An Exploration of Youth Talk Around Representations of Individual Difference in the American Television Show Glee
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An Exploration of Youth Talk Around Representations of Individual Difference in the American Television Show Glee The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Dorsey, Jennifer M. 2016. An Exploration of Youth Talk Around Representations of Individual Difference in the American Television Show Glee. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:27112712 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA ! An Exploration of Youth Talk Around Representations of Individual Difference in the American Television Show Glee Jennifer Dorsey Helen Haste Joseph Blatt Jal Mehta A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Education of Harvard University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education 2016 ! ""!! ! ! 2016 Jennifer Dorsey All Rights Reserved ! """!! ! Abstract In this study I investigate the ways in which youth talk about difference and fictional television characters in order to better understand youth's relationship with the media and diverse others. I use the theoretical framework of constructivism and the analytic framework of Foucauldian Discourse Analysis in order to answer the following research questions: 1) What discourses and positionings do youth use when talking about fictional characters? 2) What discourses and positionings do youth use when talking about difference in the context of a television program that presents diverse characters, specifically in the areas of (a) ability, (b) sexuality, and (c) ethnicity? 3) What do these ways of talking about characters and difference make possible for youth in the world? I chose to study these questions by investigating the meanings that youth were making of characters on the television show Glee. I conducted a qualitative interview study, recruiting participants in accordance with purposive sampling for maximum variation. Data gathering consisted of qualitative interviews, both with individuals and pairs. Interviews included both photo and video elicitation. Following data collection and interview transcription, I conducted data analysis using positioning theory, discourse theory, and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. In my first analytic chapter I identified two main discourses that youth use when talking about characters: Character as Person and Character as Creation. In my second analytic chapter I analyze youth speech and discuss the discourses and positionings that ! "#!! ! they use when talking about difference, identifying three main discourses: Being Different, Having Difference, and Enacting Difference. In my final analytic chapter I look more closely at the parasocial relationships that youth describe having with characters, investigating when youth do and do not describe identifying with the characters on Glee. I note that when youth describe relating strongly with a character because of a shared difference, they most often use the discourses of Character as Person and Being Different. Through the lens of Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, I am able to explore not only the patterns apparent in youth talk about characters and difference, but also what this talk makes possible in the world. ! #!! ! Acknowledgements I would not have been able to complete this work without the help of a great many people. First and foremost I would like to thank my committee. Helen Haste has taught me how to analyze qualitative data and to see how the ways that we talk about things matter. Joe Blatt has taught me everything I know about the world of media research and given me some of the best work experiences of my life. Jal Mehta has taught me so much about how to write a dissertation and how to make and support an argument. More than anything, each of them has stood by me for the better party of a decade. The influence of each is clear in this document that I am now so proud to share. I would also like to thank the many other faculty who shaped my experience including Wendy Luttrell for teaching me to see the world in new ways, Mark Warren for making me a better interviewer, and Mica Pollock for showing me the moment-to- moment interactions that make any culture what it is. I’d like to thank Meredith Mira and Ling Hsiao who as members of my writing group helped to shape the thinking on this project from its inception, and Julia Galindo for working with me to see the project through to completion. I’d like to thank Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan for creating the perfect television show to use to talk to high school students about difference and diverse characters. On the home front, I’d like to thank Steve Rogers for cheering me through every last hurdle. I’d like to thank my parents and my brother, Jan, Jerry and Forrest Dorsey, for always letting me know that I would be loved no matter what. I’d like to thank Sarah Kimmel for being my tarantula and helping me to work with my mind instead of against ! #"!! ! it. And to all of the wonderful friends who supported me throughout this process including but not limited to Jenn and Mary, Jen, Erin, Holly, Atisha and Sara, Danielle and Keili, and Kevin, Ryan and Amalia. To the Neves family for taking me in for five Thanksgivings in a row and making me feel like I had family in Boston. To Cronkhite Center, for letting me share cold, cold nights with Stella, Vanessa, and Diane, Carla, Carrie, Tomas and Marcia. And to everyone in the Boston and Austin improv communities who provided unlimited hugs and helped me to keep my sense of humor. I’d like to thank everyone at the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin for supporting me in this work and for becoming my new intellectual home. I’d particularly like to thank Uri Treisman for having the vision to create a place where I can fight for equity while being challenged with work that I love. Finally, I would like to thank the Harvard Graduate School of Education. My mind is a different beast than it was ten years ago, and I am able to do more for myself and for the world because of it. I’d also like to thank HGSE for introducing me to Dr. Jennie Weiner, Dr. Sherry Deckman, Dr. Carla Shalaby, Dr. Meredith Mira, Dr. Julia Hayden Galindo, Dr. Kelly Leahy Whitney, Dr. Anita Wadhwa, Dr. Ling Hsiao, Dr. Christina Dobbs, Dr. Thomas Nikundiwe, Dr. Amy Fowler, Dr. Keith Catone, Dr. Analía Jaimovich, and everyone else that I am forgetting. Thank you all for challenging me and supporting me in a million different ways. I’m excited to be joining your ranks. ! #""!! ! Contents Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Why Diverse Media Portrayals Might Matter .............................................................................. 3 Parasocial relationships ............................................................................................................ 3 Meaning Making and the Parasocial Relationship Theory ...................................................... 4 Difference on Glee ................................................................................................................... 6 Road Map ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Theoretical and Analytic Frameworks ......................................................................... 11 Theoretical Framework: Constructionism .................................................................................. 11 Discourses .................................................................................................................................. 13 Positioning .................................................................................................................................. 15 Another Representation of Positioning and Discourse: “The Positioning Triangle” ............. 18 Analytic Framework: Foucauldian Discourse Analysis ............................................................. 21 The Foucauldian Discourse Analysis Framework ..................................................................... 22 Foucault’s Madness: An Example of Discourse, Related Positionings, and What They Make Possible in the World ................................................................................................................. 27 Madness as Punishment from God ......................................................................................... 27 Madness as Contagion ............................................................................................................ 28 Madness as Imbalance in the Body ........................................................................................ 30 Madness as Mental Illness ..................................................................................................... 33 Revised Foucauldian Discourse Analysis Framework ............................................................... 34 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 36 Chapter 3: Methodology Part 1: Data Gathering ..........................................................................