98 | nº 28, pp. 97-109 | doxa.comunicación

January-June of 2019

Gender and power in television fiction: an ideological textual analysis of a historical TV Series

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

as a cultural object, a medium with its own characteristics that is worthy of the attention of researchers (2009: 330). In this way, interest in research of the television medium gradually began to emerge; Thus, Williams (1990) defended the study of television based on the uses and possibilities that this medium might have, thereby moving away from the deterministic positions of the moment. A growing interest in what audiences observe was followed by Morley (1996), who opted for the analysis of reception on the basis of ethnographic proposals in order to adequately understand the meanings given by viewers to television texts. For its part, in the specific field of television series, one of the pioneer works is entitled Interacting with Dallas: cross cultural readings of American TV (Katz and Liebes, 1990), where an analysis was conducted to see how viewers from different countries interpreted the same series in different ways.

There is a reason for this. As it became interesting to study television texts, the academic field soon became interested in knowing how they were interpreted. Using this approach, the program Vikings (History Channel, 2013- ) appears to be a TV series that provides interesting reading with regard to the representation of gender and power; in this sense, one of its leading protagonists is an intrepid female warrior, who a priori, turns out to be an exceptional ruler. An effective government that is confirmed in interviews with the creator of the series, Michael Hirst (History Extra, 2017), or on the official production website: “respected warrior and the Queen of Kattegat [...] fiercely independent” (Vikings Cast, s/a). The character in question is Lagertha, a woman who is apparently admired by the female audience as well. Thus, as shown by the images provided by a superficial search of her name on internet, one can see several photographs of the character in which her bravery is highlighted.

Therefore, it can be observed that television series are capable of serving as role models for young women, and sometimes these role models are not as revolutionary as they appear to be. On this basis, the article aims to discuss the representation of women with power in the Canadian series Vikings from the analysis of its main female protagonist. This objective will be achieved in two ways: firstly, through an analysis of the character in question. Secondly, through verification of peoples’ perception of Lagertha on the Twitter platform, where comments made by users of the social network regarding her character will be gathered. In this way, verification will be made as to whether or not the intended image of the TV series matches the role she performs, and whether or not it also matches with the idea the public has of her.

Illustration 1. Lagertha on social networks

Source: Tumblr