ABSTRACT
The television-studies methods and theories surveyed in this chaptergo “beyond” the text in one way or another. Some investigate television’s production and its implicit power structures, while others are more concerned with its consumption and the socially defined identities its consumers assume. Ideological criticism, cultural studies, fan studies, production studies, political economy, feminism, queer theory, race and ethnic studies all attempt to connect television research with broader social concerns such as homophobia, the exploitation of women, or the functioning of economic systems. They are not as text-centric, shall we say, as the methods and theories of the previous chapter, but they all still account for the television text and seek to illuminate its meanings.
