Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)

This paper approaches fictional telecinematic discourse from a perspective of inter-character negative evaluation in a specific context. The paper adapts a categorisation for interpersonal negative judgements and uses it to analyse instances of negative evaluation where participation in career pract...

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Main Author: Jukke Kaaronen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2024-02-01
Series:Series. International journal of tv serial narratives
Subjects:
Online Access:https://series.unibo.it/article/view/16513
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author Jukke Kaaronen
author_facet Jukke Kaaronen
author_sort Jukke Kaaronen
collection DOAJ
description This paper approaches fictional telecinematic discourse from a perspective of inter-character negative evaluation in a specific context. The paper adapts a categorisation for interpersonal negative judgements and uses it to analyse instances of negative evaluation where participation in career practices are negotiated between the marital couple of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in the classic sitcom I Love Lucy. A recurring theme in the show, Lucy’s desire to star in show business and Ricky’s attempts to thwart her ambitions have been discussed as both a representation of domestic containment typical to Post-War gender roles as well as an example of early feminist representation in televised sitcoms. The analysis reveals three intertwined facets of containment: Moral judgements condemning the oppressive behaviour of restricting Lucy’s access to career opportunities, moral judgements condemning the subversion of authority, and moral judgements of fairness condemning the distribution of social resources.
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spelling doaj.art-a61faf4c5b3c428b939a7eb77834c2982024-02-06T09:55:25ZengUniversity of BolognaSeries. International journal of tv serial narratives2421-454X2024-02-0191052010.6092/issn.2421-454X/1651314867Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)Jukke Kaaronen0University of HelsinkiThis paper approaches fictional telecinematic discourse from a perspective of inter-character negative evaluation in a specific context. The paper adapts a categorisation for interpersonal negative judgements and uses it to analyse instances of negative evaluation where participation in career practices are negotiated between the marital couple of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in the classic sitcom I Love Lucy. A recurring theme in the show, Lucy’s desire to star in show business and Ricky’s attempts to thwart her ambitions have been discussed as both a representation of domestic containment typical to Post-War gender roles as well as an example of early feminist representation in televised sitcoms. The analysis reveals three intertwined facets of containment: Moral judgements condemning the oppressive behaviour of restricting Lucy’s access to career opportunities, moral judgements condemning the subversion of authority, and moral judgements of fairness condemning the distribution of social resources.https://series.unibo.it/article/view/16513evaluationjudgementsitcomdomesticoppression
spellingShingle Jukke Kaaronen
Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)
Series. International journal of tv serial narratives
evaluation
judgement
sitcom
domestic
oppression
title Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)
title_full Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)
title_fullStr Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)
title_full_unstemmed Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)
title_short Representing Domestic Containment through Inter-character Negative Judgements: Discourse Analysis of Career Talk in I Love Lucy (1951-52)
title_sort representing domestic containment through inter character negative judgements discourse analysis of career talk in i love lucy 1951 52
topic evaluation
judgement
sitcom
domestic
oppression
url https://series.unibo.it/article/view/16513
work_keys_str_mv AT jukkekaaronen representingdomesticcontainmentthroughintercharacternegativejudgementsdiscourseanalysisofcareertalkinilovelucy195152