Lobarbio

ABSTRACT

Lobarbio, B. (2014). The Voices of Two Nations: A Study on the Cultural Representations and Politics of Representation in The Voice US and The Voice of the Philippines, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

The Voices of Two Nations is a comparative study between two versions of the reality show The Voice – The Voice US and The Voice of the Philippines. It aims to give focus on the discussion of the role of American and Filipino cultures and their representations in the localization of the said reality show in the Philippines. This study also touches on the possible politics of representations present in both versions.

In order to provide critical discourses regarding the concerns of the research, this study employs textual analysis with the application of globalization and the culture industry as central frameworks in the evaluation of the texts. With that, this study argues that while some globalists claim that globalization is harmful to the representation of the cultures in what are perceived as weaker nations, this study leans on the more positive and fruitful cultural exchanges brought about by the concept. The research sees globalization to have a more positive effect in the localization of The Voice in the Philippines.

In addition to perspectives on globalization, this study also takes into account the objective of the culture industry machinery to generate profit and its power to standardize cultural goods like The Voice franchise. This study argues that this initial definition of the culture industry is not applicable to the two versions of The Voice. This study argues that the United States and the Philippines answer to different cultural industries making the presentation of The Voice US and The Voice of the Philippines distinct from one another through the differences in cultural representations.

Keywords: The Voice, cultural representation, politics of representation, reality show

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