Special Issue 72A/2005
Diskursive Konstruktionen von Authentizität, Geschlecht und Heterosexualität in Starmania
Hg. von Markus Rheindorf & Karin Wetschanow
Die diskursive Aushandlung und Inszenierung von Authentizität in den Medien
Karin Wetschanow
This paper deals with the negotiation and staging of authenticity in the contemporary media, providing an overview of approaches within the field of linguistics. Though it ultimately approaches related issues from a linguistic perspective – that is, from that of a feminist linguistics -, the scope of its theoretical considerations is more comprehensive. It connects the contemporary craze for the genuine and unadulterated in the media, particularly in live television shows, to a cultural history of the construction of authenticity. It subsequently focuses on the way in which talk shows employ various discursive strategies to authenticate the narratives they present. From a feminist perspective, the heightened presence thus given to narrative forms traditionally associated with the female and held in low esteem, these developments present a compelling field of inquiry.
Strukturelle Aspekte der Inszenierung von KandidatInnen als Stars und 'ordinary persons' in der Castingshow Starmania
Birgit Leidenfrost & Dagmar Schadler
The casting show Starmania, produced and broadcast by the Austrian national television network ORF in 2003/04, was enormously popular with a young audience, spawning a plethora of fan articles. This paper is part of a series of three articles investigating various aspects of the staging of its competitors. It outlines in some detail the show’s structural organization and its many permutations throughout the show’s second season. In doing so, it moreover investigates the functional aspect of specific structural elements or stages in the construction of the show’s candidates as ‘stars’ and ‘ordinary persons’. Their ‘doing being ordinary’, understood as a discursive construction mediated in part by the show’s structural layout, is shown to be a vital element in the narrative enacted by the show: that of ‘becoming a star’.
Die Konstruktion von Heterosexualität in der Castingshow Starmania
Katharina Sacher, Dorothea Pointner & Melanie Goisauf
The candidates of Starmania - or, rather, the show's stars-in-the-making - performed on a weekly basis over a period of several months, their images undergoing more or less substantial changes in the course of this time span. This article traces the manner and means by which the show constructed not only gender but also sexuality through a number of means, including spoken discourse, staging, lighting, music, duet pairings, etc. Insofar as its construction of sexuality realizes a normative discourse of heterosexuality or else heteronormativity, it can be said to underlie the heteronormative star ‘types’ which the show offers to its audience.
Verena pur: Rekonstruktion von 'gender' bei der Konstitution eines Stars
Claudia Wiesinger & Mira Schaden
As a casting show, Starmania continually reworks its candidates' images throughout the period of their transformation into stars. This article traces the manner in which and the means by which the candidate that ultimately won the show, Verena Pötzl, was reconstructed as an authentic star personality in terms of gender. It takes into consideration her construction as authentic star personality by means of dress, grooming, referential strategies and other aspects of the show.