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The Search for Sincerity in the Contemporary Metamodern Sitcom <i>BoJack Horseman</i> (2014-2020)

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Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

As early as the 1980s, many artists and critics have declared that postmodernism as a cultural paradigm is in its final throes, although the question of what comes afterwards has remained a hotly debated one. Metamodernism is one of the many proposed answers to this quandary, describing an emerging cultural sensibility that oscillates between postmodern and modern sensibilities, ultimately creating something completely new. This paradigm shift from postmodernism is most apparent in sitcoms; a new wave of American television shows has started destabilising the typical image of postmodern sitcoms that heavily relied on cynicism, ironic detachment, self-reflexivity, and parodying the limitations of the medium itself. Drawing upon Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker's, and Alexandra Dumitrescu's conceptualisation of metamodernism, this paper examines Netflix's BoJack Horseman (2014-2020) as a case of metamodern synthesis that combines the conventions of postmodern sitcoms with a more sincere interiority. The paper argues that instead of completely breaking from such conventions, the show employs them to subvert the viewers' expectations and eventually transcend them to provide a critique of celebrity culture and the extreme individualism and lack of sincere connection plaguing contemporary American society.

DOI

10.21608/ttaip.2023.331313

Keywords

metamodernism, <i>BoJack Horseman</i>, postmodernism, American sitcoms, self-reflexivity

Authors

First Name

Nehal

Last Name

Amer

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of English, Faculty of Al-Alsun, Ain Shams University, Egypt

Email

nehalragab@alsun.asu.edu.eg

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-

Orcid

-

Volume

5

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

44866

Issue Date

2023-12-01

Receive Date

2023-05-16

Publish Date

2023-12-01

Page Start

93

Page End

108

Print ISSN

2636-4069

Online ISSN

2735-3451

Link

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/article_331313.html

Detail API

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=331313

Order

331,313

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,357

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Textual Turnings: An International Peer-Reviewed Journal in English Studies

Publication Link

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The Search for Sincerity in the Contemporary Metamodern Sitcom <i>BoJack Horseman</i> (2014-2020)

Details

Type

Article

Created At

26 Dec 2024