Spanish TV Fiction in Times of Pandemic. Nuclear and Transversal Stories About COVID-19

Abstract

2020 marked an unprecedented change in the world population, social relationships, and cultural consumption itself. The outbreak of COVID-19 not only distanced people, families, and countries but also had many consequences on how we relate to each other. In this context, television was one of the sources of communication, entertainment, and bonding that resonated the most in times of crisis. This research aims to provide an in-depth study of the Spanish TV and VOD series born in the context of the pandemic to show how the discourse of COVID-19 has gone through the ways of consumption and entertainment and also through the fictional narratives. A content analysis of the series released since the beginning of the health crisis in March 2020 is carried out in order to establish formal, narrative, and other aspects of pandemic stories. The study intends to demonstrate that COVID-19 has become a discernible theme in Spanish television, both as a narrative core and as a transversal motif in subsequent productions.