Melodrama in Contemporary Film and Television

Sarah Artt, Edinburgh Napier University, UK Richard Butt, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK Kenneth Chan, University of Northern Colorado, USA Taraneh Dadar, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK Darren Elliott-Smith, University of Hertfordshire, UK Anne Gailly, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Robert Lang, University of Hartford, USA Douglas McNaughton, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK Shoma Munshi, American University of Kuwait Alexia Smit, University of Cape Town, South Africa Michael Stewart, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK Marty Zeller-Jacques, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK

• List of Figures Notes on Contributors Preface 1. Introduction: Film and TV Melodrama: An Overview PART I: TELEVISION MELODRAMA 2. Melodrama and the Classic Television Serial; Richard Butt 3. Nature, Culture, Space: The Melodramatic Topographies of Lark Rise To Candleford; Douglas McNaughton 4. 'We Are Like That Only': Prime Time Family Melodramas On Indian Television; Shoma Munshi 5. On the 'Scalpel's Edge': Gory Excess, Melodrama and Irony in Nip/Tuck; Alexia Smit 6. 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik': Unearthing Gay Male Anxieties in Queer Gothic Soaps Dante's Cove and The Lair; Darren Elliott-Smith 7. Don't Stop Believing: Textual Excess and Discourses of Satisfaction in the Finale of The Sopranos; Marty Zeller-Jacques PART II: FILM MELODRAMA 8. Melodrama as History and Nostalgia: Reading Hong Kong Director Yonfan's Prince of Tears; Kenneth Chan 9. Vincere: A 'Strikingly Effective' Contemporary Film Melodrama; Anne Gailly 10. Vienna to Beijing: Xu Jinglei's Letter From An Unknown Woman andthe Symbolic Simulation of Europe; Sarah Artt 11. Deconstructing Melodramatic Destiny: Late Marriage and Two Lovers; Robert Lang 12. Anticipating Home: The Edge of Heaven as Melodrama; Michael Stewart 13. Framing a Hybrid Tradition: Realism and Melodrama in About Elly; Taraneh Dadar Index

“Stewart’s collection highlights the significance of melodrama in film and TV and its ability to move its audiences not only emotionally but also politically. This book constitutes a thoughtful and eclectic contribution to the field.” (Kristyn Gorton, Critical Studies in Television The International Journal of Television Studies, Vol. 12 (1), 2017)