From Affective to Aesthetic Economics: Globalization and the Commodification of Difference on French Idol

Publication by DPDF 2009 "Empires of Vision" Fellow Jill Campaiola-Veen.

Hybridization scholars have shown that the implosion of culture in response to globalization has led nations to feel threatened and thus reclaim their cultural differences. Nouvelle Star, the French version of American Idol, is a powerful representation of this process. The global format which emphasized popularity and emotions was rejected to showcase traits considered to be distinctly French: intellectualism and musical taste. By exploring the franchise's history and analyzing Nouvelle Star's episodes and audience responses, this paper describes how global similarities and national differences were produced in a movement of cultural hybridization.

Published: Taylor & Francis, February 2012

On the web: From Affective to Aesthetic Economics: Globalization and the Commodification of Difference on French Idol

Citation: Campaiola, Jill Giulia, "From Affective to Aesthetic Economics: Globalization and the Commodification of Difference on French Idol," in Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, ed. (Taylor & Francis, February 2012), http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17513057.2012.662240, 5(2).