Farmer Wants a (Swedish) Wife
In this article we discuss discourses of white mobility in reality television, a genre whose problematic post-racial and neoliberal discourses have long been exposed. Moving beyond the widely researched Anglophone media landscapes, we interrogate the discursive construction of white mobilities...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision
2021-12-01
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| Series: | VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture |
| Online Access: | https://www.viewjournal.eu/article/10.18146/view.270/ |
| _version_ | 1797943471874506752 |
|---|---|
| author | Georgia Aitaki Nina Carlsson |
| author_facet | Georgia Aitaki Nina Carlsson |
| author_sort | Georgia Aitaki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
In this article we discuss discourses of white mobility in reality television, a genre whose problematic post-racial and neoliberal discourses have long been exposed. Moving beyond the widely researched Anglophone media landscapes, we interrogate the discursive construction of white mobilities in the Swedish romance reality show Bonde Söker Fru – Jorden Runt (TV4, 2019–2020) [Farmer Seeks Wife – Around the World] where Swedish North-to-South migrants working as farmers abroad seek a partner from Sweden through the assistance of reality TV. By focusing on the discursive and visual strategies through which the show perpetuates racial hierarchies, we discuss the colonial imaginaries, the absence of border policies (such as residency, employment, or integration), and the significance of individual migratory preferences in the mobility discourses. We identify three forms of white mobility – the tourist, the adventurer, and the philanthropist – and show that migration is depicted as something reversible, an adventure, and a possibility for self-development, rather than a life-long decision with high stakes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:23:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d2a06bd81adc47d59a1a67291328c047 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2213-0969 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:23:34Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision |
| record_format | Article |
| series | VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-d2a06bd81adc47d59a1a67291328c0472023-01-25T13:42:39ZengNetherlands Institute for Sound and VisionVIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture2213-09692021-12-0110206410.18146/view.270Farmer Wants a (Swedish) WifeGeorgia AitakiNina Carlsson In this article we discuss discourses of white mobility in reality television, a genre whose problematic post-racial and neoliberal discourses have long been exposed. Moving beyond the widely researched Anglophone media landscapes, we interrogate the discursive construction of white mobilities in the Swedish romance reality show Bonde Söker Fru – Jorden Runt (TV4, 2019–2020) [Farmer Seeks Wife – Around the World] where Swedish North-to-South migrants working as farmers abroad seek a partner from Sweden through the assistance of reality TV. By focusing on the discursive and visual strategies through which the show perpetuates racial hierarchies, we discuss the colonial imaginaries, the absence of border policies (such as residency, employment, or integration), and the significance of individual migratory preferences in the mobility discourses. We identify three forms of white mobility – the tourist, the adventurer, and the philanthropist – and show that migration is depicted as something reversible, an adventure, and a possibility for self-development, rather than a life-long decision with high stakes.https://www.viewjournal.eu/article/10.18146/view.270/ |
| spellingShingle | Georgia Aitaki Nina Carlsson Farmer Wants a (Swedish) Wife VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture |
| title | Farmer Wants a (Swedish) Wife |
| title_full | Farmer Wants a (Swedish) Wife |
| title_fullStr | Farmer Wants a (Swedish) Wife |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farmer Wants a (Swedish) Wife |
| title_short | Farmer Wants a (Swedish) Wife |
| title_sort | farmer wants a swedish wife |
| url | https://www.viewjournal.eu/article/10.18146/view.270/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT georgiaaitaki farmerwantsaswedishwife AT ninacarlsson farmerwantsaswedishwife |