Distinctively queer in the Parish: Performances of distinction and LGBTQ+ representations in Flemish prestige television fiction

Abstract

This article troubles the intuitive link between emancipatory portrayals of sexual and gender diversity and ‘quality television’ by focusing on three Flemish ‘prestige’ dramas: Met Man en Macht (VIER, 2013), Bevergem (Canvas, 2015) and Den Elfde Van Den Elfde (één, 2016). Contrary to the United States, Flemish quality television portrays fewer LGBTQ+ characters and narratives than less ‘prestigious’ content. Approached from a Bourdieusian perspective, the cases discussed show that when LGBTQ+ characters are featured in prestigious domestic fiction content, they function as distinctive queers. This article argues that, whereas LGBTQ+ characters in US quality television affirm the socio-cultural disposition of the target audience, Flemish prestige television fiction delegitimizes that of the group from which the imagined audience distinguishes itself. Distinctive queers circulate in a larger cultural repertoire associated with Flemish prestige television fiction, recasting markers of ordinary Flemishness found in domestic content. This repertoire is organized around the motif of the parish, and discursively separates Flanders into two distinct temporal configurations: one decidedly pre-modern and inferior, the other expressively modern and superior. A synecdoche for ‘common Flanders’, the parish constructs the majority of Flemings as culturally coarse, backwards and innately unable to be legitimately modern. As the analysis shows, distinctive queers accentuate the social deficit of mundane communities, and textually perform the distinction of fashionable, socially liberal urban-minded Flemings. In consonance with the hyperbolic representations that recast ‘ordinary Flemish cultural life’ as grotesque and ridiculous, distinctive queers frame LGBTQ+ inclusivity as the prerogative of conspicuously absent urban, socio-culturally progressive Flemings.

LGBT+ televisibility in Flanders: The presence of sexual and gender diversity in Flemish television fiction (2001-2016)

“…The foregoing testifies to the importance of social realism-as perceived by producers-in Flemish television fiction and accentuates the anomaly represented by Flemish 'quality' series. Although such series are firmly grounded in the notion of everyday Flemishness (see Dhoest, 2007;Vanlee et al, 2019), they present a considerably more homogenous image of society than less prestigious content. Especially with series broadcasted on VRT channels, particularly één and Canvas, this seems at odds with the mission of the public service broadcaster, although similar tendencies can be observed in VTM programming too.…”

“…Especially with series broadcasted on VRT channels, particularly één and Canvas, this seems at odds with the mission of the public service broadcaster, although similar tendencies can be observed in VTM programming too. Diversity does not seem an essential component to quality discourses in Flanders (see Vanlee et al, 2019), leading issues of marginalization to be ignored. Production company Woestijnvis is exemplary hereof, as the most prominent player in the Flemish television industry.…”

“…Battles & Hilton-Morrow, 2002;Chambers, 2009;Heller, 2011) are highly critical of such a simplistic 'politics of visibility' entrenched in quantitative analysis and argue for interpretative, qualitative approaches. Elsewhere, we acknowledge the necessity of approaching Flemish LGBT+ televisibility by way of close readings and textual analyses of specific cases (see Vanlee et al, 2018bVanlee et al, , 2019, but contend that quantitative analysis is a useful method to disclose broader representational patterns found in domestic television culture. Descriptive, quantitative approaches offer the means to contextualize individual case studies, and contribute to a broader understanding of particular domestic contexts in a global cultural system such as television.…”

“…Of special interest here is the relatively low share of serial drama and serial tragicomedy in the representation of sexual and gender diversity in Flanders. Whereas these two genres-and serial tragicomedy in particular-are often associated with 'prestige' television content in Flanders (see Dhoest, 2015;Vanlee et al, 2019), they account for only 17,09% (N=117) of all LGBT+ characters in total, or 22,81% (N=57) of the lead LGBT+ characters found. The low share of LGBT+ characters found in Flemish 'quality' television-usually described as 'prestige fiction' in Flanders (see Dhoest, 2014)-contrasts observations in the United States, where 'quality' content is responsible for high shares of LGBT+ main characters (see Becker, 2006;Chambers, 2009).…”

Acknowledging/denying LGBT+ difference: Understanding homonormativity and LGBT+ homogeneity in Flemish TV fiction through production research

“…Insofar as heteronormativity (see Warner, 1993) in the context of television refers to a system wherein a natural link between biological sex, gender performance and sexual desire is reproduced (Avila-Saavedra, 2009), the concept insufficiently describes the situation in Flemish television fiction. Whereas straight, cisgender characters are of course in the majority, they are never explicitly constructed as normal by contrasting them with the supposed abnormality of LGBT+ people (see Vanlee et al, 2018b, 2019, for an in-depth discussion). These observations allude to hegemonic of discourses of tolerance and inclusivity circulating in domestic fiction production.…”