Date of Award
Spring 5-2011
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Mass Communication and Journalism
School
Communication
Committee Chair
Christopher Campbell
Committee Chair Department
Mass Communication and Journalism
Committee Member 2
Fei Xue
Committee Member 2 Department
Mass Communication and Journalism
Committee Member 3
Kim LeDuff
Committee Member 3 Department
Mass Communication and Journalism
Committee Member 4
Gene Wiggins
Committee Member 4 Department
Mass Communication and Journalism
Committee Member 5
David R. Davies
Committee Member 5 Department
Mass Communication and Journalism
Abstract
This study examines the six original seasons of the reality television series The Apprentice as a postmodern, cultural artifact. Grounded in Burke’s (1967) “literature as equipment for living,” and Brummett’s (1984) consideration that televised content constitutes literature, the theory of “televised discourse as equipment for living” provided the guide to examine the series. Hall’s (1980) “reading against the grain” oppositional reading technique was utilized to interrogate both the manifest and latent content. The content of the series may indeed provide the audience with a guide to ideological beliefs of both commerce and culture, thereby creating a manufactured reality for its viewers. Discussions include the genre of reality television, marketing techniques that utilize modern sponsorship with product/brand placement, consumerism, social commentary, business discourse, and the mythos of the American Dream.
Copyright
2011, Sharon Simpson Terrell
Recommended Citation
Terrell, Sharon Simpson, ""Reading" The Apprentice: Commerce, Culture, and the Manufacturing of Reality" (2011). Dissertations. 692.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/692