The Americans : domesticity and regendering of classical spy narratives

Abstract

In this article an analysis is made of the first season of the television series The Americans from a cultural perspective which shows the relevance of the series within the context of the first decades of the 21st century. The series belongs to a specific genre that used to be masculine and mainly centered on the conflicts resulting from the confrontation between individual male loyalties and their identities conditioned by their belonging to a political order. By humanizing the usual villains in the spy genre, the series introduces a certain moral ambiguity and the idea that political ideologies lose their value in the face of individual motivations. This article explores the use of the conventions of the spy genre and how the model is adapted to allow for the treatment of present-day concerns related to the individual’s struggle (now female as well) to reconcile public and