Lifeworld relevance and practical sense-making : Audience engagement with Danish television drama series

Based on audience data from a global audience study, this chapter considers successful audience engagement with Danish television drama series around the globe through the theoretical concepts of lifeworld and action-guiding themes. By employing an interactionist perspective that considers media use in terms of social practices and meaningful consumption, the chapter demonstrates how viewers around the globe like Danish drama series and engage with them for very similar reasons: the authenticity of the stories and characters and the depiction of widely relatable topics such as the interconnectedness between media and politics, female empowerment, and tensions between family life and career. It also argues that audience engagement should be considered beyond the logic of cultural proximity/distance. By considering audience engagement within the logics of “practical sense”, the relevance to the audiences’ current lives, and lifeworlds, a more nuanced understanding of audience engagement can be achieved.This work was supported by the following funding bodies: Danmarks Frie Forskningsråd (Independent Research Fund Denmark) [grant number DFF-4001- 00298]. Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond (Aarhus University Research Fund) [grant numbers AUFFF-2018-4-8 and AUFF-F-2013-FLS-1-23]. Carlsbergfondet (Carlsberg Foundation) [grant number CF15-0168]. Go to the full book to find a version of this chapter tagged for accessibility