Reality Show in the context of “Post-Documentary” Culture: Critics of Textual Approach

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to review important aspects of the critical studies in foreign scientific discourse aimed at textual analysis of reality show as a genre and television format, which helps to reconsider its status as a phenomenon of “post-documentary” culture. The research methodology. The work uses, firstly, critical discourse analysis, which allows us to understand the limitations and counterproductiveness of textual analysis of reality show and helps to reveal the constitutive potential of television and cultural production practices, and, secondly, a cultural approach, which allowed us to identify the media-cultural features of reality show and show them as an element of “post-documentary” audio-visual culture in the XXI century. Scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time, through the prism of criticism of the textual approach, the peculiarities of reality show as a phenomenon of “post-documentary” audio-visual culture are revealed. Conclusions. It is proved that the counterproductiveness of the textual approach to the conceptualisation of reality show as a genre, since its production contradicts the general logic and the established perception of what a text should be. This genreform has more common with no certain genre traditions or textual features, but with the “processing of reality” at the intersection of fact and fiction, shifting attention from the text to its production. The proliferation of reality TV programmes illustrates the industry’s dependence on “reality” as a tool for advertising marketing and the logic of cultural production. It is affirmed that during conceptualising TV reality texts, it is necessary to pay attention to a number of industrial and market conditions and needs, which prioritises textual production practices and contexts that shape practical decisions, and allows for empirical access to the evolving and mutating genreform of reality show.