No End to Her: Soap Opera and the Female Subject
Written by an academic who has also written for several soap operas, this is a psychoanalytic and feministic look at female characters in the often-maligned soap opera genre. Nochimson, whose writing credits include episodes of Search for Tomorrow and Guiding Light , theorizes that "a character who promotes a femininity shared by women across time and cultures, the soap opera heroine has... developed the potential to defy mainstream society's earnest image of itself." Drawing on Freud, Greek mythology, and the story lines of several popular daytime dramas, she presents "soap opera as a legitimate discourse: one that has its own truth, its own beauty, and its own inner logic and self-preservation." In all the characters Nochimson uses as points of reference, she neglects one who may be of quintessential importance to her thesis: Erica on All My Children. This interesting study is recommended for academic and large public libraries.- Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.