Contemporary theory in translation

The Continuous Serial: a Definition

The essay discusses the formal terms within which a continuous serial operates and tries to asses some of the effects of this process.

The continuous serial has to work with a punishing schedule, normally appearing on television more then once a week and sometimes, on radio, five times a week. In order to do this, it establishes a base which becomes increasingly familiar to its audience while maintaining sufficient flexibility to be able to present apparently different situation. It provides us with the feeling of an unwritten future while giving necessary access to the past. We are constantly left wondering what will happen next — occasionally with a real cliffhanger. It presents us with »new« events which are endless variations on regular patterns and provides a range of characters which is both varied and limited. This balance of change and repetition is achieved through the organization of narrative and character, and the succession of the narrative is cemented together by gossip, both inside and outside the text.

Christine Geraghty