Date of Award
6-2004
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Communication
First Advisor
Dr. Jocelyn Steinke
Second Advisor
Dr. Steve Lipkin
Third Advisor
Dr. Mark Orbe
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This study seeks to extend the body of literature which explores how culturally-situated audiences assign meaning to television texts. Specifically, this inquiry introduces and describes the audiencing behavior of several vintage television audiences. Drawing on existing cultural studies and feminist research, in-depth, semi-structured focus group interviews were used to gather viewer perceptions of the gendered discourse on two episodes of The [New] Newlywed Game (one from the '70s and one from the '90s). The focus group interviews were audio-taped then later transcribed verbatim. Six emergent themes: (1) Understanding the Discourse of Power Structures, (2) Gendered Questions: Form and Content, (3) Pleasures of Conflict, (4) Pleasures of the Body, (5) Play, Pleasure, and Resistance, and (6) Personal Appeal are discussed in terms of their significance and theoretical implications.
Recommended Citation
Groscurth, Christopher Reed, "“A Different Way to Portray It”: A Phenomenological Analysis of Audiencing the [New] Newlywed Game" (2004). Masters Theses. 4196.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4196