The Postgraduate Networking Project

Simone Knox Department of Film, Theatre & Television University of Reading Nationality: German Funded Full-Time Registration: October 2001 Transfer MPhil to PhD: October 2002 Completion: April 2005 Director of Studies: Prof. Jonathan Bignell The aim of the PhD The main aim of my PhD was to explore the usefulness of the concept of postmodernism for the analysis of contemporary film and television. Experience in stages towards the PhD I spent the initial stages of the PhD researching existing discourse and drafting more specific research questions for the individual chapters. I spent the first year of the PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, but transferred to Reading University in 2002 when my supervisor changed jobs. Although this experience was quite disruptive, it was the right decision, as I have a very productive working relationship with my supervisor, whose advice and support has always helped me to focus on the 'end product', i.e. the completion of the thesis as a valuable piece of research rather than the 'definitive answer' to all of my research questions. Support The Department of Film, Theatre & Television at Reading University has been extremely helpful in many ways, including financial support for attending conferences and many regular formal and informal opportunities to share and discuss research. Given that writing a thesis is potentially a rather solitary undertaking, I have found this supportive environment stimulating for exploring new areas of research and trying out new ideas. There is a particularly strong sense of community amongst the PhD students in the department, which has resulted in 'JAM', a now annual international postgraduate conference that allows postgraduates in the fields of film, theatre, television and digital media studies to establish links and gain experience in presenting papers. My fellow PhD students also helped me when I was in the difficult stage of finishing the thesis, by offering advice and a sympathetic ear. I would like to point out that while the actual process of researching and writing the thesis is obviously both challenging and enjoyable, what has influenced the thesis and enriched my understanding of the entire field of film and television studies considerably is teaching courses on film and television at both Royal Holloway and Reading, because you don't properly learn about something until you have to teach it. (Plus, juggling writing a thesis with teaching, a job, presenting conference papers and preparing articles for publication certainly teaches you a thing or two about time-management!) What you would suggest to a new PhD student... What I would suggest to a student starting a PhDg is that doing a PhD can be a little solitary at times, and that it's important to share your experiences and ideas with other PhD students, not just in your own department/university, but within the PhD community within the whole of the UK (or even further abroad). Discussing your work & life with fellow PhD students enriches you & your PhD. A good way to do this is to go to conferences, especially postgraduate conferences. Abstract of the Thesis: Text and Theory: Reading Postmodern Critical Discourses and Contemporary Film and Television The main aim of the thesis is to explore and suggest both the difficulties and, ultimately, the usefulness of using the contentious concept postmodernism for the study of film and television texts. Much critical writing on postmodern media culture typically satisfies itself with using the label postmodernism on the basis that certain texts seem to display stylistic features commonly associated with postmodern cultural practice. For a more constructive approach, the key methodology of the thesis is to critically read texts and theories against each other, in order to examine the resonances and aporias that become apparent between the two. Therefore, the thesis consists of a close reading of both postmodern discourse, particularly the writings by the most prominent theorists associated with postmodernism, namely Jean-François Lyotard, Fredric Jameson and Jean Baudrillard, and a selection of contemporary film and television programmes. The thesis focuses on the films The Matrix, Fight Club, The Truman Show and Charlie's Angels, also making references to Blade Runner, and the television programmes The Simpsons and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Moving away from more formalist approaches to what constitutes the postmodern in film and television, the thesis works through some key concerns of postmodern discourse, cultural theory and film and television studies, namely identity, representation and reality, gender, the body, criticality, as well as the notion of excess. The thesis works through these concerns making use not only of a variety of postmodern discourse, but also of other strands of critical theory, which include feminism, Marxism and ideology, audience studies, medium specificity and theories of genre. Working through the relationships between texts and theories, the thesis also undertakes reflexive conceptual work on some of the issues and difficulties inherent in the interpretation, analysis and theorization of film and television. Publications and Papers Knox, S. "Muito boa qualidade, de facto": Shooting the Past e o caso das séries dramáticas de qualidade da televisão britânica na era da televisão de qualidade americana. Trans. Tico, S. ["Rather good quality, in fact": Shooting the Past and the case of British Quality Television Drama in the age of AQTV]. In: Borges, G. and Reia-Baptista, V. (Eds.). Discursos e Práticas de Qualidade Na Televisão, Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, 2008, 271-286. Knox, S. Five's Finest: The import of CSI to British television. In: Allen, M. (Ed.). Reading CSI: Crime TV Under the Microscope, London: I.B. Tauris, 2007, 183-197. Knox, S. Reading the ungraspable double-codedness of the Simpsons. Journal of Popular Film & Television, 34, 2006, 72-81. Knox, S. "You seem to have me confused with a character in a fictional show": Identity issues of and within contemporary film and television. In: Simon, G. and Burkitt, K. (Eds.) Working Papers in Contemporary History & Politics, Number 30: Future of Identity, University of Salford: European Studies Research Institute, 2005, no pagination. Current Job In September 2006, I was appointed as a full-time Lecturer in Television at the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading. I teach Critical Practice in television drama and documentary, British and American television drama, and film and television documentary. I was previously employed as the Postdoctoral Researcher on the AHRC-funded project 'British TV Drama and Acquired US Programmes 1970-2000' at the Department of Film, Theatre & Television, University of Reading. Contact details Department of Film, Theatre & Television, University of Reading, Bulmershe Court, Woodlands Avenue, Reading, RG6 1HY Email: s.knox@reading.ac.uk Website: http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/about/staff/s-knox.asp