Publication details
Globalization, Reality TV and Cultural Inclusion: the Case of the 2005 Czech Search for Superstar
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | EastBound |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://eastbound.eu/2009/stetka |
| Keywords | reality TV; globalization; cultural inclusion; ethnicity; global formats |
| Description | This paper examines the relationship between reality television, representations of national identity and mechanism of cultural inclusion, as manifested in the 2005 Czech Search for Superstar, a local version of the global format Pop Idol. This issue is set within a wider theoretical framework describing television formats as currently one of the most prolific constituents of global cultural flows and, at the same time, important agents of construction and re-construction of cultural identities. Following this introduction, the author presents a case study of the 2005 run of the Czech Search for Superstar, which was surprisingly won by a young Roma singer Vlasta Horváth. The analysis focuses particularly on the media discourse which has surrounded his victory and which attempted to ascribe to him, often in a very stereotypical way, an identity of a Roma leader and a role-model. Contrary to the predominant media narrative, hailing his achievement as an evidence of society’s changing attitudes and greater acceptance of diversity, this paper argues that Horváth’s television triumph rather confirms assimilation as a preferred integration strategy, and indicates therefore neither a symbolic recognition of the Roma minority and its culture nor the much-invoked shift towards a more inclusive notion of the Czech national community. |