Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan

Television and the Genetic Imaginary

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Sofia Bull

    1. University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Constitutes the first book-length study of genetic discourses on television
  • Engages with a wide range of highly popular television programmes from the last two decades, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House M.D., The Human Body, Heroes, Who Do You Think You Are?, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Friends and Orphan Black
  • Offers an interdisciplinary study of interest to both television studies and the medical humanities

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Science and Popular Culture (PSSPC)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: A Cultural Forum on Genetics

    • Sofia Bull
    Pages 1-29

  3. Complexity

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Microscopic CGI: Imaging Molecular Worlds

      • Sofia Bull
      Pages 33-76

    3. Complex Seriality: Genetic Science As Narrative Device

      • Sofia Bull
      Pages 77-115

  4. Kinship

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Genealogical Intimacy: Materialising Genetic Kinship

      • Sofia Bull
      Pages 119-158

    3. TV Families: Normalising Assisted Reproduction

      • Sofia Bull
      Pages 159-203

  5. Epilogue

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 205-205
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Televisual Clones

      • Sofia Bull
      Pages 207-219

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 221-239
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book examines the complex ways in which television articulates ideas about DNA in the early 21st century. Considering television’s distinct aesthetic and narrative forms, as well as its specific cultural roles, it identifies TV as a key site for the genetic imaginary. The book addresses the key themes of complexity and kinship, which function as nodes around which older essentialist notions about the human genome clash with newly emergent post-genomic sensibilities. Analysing a wide range of US and UK programmes, from science documentaries, science fiction serials and crime procedurals, to family history programmes, sitcoms and reality shows, Television and the Genetic Imaginary illustrates the extent to which molecular frameworks of understanding now permeate popular culture.  

Reviews

“Television and the Genetic Imaginary will be useful for science humanities scholars and students interested in understanding the importance and breadth of television’s influence over the public understanding of genetics and science more broadly and it makes a valuable contribution to the growing scholarship at the intersection of science and entertainment media.” (Amy C Chambers, Critical Studies in Television, Vol. 18 (1), 2023)

“Reading the book Television and the Genetic Imaginary was a great pleasure because it is well-written, concise and informative. … a must-read for anyone interested in the public understanding of genetics, as it provides a nice overview of the genetic imaginary in television.” (New Genetics and Society, April 21, 2020)

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Sofia Bull

About the author

Sofia Bull is a lecturer in film and television studies at the University of Southampton, UK.

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation