Little attention has been paid to the rhetorical practices and implications of reality television within the field of rhetoric and composition. In fact, it is easy to argue that television as a whole has been largely ignored, leaving the research to scholars in media, communication, and cultural studies. However, the convergence of media has raised questions about the nature of the viewing practices of contemporary television audiences--specifically regarding how to reconcile the complex texts audiences produce in response to television with the passive model of consumption that has defined it. Game scholars, as well as scholars of computers and composition, have theorized the powerful rhetorical potential of play with regard to video games, but they have yet to consider the way play has been invoked in other more traditional media. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to connect old media and new by considering how television, specifically reality TV, engages audiences across platforms, how audiences extend their own experience with reality programs, and what this might mean to rhetoric and composition scholars about contemporary literacy practices. In this dissertation, I argue that reality television has successfully used rhetorics of play and new media technologies to engage audiences within, across, and between programs and their digital environments. Using Survivor as a case study, I analyze the strategies that producers use to invite audiences into the program, specifically focusing on the generic characteristics that instigate play, the program's online presence, and the ways in which viewers respond by producing their own texts such as fantasy Survivor games, blogs, discussion forums, and video mash-ups. By doing so, I demonstrate how reality TV and new media technology have renegotiated the relationship among producers, audiences, and texts. Significantly, viewers become active participants with, as well as producers of, texts. Additionally, I use this research to study how play encourages self-motivated writing, community building, and the possible uses for "serious play" within the composition classroom.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/223341 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Luedtke, Dalyn |
| Contributors | Kimme Hea, Amy C., Enos, Theresa, Baca, Damián, Kimme Hea, Amy C. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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