par Derinöz, Sabri
Référence G&C 2019 - Media, gender and sexuality in contemporary Europe: Resistances and redefinitions through performances, productions and consumption (15-16/11/2019: University of Padua)
Publication Non publié, 2019-11-15
Communication à un colloque
Résumé : Our study is focused on analyzing the evolution of the representation of homosexuality in traditional media through the years, and more precisely in shows that target adolescents and young adults on the French-speaking part of Belgium’s televisions and radios. Different studies show that prominent causes of more liberal attitudes towards homosexuality are, amongst others, increased contact with gay people - which can be done through media (Schiappa et. al, 2006.) - and a rise in the portrayal of gay people in news and fictional media (Ayoub & Garretson, 2016). Media has an impact especially on the way on younger people see and/or handle homosexuality (Calzo & Ward, 2009). The LGBTQ emerging adults who participated in McInroy and Craig’s study (2016) still consume a significant amount of traditional media and see TV as a space that creates “a common dialogue” but also as a space of social control and rigidity that leads to less possibilities of LGBTQ content and feelings of marginalization. Seeing LGBTQ characters gave them a sense of possibility, validating their sense of selves and legitimizing their feelings. However, many participants focused on the flaws in depicting LGBTQ people through these characters: they are seen as predominantly one-dimensional (defined by their sexual identity) and stereotypical (exaggerated gender behaviors, seen as victims, etc.) while many LGBTQ sub-groups and communities remain invisible and the narratives are often limited and simplistic.We developed a multilevel analysis model based on critical discourse analysis (Van Leeuwen, 2007) which allow us to identify the representations of homosexuality in the media (peculiarities of the character…), to analyse the paradigms of social relations and interactions associated with them (type of interaction, stereotypes, patterns, diversity …), to analyse the effects that develop from the target audience’s reception of these paradigms (importance of the – positive or negative- role…), to evaluate these effects in the light of the context of reception, both media-specific and societal (heteronormative model…). Our corpus is composed of 250 sequences that appeared on Belgian French speaking television in 2013 and that reflected a variety of genre, origin and a large time period (from the 80’s to the 2010’s) and a selection of 2017-2019 sequences. Our results so far show that the relational models acted out on the screen are comparatively varied, from simplistic to closer to real-life representations. However, if newer sequences seem to bring more effort in their portrayal, many of the issues exposed by McInroy and Craig’s participants such as one-dimensional, stereotypical, limited characters, seem valid to these days.