This Is Me: Hidden Pedagogy in the Television Series Transparent

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Readings of Curriculum as Identity Representation and Development Through Digital Multimedia

Abstract

To speak to the urgency of educating our public about trans* issues, this paper performs a discourse analysis of the public pedagogy performed within the hit television series, “Transparent.” It specifically analyzes two distinct scenes, which members of the show’s creative team identified as germane to the pedagogical aspirations of the show. Findings structure understandings of archetypal ways discourse, or language-in-use, is leveraged to recognize or misrecognize gender identity. As such, the piece concludes with implications for how the show furthers public discourse regarding trans* individuals, and suggests ways that allies can continue to develop discourses that recognize and affirm trans* folks.

Authors

• Joseph D Sweet, AZ

• David L. Carlson, Arizona State University