Honourable Warriors and Wonderfully Vulgar Fops: The Representation of the Scottish and French Culture in STARZ’s Outlander

Abstract

The Outlander series, both the novel and the TV show, have considerably risen in status within the historical drama genre ever since their release. The show has been praised for its depiction of the female gaze and its authenticity to historical facts. However, some have expressed criticism of the way it stereotypically depicts the Scottish and French cultures in the show. To date, no academic research has been dedicated to this topic. Therefore, this thesis explored the representation of these cultures in the TV show Outlander (2014). It did so through an inductive approach based on the materials presented in the first and second seasons. The research was embedded in the theory of imagology by outlining past and current to trace the extent these were used to represent the Scottish and French culture and whether it created a stereotypical image. This was done by considering what techniques and aspects Outlander employed to depict a set of ethnotypes for each culture. Additionally, the thesis considered the role of genre in light of these presented ethnotypes due to the prominence of authenticity within this genre which impacts the cultural representation. The results have shown that the show relies on existing ethnotypes to create an authentic image thereby perpetuating a stereotypical image of these cultures. Simultaneously, it also depicts a more nuanced image of certain cultural stereotypes.