuality and Intermediality in The Simpsons ... 101 3.1 Analytical Approach and Organization ...................................................... 101 3.2 Intratextual Functions.................................................................................. 103 3.2.1 Entertainment ..................................................................................... 103 3.2.2 Atmosphere ........................................................................................ 119 3.2.3 Character Development ...................................................................... 133 3.2.4 Plot Comprehension ........................................................................... 148 3.3 Extratextual Functions ................................................................................ 155 3.3.1 Emotional Reappraisal ........................................................................ 155 3.3.2 Cultural Education .............................................................................. 163 3.3.3 Inclusion of Social and Political Discourses ........................................ 171 3.4 Self- and Meta-reflexive Functions ............................................................. 182 3.4.1 Reflection on Production Conditions ................................................... 185 3.4.2 Reflection on Narrative Patterns ......................................................... 194 3.4.3 Reflection on Distribution Methods ..................................................... 210 3.4.4 Reflection on Audience Reception ...................................................... 220 4. Conclusion ........................................................................................... 233 Works Cited ...................................................................................................................... 238 The Simpsons Episode Guide ......................................................................................... 262 List of Films ...................................................................................................................... 272 List of Television Programs ............................................................................................. 279 List of Figures 4 List of Figures Figure 1: Three levels of intermedial references ............................................................... 72 Figure 2: Three levels of intermedial references, self- and meta-references ..................... 96 Figure 3: (Meta-)referential relations in the episode “Bart the Murderer” (EP 3-4) ............ 97 Figure 4: Target areas of self- and meta-reflexive references .......................................... 99 Figure 5: Network of parties involved in the intermedial reception of “A Streetcar Named Marge” (EP 4-2) ...................................................................................155 The Simpsons: Postmodern Entertainment across Generations 5 1. Introduction 1.1 The Simpsons: Postmodern Entertainment across Generations The Simpsons is one of the most successful programs in the history of television, if not a “media revolution” (Rushkoff, “Prince” 292). It initiated the second prime time animation boom at the beginning of the 1990s,1 paving the way for other animated programs with con- siderable audience responses, such as South Park, King of the Hill, Futurama, and Family Guy. After more than 20 seasons, it has outlived several similar formats and is ranked as the longest-running sitcom of all times. Although the show is rooted in a long tradition of compa- rable television formats, the unique accumulation of cultural texts,2 social discourses, and political issues it deals with distinguishes it from precursors such as cartoon shows like The Flintstones and The Jetsons on the one hand, and sitcoms like The Honeymooners, Leave it to Beaver, or The Cosby Show on the other. Its social criticism, the wide range of characters, its realism, and the extensive referential network to other texts turn the show – which many people expected to be just another children‟s program3 – into a sophisticated prime time en- actment of American culture and society. Attempting to position the show in a cultural category that goes beyond the technical term animation4 and the genre label sitcom, it will be difficult to avoid the word postmodern. As much as cartoons in general are sometimes regarded as a typical form of postmodern art,5 The Simpsons has repeatedly been labeled “postmodern,”6 and a brief analysis of the main characteristics of postmodernism and related concepts, such as poststructuralism and 1 See Brook 176, Czogalla 22, Hilton-Morrow/McMahan 77-82, McNeil 689, and Ortved 5. 2 Ott/Walter 437. 3 Douglas Rushkoff believes that the show pretends to be “a kids‟ cartoon” (“Prince” 292) in order to covertly transmit its oppositional messages (see also Arnold “Rest” 254). Thomas Klein asserts that animation in gen- eral, due to its “childlike” innocence, often serves as a vehicle for subversive or subtle political contents (26). In Germany, the show was also regarded as a children‟s format and broadcasted in the afternoon in the be- ginning before it was moved to prime time (see Tuncel/Rauscher 152). However, for some aspects of the show analyzed later, it is important to note that it also is a children‟s format (see Billen 49, and Savage 198), which is well-received among children (see Neumann [A. W.] 25, and Ortved 6). 4 In case of The Simpsons it seems appropriate to treat animation and cartoon as synonyms, since the show is both: from a technical point of view, cartoons are one method of animated film-making, which could also be realized with puppets, modeling clay, paper cut-outs, or computer programs (see, for example, Lindvall/Melton 203, Siebert Figuren 16, and Wells 10). Moreover, the word cartoon has recently (and also partly due to The Simpsons) lost much of its connotations of “a children‟s (or childish) audience, whimsical content, and ques- tionable social value” (Mittell 18; see also Wells 3). As a consequence, both labels will be used in this analysis without further implications. 5 For example, Lindvall/Melton present a detailed analysis of postmodern characteristics in animation (without mentioning The Simpsons). 6 See, among others, Alberti XIV, Arnold “Rest” 263/264, Beard 273, Broderick 244/259, Brook 177, Butler/Sepp 361, Campbell/Freed 76, Cantor “Greatest” 35, Cantor “Politics” 165/172/173/175, Dentith 162, Diederichsen 16/19, Ernst/Werkmeister 82/87/101, Gruteser/Klein/Rauscher 10/14/15, Heit 9/19, Henry “Triumph” 86, Her- ron 1, Kachel 167/168, Matheson 109, Mittell 15, Neumann [A. W.] 25, Ott 56, Rauscher 102- 104/110/115/122, Savage 202, Tuncel/Rauscher 155, Turner 63/417, Wallace 248, and Weilunn Chow 113. The Simpsons: Postmodern Entertainment across Generations 6 deconstruction, supports this approach.7 Frederic Jameson asserts that “one fundamental feature of all the postmodernisms […is] the effacement in them of the older (essentially high- modernist) frontier between high culture and so-called mass or commercial culture” (“Logic” 63);8 correspondingly, in The Simpsons, references to magazines, television, and popular music appear next to quotations from Shakespeare‟s plays and reinterpretations of Edward Hopper paintings.9 Simultaneously, this blending of allegedly different levels of artistic quality (co-)initiates a second blending of different cultural interests as far as the show‟s audience is concerned – a topic I will