| Understanding Reality Television Contributor(s): Holmes, Su (Editor), Jermyn, Deborah (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0415317959 ISBN-13: 9780415317955 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $44.60 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: December 2003 Annotation: "Reality TV" has rapidly come to occupy a place at the forefront of contemporary television culture on an international scale. This collection responds to this shift by analyzing the terrain of this genre--its range of economic, technological and cultural implications for our understanding of television as both an object of study and a contemporary cultural form. Recognizing how definitions of Reality TV are contentious, the collection examines a range of programs which claim a privileged relation to "the real," from: "Candid Camera," "Big" "Brother," "Survivor," "The Osbournes," he Real World and "A Wedding Story," to the spheres of "real crime" programming and make-over TV. Adopting an interdisciplinary focus, these essays cover Reality TV in its myriad forms, examining historical precendents, the international nature of its circulation and consumption, and exploring the key debates which Reality TV has put on our social, cultural and televisual agendas. Topics covered include surveillance, the construction of celebrity, temporality in Reality TV, the politics of representation (with case studies considering the construction of community, women, gay identity and "class"), and audience responses and fandom. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Television - General - Social Science | Media Studies |
| Dewey: 791.456 |
| LCCN: 2005280753 |
| Physical Information: 0.69" H x 6.2" W x 9.12" (1.08 lbs) 320 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 'Popular Factual Programming' has rapidly come to occupy a place at the forefront of contemporary television culture on an international scale. Tracing the history of reality TV from Candid Camera to The Osbournes, Understanding Reality Television examines a range of programmes which claim to depict 'real life', from reality formatted game shows to 'real crime' programming and make-over TV. Contributors discuss the phenonenon of reality TV in the context of the debates it has introduced to our social, cultural and televisual agendas, such as the construction of celebrity, fandom, surveillance and the politics of representation. |