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‘What Family Actually Means’: Re-Articulations of ‘Family’ in and Around Netflix’s Sense8

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Abstract

The Netflix show Sense8 (2015–18) invokes varying concepts of ‘family’ as a leitmotif for reflections on the social and affective conditions of contemporary media economies defined by a shift in the producer–user interaction. It thereby makes an interesting case study of transmedia storytelling which equally serves as entertainment for a niche audience and helps to activate a cheap digital workforce. Through a close reading of the show’s fictional themes and their transfer into Social Media extensions, informed by Digital Fandom and Queer Affect Studies, I discuss the term ‘family’ as an ambivalent concept in processes of story-based queer (fan) community-building and ask for its economic value.

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Filmography

  • Sense8 (2015–2018), 2 Seasons, 24 Episodes, including 2 Film-Specials.

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  • Written and directed by Lilly Wachowski (S01), Lana Wachowski, J. Michael Straczynski. Distributed via Netflix.

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  • S02E09 ‘What Family Actually Means’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Media Studies, University of Arts Brunswick (Germany), Düppelstrasse 47, 44789, Bochum, Germany

    Nadine Dannenberg

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  1. Nadine Dannenberg
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Correspondence to Nadine Dannenberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Jana Mikats

  2. Institute of Education Research & Teacher Education, University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Susanne Kink-Hampersberger

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Libora Oates-Indruchová

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Dannenberg, N. (2021). ‘What Family Actually Means’: Re-Articulations of ‘Family’ in and Around Netflix’s Sense8. In: Mikats, J., Kink-Hampersberger, S., Oates-Indruchová, L. (eds) Creative Families. Palgrave Studies in Mediating Kinship, Representation, and Difference. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70803-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70803-0_5

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