Licem u naličje: analiza prijema tv serije Normalni ljudi među milenijalcima u Srbiji i konceptualizacija nenadane greške u istraživanju

Abstract

U ovom radu, uokvirenom teorijskim perspektivama antropologije medija i antropologije potrošnje, postavlja se pitanje o odnosu potrošnje (televizijskih serija) i procesa (samo)identifikacije, lične i generacijske, među njenom publikom. Predmet istraživanja je prijem TV serije Normalni ljudi (Normal people) među pripadnicima generacije milenijalaca u Srbiji. Prijem serije je praćen u dva aspekta: iskustvo gledanja TV serije (načini gledanja u složenim medijskim okruženjima) i gledalačko uživanje (pronicanje u načine povezivanja i tačke identifikacije sa TV serijom), a „simptomatsko čitanje” prikupljenih komentara je omogućilo da se prepoznaju najvažnije teme i problemi preko kojih se pripadnici ove generacije kolektivno identifikuju. Međutim, istraživanje nije u potpunosti proteklo onako kako je predviđeno – odaziv potencijalnih sagovornika je bio manji od očekivanog, te nije mogao da pruži dovoljno obiman iskustveni materijal za planiranu analizu. Ovu situaciju konceptualizovala sam kao „istraživačku grešku” i uključila je u rad, kao ilustraciju metodoloških i epistemoloških teškoća u kvalitativnim istraživanjima povezanim s internetom.

The TV series Normal People (2020) is based on the 2018 novel of the same name by the young Irish writer Sally Rooney. The book achieved tremendous popularity, particularly among younger audiences – so-called millennials – and the TV series only added new layers of popularity and identification. The success of both of these works can be explained by the skillful way in which Rooney has managed to link and intertwine the romance between the protagonists with the so-cial context in which it is set, thus depicting the generational experience of grow-ing up with the consequences of ay social and economic crisis. This is something that young people could identify with, not only in Ireland but also in other socie-ties affected by the economic crisis which began in 2008, and to which many new crises have since been added (the latest one being the health crisis due to the pan-demic), while many earlier ones still reverberate in people’s experiences. Seeking to examine how the globally broadcast TV series Normal People has resonated with the local reception context and viewers’ experiences, in this paper I focus on the aspect of reception of this series by its audience in Serbia, aiming to shed light on the dimension of “viewer enjoyment” in viewing practice and to address the question of the importance of this aspect of “watching TV” for the understanding of the meaning and social impact of television texts. It turned out that the initial idea of collecting material for analysis through an open invitation to participate in online research, with an essay response to the question about the reasons why they enjoyed watching the show (or not), was flawed, as the response rate was lower than expected, which resulted in the empirical “thinning” of the research, but also provided an opportunity to consider some of the problems in qualitative (online) research on contemporary issues and media texts. Exploring these methodologi-cal and epistemological problems unexpectedly became an important part of the paper, alongside the research results. The research itself pointed to a new type of viewer, namely, expert viewers, who have become experts through being active in complex technological environments in which they watch TV content, and which they use to inform themselves about it. In addition, the results indicate that the practice of bingeing, linked to the intensification of enjoyment and identification of female viewers, is very widespread. Finally, the most important themes men-tioned in their comments were the themes of gender relations/sexuality and the questions of class and social inequality, along with mental health. A “symptomatic reading” of the comments of Normal People’s female viewers in Serbia reveals shared concerns and anxieties in dealing with a rapidly changing world, which is constantly being faced with crises – past ones, current ones, those that have just subsided or those that are yet to come, creating a new sense of “collective fragili-ty”, individual, economic or political.

Dans ce travail je me concentre sur l’aspect de la réception de la série télé-visée Normal People auprès de son public en Serbie, avec l’intention d’éclairer la dimension de „plaisir spectateur” dans les pratiques spectatrices et d’ouvrir la question de l’importance de cet aspect de „visionnage de la télévision” pour la compréhension des significations et des effets sociaux des textes télévisés. Il s’est avéré que l’idée initiale de rassembler le matériel pour l’analyse à l’aide d’un appel ouvert à participer au sondage en ligne, et cela par une réponse nar-rative à la question sur les raisons pour lesquelles les gens ont aimé (ou non) regarder la série, a été lacunaire, car le taux de réponses a été moins grand que prévu, ce qui a empiriquement „aminci” le sondage, mais a en revanche donné la possibilité d’analyser certains des problèmes dans les rechercbes qua-litatives de l’actualité et des textes médiatiques (en ligne). L’élucidation de ces problèmes méthodologiques et épistémologiques est étrangement devenue une partie importante du texte, parallèlement aux résultats du sondage.