Episode 103: Counterhistories and Countermemories of TV with Lynn Spigel

In this episode, Lynn Spigel, Chair of Screen Cultures in the Department of Radio/TV/Film at Northwestern University, and our hosts discuss her research and new book, TV Snapshots: An Archive of Everyday Life, on snapshot technology and TV history. While working on a research grant for smart houses, Lynn began researching the ways in which everyday people pose with computers and TV sets. From there, she went on a journey of scouring thrift stores, vintage shops, and Ebay for more examples of these home photos of people posing with their televisions. According to her, these photos are not just evidence of conspicuous consumption but rather a myriad of other things: a backdrop of self-presentation, an erotic stage, a portal object, etc. These snapshots combine the snapshot camera and the television, two dominant technologies of middle and working class life during the mid-twentieth century, and expose a new counterhistory or countermemory of television that is more diverse and inclusive than we are used to seeing. To view these photos or upload your own examples, visit Lynn’s website, tvalbum.com.

a young girl posing seriously in front of a TV set — (L) the photograph of Lynn Spigel as a young girl posing in front of her television set which inspired her project; and (R) this picture of Henry Jenkins as a youngster has the television set as an incidental detail – a random part of the environment. But retrospectively we can read it as one of the cultural forces which shaped who he would become, much like the *Parents’* magazine which is visible in the foreground of the shot.

a young boy sitting in the family living room with a TV set behind him — (L) the photograph of Lynn Spigel as a young girl posing in front of her television set which inspired her project; and (R) this picture of Henry Jenkins as a youngster has the television set as an incidental detail – a random part of the environment. But retrospectively we can read it as one of the cultural forces which shaped who he would become, much like the *Parents’* magazine which is visible in the foreground of the shot.

Here are some other images from Lynn Spigel’s TV Snapshots which represent the different ways that people integrated their televisions into their self-representations – from performing inside or in front of the television set to treating the set as though it were a member of their family.

A full transcript of this episode will be available soon!

Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected].

Music:
“In Time” by Dylan Emmett
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In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q
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Episode 103: Counterhistories and Countermemories of TV with Lynn Spigel

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