Faire l’histoire de la réception télévisuelle : sources, méthodes, questionnements

Abstract

Towards a history of television viewing: sources, issues and methods. Historians working on the culture of the XXth century regularly call to a renewed approach that would take into account not only the contents of the media, but also their reception and audiences. For lack of a rigorous reflection on notions and methods, such an ambition has remained wishful thinking. This article, based on the example of French television, sets out the conditions of possibilities of such a research program. It suggests taking into consideration the results of international and interdisciplinary academic works on fundamental notions (such as reception), taking a critical inventory of available sources, and proposing research issues that would resolutely promote television history as a critical part of mass culture history.

Keywords

• television
• reception
• history
• audiences
• mass culture