Broken on Purpose: Star Wars and Serial Storytelling

Star Wars English Class

In this episode, Julia teaches Fern about serialization! We explore the differences between series and serials, discuss the effects of serialization on storytelling and audience engagement, and consider what it means to be agents of narrative continuation as members of the Star Wars fandom. How does serialization determine story structure? Is Star Wars broken (on purpose)? And was George Lucas right when he said that Star Wars is like poetry?
On the syllabus:

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2020)
• Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
• Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
• Kelleter, Frank. “Five Ways of Looking at Popular Seriality.” Media of Serial Narrative, edited by Frank Kelleter, Ohio State University Press, 2017, pp. 7–34.
• O’Sullivan, Sean. “Broken on Purpose: Poetry, Serial Television, and the Season.” Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies, vol. 2, 2010, pp. 59–77.
• Hayward, Jennifer. Consuming Pleasures: Active Audiences and Serial Fictions from Dickens to Soap Opera. 1st ed., University Press of Kentucky, 1997.

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Julia is on TikTok @juliachristine77
Fern is on TikTok @alwaysfern
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Logo by Jacob David Earl (@jacobdavidearl)
Music by ZapSplat.com