Will, you've created a monster
I just sent in my submission to the 2007 Popular Culture Association Conference for the Rhetoric, Composition, and Popular Culture area. The title and abstract:
Dialectic in the Buffyverse: Episode Structure, Series Structure, and Theme
One element of classical rhetoric we sometimes teach our undergraduate rhetoric and composition students is Plato’s concept of the dialectic. A connection from this topic to popular culture can be made through the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. Episodes of these two series are often constructed around a particular theme; as one example, the episode “Beauty and the Beasts” from the third season of Buffy is constructed around the theme of gender. However, rather than using such episodes to simply argue for one perspective on a particular theme, episodes of the series often assume a more dialectic-like structure, making one claim about a particular theme at the start of an episode (such as, “all men are beasts”), and then using events in the episode and the characters’ discussion of them to continually adjust the episode’s position until a revised and more accurate argument is stated or implied at the end. A similar phenomenon occurs with the two series on the whole. Many themes are revisited on a regular basis, such as power, identity, and redemption, but again, the arguments the shows make on these particular themes is constantly evolving. This paper examines a few instances of dialectic structure in individual episodes of the two series, examines how the overall arc of the two series together function as a dialectic on how and why redemption is achieved, and provides classroom applications for these findings.
Here's hoping I get in. This would be a fun paper to write.
Dialectic in the Buffyverse: Episode Structure, Series Structure, and Theme
One element of classical rhetoric we sometimes teach our undergraduate rhetoric and composition students is Plato’s concept of the dialectic. A connection from this topic to popular culture can be made through the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. Episodes of these two series are often constructed around a particular theme; as one example, the episode “Beauty and the Beasts” from the third season of Buffy is constructed around the theme of gender. However, rather than using such episodes to simply argue for one perspective on a particular theme, episodes of the series often assume a more dialectic-like structure, making one claim about a particular theme at the start of an episode (such as, “all men are beasts”), and then using events in the episode and the characters’ discussion of them to continually adjust the episode’s position until a revised and more accurate argument is stated or implied at the end. A similar phenomenon occurs with the two series on the whole. Many themes are revisited on a regular basis, such as power, identity, and redemption, but again, the arguments the shows make on these particular themes is constantly evolving. This paper examines a few instances of dialectic structure in individual episodes of the two series, examines how the overall arc of the two series together function as a dialectic on how and why redemption is achieved, and provides classroom applications for these findings.
Here's hoping I get in. This would be a fun paper to write.