This thesis expands the discussion of the mass appeal and sustained success of reality TV by initiating an examination of the direct connections between reality TV and cinematic and written fiction. As reality TV has firmly established itself as a successful genre of entertainment over the last two decades, scholarship has been slow to follow. The majority of existing scholarship focuses on reality TV as a descendant of the documentary and emphasizes the role of the non-professional, the average person, as the star. Reality TV's appropriation of structural elements from general fiction is acknowledged only briefly and the use of specific techniques borrowed from fiction is largely unexplored. Although reality TV is a variation of the documentary, this thesis explores reality TV's creation of its voyeuristic appeal through the appropriation of key elements that come directly from fiction. Specific techniques used to create a voyeuristic appeal in reality programs, such as the morally ambiguous character and the confession, can be traced, respectively, to the surprising sources of Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allan Poe. Reality TV, in appropriating these techniques from Hitchcock and Poe, has a similar formula for entertainment: the thrill of voyeurism as a sublime experience. The consistent appeal of reality TV cannot be fully understood without an awareness of its connections to these two great artists.

I följande studie undersöks hur realityserien True Love Sverige konstruerar könsroller. Syftet är att få insyn i hur media kan påverka vår identitet, samt blottlägga hur en produktion går till väga för att kommunicera ett visst budskap. De metoder och teorier jag har använt mig av är multimodal kritisk diskursanalys, socialsemiotik, könsrollsteorin och Yvonne Hirdmans genuskontrakt. Resultatet visar att deltagarna konstrueras genom produktionsbolagets val av setting, attribut, perspektiv, ljud och musik. Analysen visar att programmet till stor del (re)producerar traditionella könsroller, men att vissa deltagare – främst de av manligt kön – bryter dem.

The purpose of this study is to examine how gender stereotypes are portrayed and how stereotypes are being maintained through Swedish reality tv shows. The study aims to test the common-sense hypothesis that the Swedish Public Service is more attentive to equality and inclusiveness than commercial production companies, including the equal representation of genders. The first research question aims to investigate if and how stereotypes are being preserved in the programs. The second research question looks into what types of audiovisual means the reality shows use to portray men and women.    The study has compared two Swedish reality shows by the names of Vi eller Aldrig (Public Service) and True Love Sverige (commercial company) with a theoretical basis in framing and gender theory and applying a quantitative and qualitative method. Earlier research has shown that there are significant differences between the framing of men and women in tv commercials (Matthes & Prieler, 2020), and also in other reality tv shows such as Love Island UK where it is proven that sexist and heteronormative perspectives are maintained throughout the show (Denby, 2021).    The quantitative results of this study showed that there are differences regarding the framing of the genders between the two shows, where Vi eller Aldrig was less equal than True Love Sverige. The male participants were given significantly more space than the female participants in Vi eller Aldrig, while True Love Sverige was more equal. It also showed that stereotypes were maintained in both shows through the shows’ production strategies and through the representation of stereotypical character types. The qualitative results compared scenes from each program and concluded that the principal audiovisual means used were music, editing, set design and camerawork.   The results are of significance because they present evidence that these two reality shows contribute to upholding patriarchal structures by making men the focal points, main characters of the shows’ and also by continuing to portray men and women from stereotypical roles, women as stereotypically hysterical and men as stereotypically cool and poised.

No description available.

Denna studie undersöker hur klass konstrueras utifrån tillgång till kulturellt och symboliskt kapital i den sjunde säsongen av det svenska reality-programmet Gift vid första ögonkastet. Studien fokuserar på hur klassdistinktioner skapas utifrån moral och värderingar, där arbetarklassen görs till moralisk underklass i reality-tv. Studien argumenterar för att reality-tv genomsyras av en medelklassblick. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter är Pierre Bourdieus teorier om klass och kapital samt vidareutvecklingar av hans teorier, främst kopplade till Beverly Skeggs. Studien använder en diskursanalytisk metodansats baserad på Ernesto Laclau och Chantal Mouffes diskursteori, för att förstå hur den mediala diskursen ger mening åt arbetarklassen och medelklassen genom ekvivalenskedjor. I den mediala diskursen om arbetarklassen kopplas två av de manliga deltagarna i programmet Gift vid första ögonkastet till en arbetarklassidentitet. Detta görs genom deras språk, som upplevs vara sexistiskt, och deras smak. Analysen visar hur arbetarklassdeltagarna är medvetna om sin klassidentitet och disidentifierar sig med den. Analysen tar även upp hur arbetarklassdeltagarna förväntas lära sig medelklassens värderingar för att godkännas i medelklassens ögon. Studiens slutsats visar att klass, trots att det inte nämns explicit, spelar en högst central roll i seriens narrativ. Slutsatsen visar vidare att arbetarklassen främst porträtteras utifrån sin brist på rätt kulturellt och symboliskt kapital. Resultaten bekräftar tidigare forskning om reality-tv, men bidrar även med ny förståelse genom att visa hur jämställdhetsvärderingar görs till det mest värdefulla symboliska kapitalet i programmet, och i förlängningen kan bidra med insikter om den samhälleliga diskursen om arbetarklassen.

Studiens syfte är att öka förståelse för hur diskurser om hälsa kommer till uttryck med särskilt fokus på coachningsituationerna i TV-serien Den stora hälsoresan- från soffpropp till superkropp. Reality-programmet går under genren makeover och handlar om svenska kändisar som ska ta sig igenom träningsupplägget 16 weeks of hell. Analysen använder sig av en multimodal kritisk diskursanalys där språkliga och visuella aspekter analyseras. Det teoretiska ramverk som används i analysarbetet av det empiriska materialet är makt, diskurs, makover-genre och medier i förhållande till kropp och hälsa. Teorierna bidrar till en ökad förståelse för hur olika hälsodiskurser framställs i programmet. Resultatet av analysen identifierade fyra olika diskurser för hur hälsa kommer till uttryck i relationen expert och deltagare. I slutdiskussionen diskuteras resultatet till tidigare studier och teorier. Det utmärkande för studien är de utmanande hälsodiskurser som återfinns i resultatet där maktförhållandet mellan expert och deltagare utmanas.

This dissertation is a three-pronged study examining American themes, celebrity, and collective identity associated with the television program American Idol. The study includes discourse analyses of the first seven seasons of the program, of the season seven official American Idol message boards, and of the 2002 and 2008 show press coverage. The American themes included a rags-to-riches narrative, archetypes, and celebrity. The discourse-formed archetypes indicate which archetypes people of varied races may inhabit, who may be sexual, and what kinds of sexuality are permitted. On the show emotional exhibitions, archetypal resonance, and talent create a seemingly authentic celebrity while discourse positioning confirms this celebrity. The show also fostered a complication-free national American collective identity through the show discourse, while the online message boards facilitated the formation of two types of collective identities: a large group of American Idol fans and smaller contestant-affiliated fan groups. Finally, the press coverage study found two overtones present in the 2002 coverage, derision and awe, which were absent in the 2008 coverage. The primary reasons for this absence may be reluctance to criticize an immensely popular show and that the American Idol success was no longer surprising by 2008. By 2008, American Idol was so ingrained within American culture that to deride it was to critique America itself. In sum, the findings were that American Idol presents an ideal version of American culture, where gender, race, and class issues are non-existent, power is shared democratically, the American national identity is fair, generous, familial, and celebrity and success are easily attainable. This idealization of contemporary American culture functions to sustain the current status quo of economic and cultural standards. / Mass Media and Communication

No / The first ever English-language title devoted exclusively to the shocking, controversial and influential mondo documentary film cycle. "The Mondo Cane films were an important key to what was going on in the media landscape of the 1960s especially post the JFK assassination." J.G BALLARD Mondo Cane in 1962 was the blueprint for a shocking, controversial and influential documentary film cycle. Known collectively as 'mondo films' - or 'shockumentaries'" -this enduring series of films is a precursor of the Reality-TV show. A box-office draw for three decades and now a staple of the video rental market, these explosive 'exposés' would often pass fabricated scenes as fact in order to gave the public a sensationalist, highly emotive view of the world. SWEET & SAVAGE is the first ever English-language book devoted exclusively to the Mondo documentary film. A study of Mondo as a global film phenomenon, it includes a detailed examination of the key films and includes exclusive interviews with the 'godfathers' of this cult genre. Includes an exclusive interview with author J.G. Ballard.

Den här studien undersöker hur heteronormativitet finns synligt i reality-TV. För att utröna hur detta framställs undersöks ett avsnitt av Bonde söker fru och ett av Tro, hopp och kärlek. Båda programmen är dejtingprogram som sändes hösten 2016. Studien utgår från queerteorin som ifrågasätter heteronormativiteten och hur den utövar makt över de som inte lever efter den normen. Metoden för studien är kritisk diskursanalys som används för att synliggöra vilka språkliga grepp som används för att konstruera heteronormativiteten och även för att synliggöra maktstrukturer. Syftet med studien är att avslöja strukturer som konstruerar normativa respektive avvikande kärleksrelationer. Studien identifierar fem olika teman som konstrueras kring kärleksförhållandet: Ett komplett liv, Den stora kärleken, Livet utan kärleksförhållande, Jag är redo och Det mätbara målet. De heteronormativa föreställningarna syns genom att kärleksförhållandet konstrueras som en problemlösare, kärleksförhållandet ses som den högst prioriterade relationen i de medverkandes liv, singelskapet medför ett utanförskap och en känsla av misslyckande samt att målet med kärleksrelationen är en långvarig relation med en önskan om reproduktion. Studien antyder också på att det även finns krav på när kärleksförhållandet bör inträffa i livet. / This study examines how heteronormativity is constructed in reality-TV. The study anylizes one episode of Bonde söker fru (the Swedish version of Farmer wants a wife) and one episode of the Swedish tv-show Tro, hopp och kärlek (Faith, hope and love). Both of them are dating programmes and were broadcasted during the fall of 2016. The study uses the queer theoretical framework which is questioning the heteronormativity and how it exercises power over the ones not living within the norm. The critical discourse analysis is implemented as both a method and theoretical framework. As a method the critical discourse analysis is used to show how the language constructs heteronormativity and helps the study to expose power structures. The purpose of the study is to expose structures that construct normative and abnormative love relationships. The study identifies five different themes that contributes to the perception of the love relationship: A complete life, The great love, Life without love relationship, I am ready and The measurable goal. The heteronormative ideas shows through the construction of the love relationship as a problem solver, the love relationship is the most prioritised relationship in participant’s lives, being single involves alienation and a feeling of failure as well as the goal of the love relationship is a longlasting relationship  with the desire of reproduction. The study also indicates that there is requirements on when in life the love relationship should occur.

This master's diploma thesis discusses the mechanisms by which the Slovak public television talent show Zem spieva (2017) creates the concept of folklore perfor- mance as a means of building and expressing national identity. This thesis also discusses the mechanisms by which the show creates a platform for negotiating the criteria of high standard folklore performance which should present a consistent reconstruction of tradition. These two effects of the show Zem spieva are in this thesis perceived as conceptually conflicting: on the one hand, there are essentialist ideas about the genetic predisposition of members of the Slovak nation for folklore performance; on the other hand, there are doctrines focused on the reconstruction of the tradition on the folklore stage. These doctrines are followed by an expert jury composed of prominent members of the folklore community. This thesis argues that the concept of performing folklore on stage perceived as an intellectual problem of the reconstruction of tradition is in the show subversive and therefore gradually replaced by emotionally and patriotically defined criteria of high quality folklore performance. This preferred measure preserves cultural cohesion in terms of sa- tisfying the needs of the mass audience. Following the conflict of the mentioned...