Robert Morrison, British Academy Global Professor, Queen s University, Ontario January 12, 2021 - 8:05 AM
This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site.
Author: Robert Morrison, British Academy Global Professor, Queen s University, Ontario
Bridgerton, Netflixâs new eight-part period drama miniseries, launched on Christmas day, has already achieved the No. 1 spot overall in more than 75 countries.
The show is inspired by the romance novel series by American author Julia Quinn set in early 19th-century England. In the hands of executive producer Shonda Rhimes, the showrunner behind the blockbuster TV series Greyâs Anatomy, and collaborator and creator Chris van Dusen, Bridgerton pushes the envelope in depictions of race, gender and questions of power and sexual consent.
'Bridgerton' alludes to and obscures social, racial and political tensions in England’s Regency era, the extraordinary decade that marks the dawn of the modern world.
Bridgerton s real scandal
Sharon Bala: In episode six, Bridgerton drops the facade of fluffy rom-com and reveals itself as a horror By Sharon Bala
January 8, 2021
Sharon Bala is author of The Boat People
, winner of the 2019 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and the 2020 Newfoundland & Labrador Book Award.
Bridgerton, Shonda Rhimes’ (
Scandal,
Grey’s Anatomy) new Netflix series, which dropped on Dec. 25, follows the titular Daphne Bridgerton’s quest for a husband. Liveried servants, crescendoing violins, horse-drawn carriages, ambitious mamas and a scandal-mongering gossip voiced by Julie Andrews. Pomp, circumstance, plumage and luxe. But this ain’t your granny’s period drama. A speculative fiction, Rhimes’ Regency is post-racial with dreadlocks among the top hats and tiaras.
Posted: Jan 02, 2021 6:00 AM NT | Last Updated: January 2
A few days off over the holidays, a comfortable couch, and a good book: in this case, Jim Case s novel Ananias. (Submitted by John Gushue)
There s a bit of lore in our family about me and a box of cornflakes. My sister Lisa tells me when I had nothing handy to read when I was little, I would read the back of the box and then the sides. Niacin, iron and a list of vitamins? Read all about it, many times over.
I m always grateful I grew up in a family of readers. It no doubt had an influence on my career: when you re swimming in words as a kid, why not make them the tools you work with as a grownup?