Bridging worlds: producing and imagining the transnational through TV narratives

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Eleni Sideri
University of Macedonia, Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Fine Arts School of Film Studies

Abstract

Globalization has transformed economic, political and social structures, but it also reshaped our perceptions of the world. These transformations influenced media narrative not only as products of big multinational corporates, but also, as stories. This paper, motivated by the success of the Nordic Noir police drama, Bron/ Broen and its adaptation by the US. channel Fox, explores how transnationalism permeates TV narratives generating new narrative worlds. Moreover, the work goes a step further examining how these narratives reimagine the transnational lifestyle and how this contributes to their success internationally. What happens when TV stories cross borders? And in what ways does transnationalism become an internal element of these narrative mobilities? But also, how is transnationalism narrative-generated, too?

Keywords: Transnationalism, Imagination, TV narrative, Nordic Noir, Bron/Broen, The bridge

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