Sexuality, Violence and History in Television Series

Abstract

The object of this paper is twofold: I shall explore these series within two basic analytical contexts. In the first section, I will compare and contrast the public service broadcasting and commercial broadcasting practices. I will concentrate on the most obvious differences and the underlying principles of the two systems: the representation of sexuality and violence in the four programmes. In the second half of the thesis paper I shall analyze how contemporary history and narrative theory appear in the series and how history is depicted in them. I will try to determine which major tendency do the series follow, which function – of Király Jenő’s– do they fulfil and how they reinterpret history as a narrative; whether they extend, rewrite or embellish historiography.