Author: Christopher Wright
Graduation Year: 2004
Advisor: Matthew Tinkcom
Reader: Diana Owen
Date: 07 March 2006
Link to Thesis:
This thesis project investigates whether the popular 'reality television' program SURVIVOR is a political allegory as envisioned by Fredric Jameson, in that it reflects the hierarchical nature of society. A textual analysis seeking instances of Jamesonian repression is performed, accompanied by results of a survey of 1,000 SURVIVOR viewers examining the relationship between one's social class and consumption of the program, specifically as related to SURVIVOR'S powerful 'voting alliances.' The textual analysis discovers multiple instances of repression, of two types. One type involves repression among contestants who seek to hide information from one another; the second involves repression by editors/producers, who seek to mislead the viewing audience in order to build suspense. The survey, meanwhile, finds upper-class respondents significantly more likely than working-class respondents to view SURVIVOR: BORNEO'S powerful Tagi alliance positively, among other class-based differences. Overall, the study strongly suggests that on an allegorical level, SURVIVOR both operates and resonates as a class discourse.