Lifestyle Programs on Russian Television

Abstract

This article explores representations of Russian middle class in the lifestyle television shows. It focuses on Russian lifestyle television programmes (2000-2010) and the ways in which these programmes portray the everyday life of the middle class. Although the format of lifestyle programmes is generic, the Russian series have their own peculiar features. They range from the rhetoric and stories told by protagonists to the fact that the shows offer images of everyday life that are often absent or misinterpreted in series, documentaries and news. This is coupled with the variation of approaches to representations of cultural norms and gender roles in the shows. The article scrutinises these representations of middle class lifestyle on Russian television screen and questions whether they reflect the dynamism and fluidity of their prime target audience — the middle class in Russia.