House’s creative destruction: Order and disorder under the guise of security

Abstract

We are presenting here a reading of House, a popular television medical drama, through the prism of the imaginary. This show juggles with reality and fiction in such a way that it is sometimes difficult for us to make a distinction between what we know about the medical environment and what images and words suggest. House’s main and eponymous character, Dr Gregory House, appeals to the viewer through his ambivalence. Indeed, he is both obnoxious – often spiteful, callous and unsympathetic towards his patients, his close friends and colleagues, always flouting hospital rules – and captivating in the practice of his profession as well as in the relationships he maintains with the members of his team. This ambivalence makes him the author of a “creative destruction”, which takes us from one world of feelings to another, using our emotions. Thus a dialogical process takes place, which can be perceived using the framework of interpretation provided by imaginary sociology, in particular its structures elaborated by Gilbert Durand.