Attention through Distraction
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4376171 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anne Ulrich (0009-0005-0707-9705, University of Tübingen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 299-318 |
| Publication date | 2019-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Poetics Today (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0333-5372 • E-ISSN: 1527-5507 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/03335372-7298564 |
| OpenAlex | W2949539806 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
This article aims to shed light on the relation between multimodality and mediality in television. Taking the US TV comedy show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO, 2014–) as an example, it argues that, by mixing a variety of “modal ensembles” (Gunther Kress), the show succeeds in creating different “medialities,” oscillating between a rather classic if somewhat dated late-night show TV mediality and a comparatively more up-to-date online mediality. Last Week Tonight thus establishes both a unique look and a hybrid communicative strategy to address a wide audience and answer to a broad variety of viewer needs and expectations. Anchor John Oliver often establishes a complex political argumentation that requires the entire attention and concentration of the TV audience. Paradoxically, this is why he almost constantly interrupts the argument with funny or satirical digressions. His show therefore integrates TV-and Internet-specific modes of address, presentation, and appeal to enable new possibilities for identification
Aesthetics · Appeal · Argumentation theory · Art · Cognitive psychology · Comedy · Distraction · Epistemology · Media studies · Multimodality · Political science · Sociology · The Internet · Visual arts · World Wide Web · Cinema and Media Studies · Computer Science · History · Law · Media Influence and Health · Philosophy · Psychology · Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism · Artificial Intelligence
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |