Article:

Sisyphos sieht fern oder Was waren Episodenserien?

Up to now serial narration has rarely been studied with regard to its cultural meaning. The two basic modes of serial narration, series and serial, should thus be studied as ‹symbolic forms› (Cassirer) in order to lay open their inherent world view. Seen with Albert Camus eyes episodic narration, that leads to narrative closure in each instalment, but remains static on the whole, can be understood as a means to reflect the absurdity of modern existence. The spectator of television series is even pushed to affirm ongoing cyclical return because it acts as precondition for the continuation of the narration. The television series THE PRISONER and MIAMI VICE do not only rely on this existentialist narrative principle but do profit from it to realize their meaning. The Simpsons, however, regularly make episodic narration the subject of irony and thus lay proof to its decline as a selfreliant (and television's dominant) narrative mode.