Comunicar 39-ingles - Revista Comunicar

112Comunicar, 39, XX, 20121. IntroductionDespite the influence of Cultural Studies on re -search into television fiction, following the impetus offeminist studies of series from the 1980s onwards(Brunsdon, 2000), many researchers have traditionallyresisted admitting its innovative and educational potential,as noted by Meijer (2005), Henderson (2007) andLacalle (2010b). Similarly, specialists’ widespreadinterest in the processes of children’s viewing (faithfulconsumers of the programmes targeted at them) coupledwith the volatility characteristic of young viewerspartly explain the void in studies on the values and opinionsconveyed by television to adolescents and youngadults (Von Feilitzen, 2008; Montero, 2006).Reception analysis carried out in the 1980s revealedthe tendency of young adults to appropriate content,which led certain authors to stress this group’sinvolvement with television drama (Rubin, 1985;Lemish, 2004), while other researchers noted thatknowledge of fiction-production techniques boostedyoung viewers’ pleasure (Buckingham, 1987). Sub -sequently, scholars have stressed the ambivalent relationshipbetween young viewers and fiction, whichaccording to Gerargthy (1991) fluctuates betweenprojection and distancing. Greenberg et al. (1993)uphold the greater permeability of this target audienceto dominant messages, compared to adults.In recent years, the impetus that television fictionhas undergone –fiction of a quality that is often betterthan in films– and the rise of new transmedia storytelling(Jenkins, 2006), which stem from the extensionof programmes to the Web, has dramatically increasedyoung people’s interest (especially that of youngwomen) in this television genre (Lacalle, 2010a). Theuse of new technologies by adolescents and youngadults encourages their increased involvement withthe Internet, i resulting in a more personalised reception;this allows users to construct their own listings.Likewise, the websites linked to programmes are akind of repository of technical and cultural knowledgethat enables the main means of viewing media contentto be oriented, while they also encourage receptionand perform a socialising «web tribe» function (DellaTorre & al. 2010).Following on from those authors who advocatethe cultural and social contextualisation of studies onviewing, the purpose of this paper is to determine therole of age and gender in the reception of televisionfiction. The «Adolescents’ Media Practice Model»devised by Steel and Brown in 1995 and built aroundthe dialectic between representations and interpretationsperformed by individuals situated in a social andcultural environment that determines their mediareception will serve as a guide by which to organisethe results of this study. This model emphasizes transformationsin programme content due to constantnegotiation between individual action and the broadersocial context, organized around different phases that,in accordance with both authors’ opinions, affect theinterpretation process: selection, interaction and application.2. Material and methodsThis article summarises ethnographic researchinto television fiction conducted in Catalonia betweenApril and July 2011. It pairs an analysis of viewingwith a socio-semiotic analysis of the young charactersand the discourses on fiction in the Web 2.0. Analysisof viewing presented below includes three femaleonlyfocus groups and three mixed-gender focusgroups built around the following age groups: 9 to 14(one group), 15 to 17 (two groups), 18 to 23 (twogroups) and 24 to 29 (one group). The six focusgroups were made up of a total of 51 participants (38females and 13 males) who discussed the differentissues related to television fiction suggested by themoderator.In order to obtain specific data on the viewing andinterpretation processes, the interviewees filled out ananonymous questionnaire prior to the group interview,which posed questions on their viewing habits, theiruse of the Web 2.0 linked to fiction and their participationin events organised by the fiction programmes.They were also asked about their favourite programmesand characters. Following this, the group interviewper se then began; this was structured around asocio-semiotic script that intersects the different stagesof viewing and interpretation: preferences, viewinghabits, the incorporation of new technologies into theviewing process, the construction of interpretativecommunities, interviewees’ relationship with the youngcharacters in the fictions analysed; the correspondencebetween fiction and reality; and determinations of differenttelevision formats and genres.The number of participants in each focus groupranged from 8 to 13, in line with the plurality of inter -actions sought in a dimension that would minimise asmuch as possible the inhibition of the most introvertedmembers. Thus, the different groups were made up ofadolescents and young adults who already knew eachother and who were used to talking about issues similarto those raised in the group interview. In this waywe sought to reconstruct in as unforced a way as possiblethe natural context of their everyday interactions,© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293 • Pages 111-118