Survivor-styled indigeneity in two reality television programmes from Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

Popular cultural formations are rich sites for examining how a nation shores up its boundaries in the wake of powerful global forces at the same time as intra-national differences seek to assert themselves and unsettle the terms on which a nation is articulated. This article examines two recent New Zealand reality TV programmes that dramatize shifting discourses of cultural and national belonging within postcolonial Aotearoa/New Zealand. By examining how the TV3 outdoor challenge programme The Summit and Ma¯ori Television's language competition programme Waka Reo share aspects of the American reality show Survivor, this article investigates the ways in which global television formatting can illuminate competing claims to cultural belonging and national identity. While media scholars have accused Survivor of perpetuating American neo-imperialist notions of cultural belonging, this article examines how the process of drawing upon the Survivor format for a New Zealand audience reveals the intra-national struggles of a postcolonial nation and the need for new narratives of the nation. As we argue, the Survivor format serves many different interests and can be used to perpetuate settler-centric narratives of the nation at the same time as fuel iwi initiatives to revitalize language and culture.