2009/06/01 by Marwan M. Kraidy · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Socioeconomic Development in MENA #Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts #Asian Culture and Media Studies #Politics #Agency (philosophy) #Social reality #Reality television #Hybridity #Media studies #Sociology #Star (game theory) #Order (exchange) #Star trek #Television series #Popular culture #Reality tv #Gender studies #Political science #Social science #Law #Anthropology
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2009.01419.x
openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/05
Drawn from a bigger project (Kraidy, 2009, in press), this article examines the heated debate triggered by the pan-Arab reality show Star Academy in Saudi Arabia. It examines how controversies over authenticity spawned by popular culture crystallize broader social and political struggles. The article focuses on Star Academy as a contentious media event, describing and analyzing various Saudi reactions to Star Academy, and zeroing in on what the controversy reveals about Saudi politics. The article concludes that Star Academy was so polemical in Saudi Arabia because the show subverted the religious bases of Saudi social order by promoting women's agency, featuring cultural hybridity and individuating authenticity.