Keyword – people of colour

Torbó, Annamária:

Representational Politics and Discourses on Racial Minorities in Contemporary Popculture

Discourses on the representation of different minorities are a daily part of contemporary social debates. In recent years, a number of articles in the online press have dealt with the practice of changing some traits of the main characters in adaptations or sequels of pop-cultural stories. Most of these modifications have to do with skin colour, which provides an opportunity for a more varied and pronounced representation of racial and ethnic minorities than before. This paper presents the representational politics associated with the Netflix series Bridgerton on the basis of a discourse analysis on relevant articles in the Hungarian online media. It reveals the different ways of speaking such as the defence of historical fidelity or the legitimisation of alternative histories. It also shows how pop-cultural works like Bridgerton may be linked to broader social phenomena such as political correctness or racism that dominate contemporary public discourse.

Keywords: discourse, inclusive casting, people of colour, popular culture, representation