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THE TELEVISED SOUTH: AN ANALYSIS OF THE DOMINANT READINGS OF SELECT PRIME-TIME PROGRAMS FROM THE REGION By COLIN PATRICK KEARNEY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2020 © 2020 Colin P. Kearney To my family ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A Doctor of Philosophy signals another rite of passage in a career of educational learning. With that thought in mind, I must first thank the individuals who made this rite possible. Over the past 23 years, I have been most fortunate to be a student of the following teachers: Lori Hocker, Linda Franke, Dandridge Penick, Vickie Hickman, Amy Henson, Karen Hull, Sonya Cauley, Eileen Head, Anice Machado, Teresa Torrence, Rosemary Powell, Becky Hill, Nellie Reynolds, Mike Gibson, Jane Mortenson, Nancy Badertscher, Susan Harvey, Julie Lipscomb, Linda Wood, Kim Pollock, Elizabeth Hellmuth, Vicki Black, Jeff Melton, Daniel DeVier, Rusty Ford, Bryan Tolley, Jennifer Hall, Casey Wineman, Elaine Shanks, Paulette Morant, Cat Tobin, Brian Freeland, Cindy Jones, Lee McLaughlin, Phyllis Parker, Sue Seaman, Amanda Evans, David Smith, Greer Stene, Davina Copsy, Brian Baker, Laura Shull, Elizabeth Ramsey, Joann Blouin, Linda Fort, Judah Brownstein, Beth Lollis, Dennis Moore, Nathan Unroe, Bob Csongei, Troy Bogino, Christine Haynes, Rebecca Scales, Robert Sims, Ian Ward, Emily Watson-Adams, Marek Sojka, Paula Nadler, Marlene Cohen, Sheryl Friedley, James Gardner, Peter Becker, Rebecca Ericsson, George Mushrush, Catherine Wright, David Miller, Richard Norton Smith, Angela Suarez, Xiaomei Cai, Cindy Lont, Ryan Swanson, Suzanne Smith, Frank Philpot, Jessica Matthews, Tim Gibson, Mike Dickerson, Stephen Groening, Constant Cheng, Constance Hylton, Derek Sweetman, Paula Petrik, Greg Crabtree, Cheryl Wood, Robert Gaudian, Nancy Signorielli, Scott Caplan, Jenny Lambe, Danna Young, Lindsay Hoffman, Steve Mortenson, Tracey Holden, Debbie Treise, Cynthia Morton, Norm Lewis, Louise Newman, Bernell Tripp, Tami Tomasello, Huan Chen, Ronald Rodgers, Rich Conley, Amy Jo Coffey, Ben Wise, Jasmine McNealy, and Herbert Lowe. I must give my advisor and committee chair, Dr. Ronald Rodgers, thanks for his tireless efforts and consistent source of help for not only this work, but for my personal and professional growth as a person and scholar. He allowed me not only to grow through this work but pushed me throughout the process to make it a piece of academic literature worthy of publication. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Norm Lewis, Dr. Frank Waddell, and Dr. Benjamin Wise. Throughout this process, you each have uniquely ensured that I be put on a track to complete a well-written and researched work. Each of you brought a level of enthusiasm to this project that made me believe that his project was one worth pursuing. To my cohort, for always having a level of understanding and ability to create a new community in Gainesville, Florida – a place not originally on my radar when beginning this experience. I am deeply indebted to your support, kindness, and compassion. To Summer Shelton, Amanda Kastrinos, Austin Vining, Dave McLean, and Vaughan James, for providing unwavering friendship and unrelenting fun during this experience. You provided so many shoulders to cry on and tables to play games on that it felt as if we were laughing and crying at the same time, but either way the past years have flown by. Finally, to my family, you always have known when I needed encouragement, support, and love. You were never hesitant to give advice, ask if I needed help, or simply be there for me at just the right time. I love you all. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 10 Television In America.............................................................................................. 12 America: 1960s-1990s ............................................................................................ 19 Civil Rights: 1954-1968 .................................................................................... 20 Vietnam: 1959-1975 ......................................................................................... 21 Watergate: 1972-1974 ...................................................................................... 22 Conservatism: 1980-1993 ................................................................................ 23 The Critical-Cultural Trend Of The Mid-Twentieth Century ..................................... 24 Study’s Purpose ...................................................................................................... 26 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 27 Studying The Media ................................................................................................ 28 Theoretical Perspectives .................................................................................. 30 Symbolic annihilation ................................................................................. 30 Critical theory and cultural studies ............................................................. 33 Stuart Hall and the encoding/decoding model............................................ 34 Symbolic annihilation & cultural studies: comparisons and contrasts ........ 37 The Mediated South ......................................................................................... 39 Reruns: Television’s Heartbeat Of Enduring And Culturally Relevant Programming ................................................................................................. 42 Research Question ................................................................................................. 44 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 46 Textual Analysis ...................................................................................................... 46 Semiotics ................................................................................................................ 47 The Codes Of Television ........................................................................................ 50 Character .......................................................................................................... 51 Narrative ........................................................................................................... 51 Setting .............................................................................................................. 51 The Discourse-Historical Approach ........................................................................ 52 Study Population and Research Sample ................................................................ 53 The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) ................................................................ 60 6 The Waltons (1972-1981) ................................................................................. 61 The Dukes of Hazzard (1978-1985) ................................................................. 61 Dallas (1978-1991) ........................................................................................... 62 The Golden Girls (1985-1992) .......................................................................... 63 Designing Women (1986-1993) ........................................................................ 63 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................................... 65 Community Trumps Individuality ............................................................................. 65 Progress Can Complement But Not Supersede Tradition....................................... 70 Ends-Based Justice ................................................................................................ 76 Women as Bearers Of Meaning .............................................................................. 81 Stereotypes Combat Regional Pride ....................................................................... 94 Responsibility Guides Philosophy ......................................................................... 101 5 DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................... 107 Growth Of Theoretical Perspectives ..................................................................... 123 Limitations And Future Research .......................................................................... 125 APPENDIX: LIST OF EPISODES ............................................................................... 129 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 146 7 LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1 Population of Programs .....................................................................................