A New Spectacle in China's Mediasphere: A Cultural Reading of a Web-Based Reality Show from Shanghai

Abstract

Abstract This study offers a cultural reading of the web-based reality showSoul Partners(2007) from Shanghai.Soul Partnersserves as a case study to explore how 21st-century Chinese cultural discourse debates the transformation of urban society in China, providing insight into the Chinese cultural imagination, perceptions of the globalizing metropolis and the impact of consumer culture. This reading positionsSoul Partnerswithin the discursive context of Chinese popular, postmodern and post-socialist culture and in relation to the cultural import of the reality show genre into China's mediasphere. Analysis focuses on the quest for authenticity in the Chinese discourse on perceived reality and the waySoul Partnersgenerates new urban dreams for China's Generation X. The analysis ofSoul Partnerssheds new light on the dynamics of transcultural appropriation in a globalizing China and the social and political implications.

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