Deadwood - A Genre Analysis

Jensen, Tim Marqvard Nymann

4. term

English, Master

2014

2014-01-28

76

Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan HBO-serien Deadwood (2004–06) både relaterer sig til og afviger fra western-genren. Det spørger, om serien følger de klassiske konventioner, eller om den udfordrer den mytologi, der længe har defineret westernen. Undersøgelsen kombinerer en historisk gennemgang af westernfilm med en fokuseret casestudieanalyse af Deadwood. Det teoretiske afsæt er Film Genre Reader IV og inddrager Edward Buscombes begreber om indre og ydre form og ikonografi, Rick Altmans semantiske og syntaktiske model, ideologiske tilgange forbundet med Altman, Robin Wood og Barbara Klinger samt diskussioner af myte og af karakterer, et centralt spørgsmål for tv-fortællinger. Første del kortlægger konventioner, narrativer, semantiske træk, myter og ideologiske mønstre fra Stagecoach (1939) over westerns i 1940’erne–70’erne og 1990’erne for at etablere en fælles kulturel konsensus og identificere forskydninger i genren. Anden del undersøger Deadwoods ikonografi, narrativ struktur, karakterroller og ideologiske position. Analysen viser, at Deadwood undergraver etablerede ikonografiske konventioner; selv om den overordnede fortælling ligner klassiske westerns, forbliver serien stærkt kritisk over for den traditionelle mytologi. Den vender karakterroller på hovedet ved at alliere den konventionelle helt med den tilsyneladende skurk, og den kan læses som en post-9/11 kritisk refleksion over myten om det gamle vesten. Specialet argumenterer også for, at Deadwood har påvirket senere westerns, eksemplificeret ved No Country for Old Men (2007) og tv-serien Hell on Wheels.

This thesis examines how the HBO series Deadwood (2004–06) both relates to and departs from the Western genre. It asks whether the series follows classical conventions or challenges the mythology that has long defined the Western. The study combines a historical survey of Western films with a focused case analysis of Deadwood. Its theoretical framework draws on Film Genre Reader IV and uses Edward Buscombe’s inner and outer form and iconography, Rick Altman’s semantic and syntactic model, ideological approaches associated with Altman, Robin Wood, and Barbara Klinger, and discussions of myth and of characters, a key issue for television storytelling. Part one maps conventions, narratives, semantic features, myths, and ideological patterns from Stagecoach (1939) through Westerns of the 1940s–70s and the 1990s to establish a common cultural consensus and identify shifts in the genre. Part two examines Deadwood’s iconography, narrative structure, character roles, and ideological stance. The analysis finds that Deadwood subverts established iconographic conventions; while its overall narrative resembles classical Westerns, it remains highly critical of traditional mythology. It inverts character roles by aligning the conventional hero with the apparent villain, and it can be read as a post-9/11 critical reflection on the myth of the American West. The thesis also argues that Deadwood has influenced later Westerns, illustrated through No Country for Old Men (2007) and the TV series Hell on Wheels.

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