The Ideology of Consumption: A Structural-Syntactical Analysis of “Dallas” and “Dynasty”

Abstract

Aspects of syntactics and structuralism are used to interpret two popular vehicles of consumption ideology, the television programs “Dallas” and “Dynasty.” The primary structure encoded within “Dallas” and “Dynasty” is the binary opposition between secular consumption and sacred consumption. The consumer behaviors of characters associated with secular and sacred consumption are described, and processes of mediation and transformation between the sacred and secular consumption poles are illustrated.