Emotional Expressionism

E. Deidre Pribram is professor emerita of the Communications Department at Molloy University.

Pribram presents the complex theory of socioemotionality through the lens of television and melodrama, providing concrete examples of how the theory may be applied to show how emotionality “embraces ‘political, contextual, ethical, and lived’ phenomena.” Using television serials such as How to Get Away with Murder, Killing Eve, Mad Men, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Pribram applies specific aspects of the theory to illustrate how it combines fluidly with the aesthetics of the medium and its narrative modes to present a more robust reading of “character, structure, genre and content.” In addition, she examines the symbiotic relationship between socioemotionality and melodrama, explaining how the approach to a dramatic television serial, even set during the same era, can diverge based on the emotional context through which showrunners create the programs, especially those creators influenced by political and/or ethical nostalgia. Serving as an excellent resource for researchers and scholars, Pribram’s text demonstrates how the influence of society’s collective emotions directly impacts the narrative structures of mass media, specifically dramatic television serials, which lend themselves more readily to melodrama and, consequently, socioemotionality. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

• Part I: Outlining the FieldChapter One: Socioemotionality and Popular Mediated NarrativityChapter Two: The Melodrama of Television SerializationChapter Three: Emotional ExpressionismsPart II: About EmotionsChapter Four: Characterizing EmotionsChapter Five: Emotion as Structuring DeviceChapter Six: Genre and ToneChapter Seven: Collective Emotions and Audiences