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Surviving American empire in Africa

The anthropology of reality television

University of California, USA, lhubbard{at}uclink4.berkeley.edu

Kathryn Mathers

University of Pretoria, South Africa, catherine.mathers{at}up.ac.za

Getting real with Survivor Africa is a means to examine not only how ‘Africa’ and the ‘United States’ are performed, staged and constituted in the present but also how ‘Americans’ should relate to the world and themselves. Survivor echoes in fundamental ways the equivalent popular culture form of the 19th century - travel writing. It posits a story told with nostalgic colonial flair with critical plots that turn on notions of a future of constant surveillance and a form of life conducive to an empire for a post-imperial age. Survivor moves across the globe dropping Americans into differing geographies and carefully teaching them how to ‘be’ in relationship to themselves and the world. For the Survivor participants Africa needs to be recuperated, especially from AIDS, or it becomes a sign of the failure of American modernity.

Key Words: Africa • AIDS • American • empire • reality television • travel writing • USA

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