Ringvorlesung: »Audiovisuelle Narrative«

In the streaming era, once-niche practices of engaging intensively with television series – repeated viewings, online breakdowns, fan theories – have become increasingly normalized. Scholars of »complex TV« have examined the soundtrack’s role as a »drillable« repository of narrative information that rewards highly invested viewers. Yet to fully account for the impact of contemporary series and their soundtracks, this attention to vertical deep dives needs to be balanced with the soundtrack’s capacity to »spread« horizontally toward less engaged audiences.
This talk demonstrates how soundtracks in the streaming era can be productively studied through the twin lenses of »drillability« (Mittell 2015) and »spreadability« (Jenkins et al. 2013). Drawing on case studies including HBO’s Westworld, Netflix’s Stranger Things, Disney+’s The Mandalorian, and Prime Video’s The Rings of Power, I direct analytical focus on soundtracks’ »sprillability« – their dual roles as sites for the broader expansion of and deeper engagement with a series.