Séminaire : The Crown, the Commonwealth and New Media Empires

Séminaire de l’Équipe textes et livres

Intervenants

• Deirdre Gilfedder, Université de Paris Dauphine
• Waddick Doyle, The American University of Paris

Présentation du séminaire

This presentation will discuss the success of the series The Crown as both indicative and symbolic of shifts in global televisual culture from national storytelling to that promoted by transnational corporations. It is argued that Netflix when extending its international reach to over 130 countries in 2016 used a narrative of Queen Elizabeth II who had reigned over the demise and transformation of the extensive British empire. The Crown is therefore not just about the British monarchy, but also the monarch’s relationship with the Commonwealth, visualising important events in post-war decolonisation, and hinting at the geo-political shifts of the 20th century. The Crown can thus be read as a mise en abyme – a crumbling empire housed within an emerging Netflix empire, both having crossed borders and redefined concepts of sovereignty, both using each other as capital in the increasingly informational world of the 21st century.