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Publications (10 of 33) Show all publications
Cotal San Martin, V. & Aitaki, G. (2025). Everybody Hurts? Reality-Based Entertainment and Mediated Suffering in Sweatshop: Deadly Fashion. International Journal of Communication, 19, 1037-1057
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Everybody Hurts? Reality-Based Entertainment and Mediated Suffering in Sweatshop: Deadly Fashion
2025 (English)In: International Journal of Communication, ISSN 1932-8036, Vol. 19, p. 1037-1057Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article explores how reality TV represents (distant) suffering, focusing on the first season of reality-based show Sweatshop: Deadly Fashion. Drawing from theories of media witnessing and mediated suffering, we analyze how reality TV negotiates working conditions in the global garment industry and reflects transnational power inequalities. Specifically, we critically dissect the multimodal strategies used to negotiate suffering and construct a story of transformation from privileged naivety to political mobilization. While acknowledging reality TV’s good intentions, the analysis reveals the common pattern of downplaying the role of systemic issues in perpetuating labor exploitation in the Global South. Additionally, results highlight the importance of context-dependent readings of complex cultural documents that carry political and ideological ambivalence, as well as entertaining dimensions

Keywords
reality tv, suffering, compassion, distant others, Global South, working conditions, Sweatshop: Deadly Fashion
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-103146 (URN)
Available from: 2025-02-13 Created: 2025-02-13 Last updated: 2025-02-13
Aitaki, G. (2025). Stretching authenticity in times of restricted mobility: Transtextuality, place anchoring, and boredom in romance reality show 90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined. Critical Studies in Television
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Stretching authenticity in times of restricted mobility: Transtextuality, place anchoring, and boredom in romance reality show 90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined
2025 (English)In: Critical Studies in Television, ISSN 1749-6020, E-ISSN 1749-6039Article in journal (Refereed) Published
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-102858 (URN)10.1177/17496020251316796 (DOI)
Available from: 2025-01-29 Created: 2025-01-29 Last updated: 2025-01-29
Aitaki, G. (2024). Becoming a Netflix nation: Extroversion, exportability, and visibility through a case study of Maestro in Blue. NECSUS : European Journal of Media Studies (1), 242-265
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Becoming a Netflix nation: Extroversion, exportability, and visibility through a case study of Maestro in Blue
2024 (English)In: NECSUS : European Journal of Media Studies, E-ISSN 2213-0217, no 1, p. 242-265Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Christopher Papakaliatis, a prominent figure in Greek television, propelled Greece into the global streaming arena with his series Maestro in Blue. Supported by the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) and initially aired on MEGA TV, the show made history on 19 December 2022 as the first Greek drama to debut on Netflix. This study explores the significance of such turning points for small television nations, analysing textual choices, production strategies, and broader significance for the visibility of Greek television on the global stage. As such, the study contributes to understanding the evolving landscape of transnational television and its implications for small television cultures and industries.

National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-101336 (URN)
Available from: 2024-08-13 Created: 2024-08-13 Last updated: 2025-02-11
Aitaki, G. (2024). Why Being a ‘Netflix Nation’ Matters – And To Whom. Flow, 30(6)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Why Being a ‘Netflix Nation’ Matters – And To Whom
2024 (English)In: Flow, Vol. 30, no 6Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.)) Published
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-99756 (URN)
Available from: 2024-05-22 Created: 2024-05-22 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Aitaki, G. (2023). “I have fire and they have water”. Mediating the (love) migrant experience in Scandinavian romance-based reality TV. In: : . Paper presented at Media Imaginaries, International Symposium at Lund University, Sweden. Thursday, 16 March 2023..
Open this publication in new window or tab >>“I have fire and they have water”. Mediating the (love) migrant experience in Scandinavian romance-based reality TV
2023 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation only (Refereed)
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-95821 (URN)
Conference
Media Imaginaries, International Symposium at Lund University, Sweden. Thursday, 16 March 2023.
Available from: 2023-06-29 Created: 2023-06-29 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Aitaki, G. (2023). Love Me, Love Me Not: Spectacularizing ‘Love Migration’ in Scandinavian Reality TV. Flow, 30(3)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Love Me, Love Me Not: Spectacularizing ‘Love Migration’ in Scandinavian Reality TV
2023 (English)In: Flow, Vol. 30, no 3Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.)) Published
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
University of Texas at Austin, 2023
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-99754 (URN)
Available from: 2024-05-22 Created: 2024-05-22 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Aitaki, G. (2023). National Team of Greece: Gender, Sports, and the Recession. Series. International Journal of TV Serial Narratives, 9(2), 29-40
Open this publication in new window or tab >>National Team of Greece: Gender, Sports, and the Recession
2023 (English)In: Series. International Journal of TV Serial Narratives, ISSN 2421-454X, Vol. 9, no 2, p. 29-40Article in journal (Refereed) Published
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-102839 (URN)10.6092/issn.2421-454X/19233 (DOI)
Available from: 2025-01-28 Created: 2025-01-28 Last updated: 2025-01-28
Aitaki, G. (2023). On the importance of becoming a ‘Netflix nation’. Exportabiilty, extroversion and visibility through a case study of 'Maestro in Blue' (MEGA TV/Netflix, 2022-). In: : . Paper presented at Locating Media Industries: Cities, Spaces, Places. Jun 19 - Jun 21 2023, London, United Kingdom..
Open this publication in new window or tab >>On the importance of becoming a ‘Netflix nation’. Exportabiilty, extroversion and visibility through a case study of 'Maestro in Blue' (MEGA TV/Netflix, 2022-)
2023 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation only (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Christopher (Christoforos) Papakaliatis is one of Greece’s most recognizable and successful ‘television authors’ and Maestro in Blue, his latest creation, is the series that managed to turn Greece into a full “Netflix nation” (Lobato, 2019). Supported by the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) and originally broadcast by private television channel MEGA TV, Maestro in Blue became – on 19 December 2022 – the first Greek drama show to launch into global subscription video-on-demand streaming platform Netflix, with the latter having already acquired the rights for the second season. Shot on the Ionian islands of Paxoi and Corfu, using the locations strategically in a way that combines Papakaliatis’ signature glossy aesthetic style, traces of Mediterranean noir and ‘weird’ wave, and established (cinematic) representations of Greek island idyll, Maestro in Blue is addressed in this paper as part of Netflix’s glocalization practices (Sigismondi & Ciofalo, 2022) and as an example of “television that travels” (Waade et al, 2020).

By combining a textual analysis of the first season of the drama series with an overview of its production context and a mapping out of its popular/critical reception, this paper engages with the question around the significance of a small television culture gaining international visibility, focusing on three concrete analytical dimensions: 

(a)   exportability, addressed through a close examination of the visual and storytelling strategies potentially contributing to the appeal of the series to international audiences, including the importance of locations to narrative, iconography and cultural specificity

(b)  extroversion, addressed through an analysis of the creative synergies and production strategies orchestrated in order to resonate with a global commercial logic and (international) distribution

(c)   visibility, addressed through a discourse analysis of the series’ reception in both Greek and international popular/cultural criticism, and expressed primarily through the notions of quality and (national) pride.

Drawing from cultural theory, geomedia studies, and media industry studies, and informed by previous research on streaming platforms, international TV flows and content diversity (e.g. Lobato, 2018; Lotz et al, 2022), the present paper aspires to provide an empirically grounded analysis of small television industries’ engagement with developments in international media production and transnational television theory. What is more, it aims to discuss the drama series in question as a potential game changer for Greek television (studies), thus contributing to a broader discussion about the pleasures and gains of international appeal.

National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-95812 (URN)
Conference
Locating Media Industries: Cities, Spaces, Places. Jun 19 - Jun 21 2023, London, United Kingdom.
Available from: 2023-06-29 Created: 2023-06-29 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Chairetis, S. & Aitaki, G. (2023). Repackaging the Past: Commodification, Nostalgia and Feminist/Queer Pleasures in Netflix Originals GLOW (2017-2019) and Hollywood (2020). In: Christina Adamou; Sotiris Petridis (Ed.), Television by Stream: Essays on Marketing, Content and Audience Worldwide (pp. 175-191). Jefferson: McFarland
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Repackaging the Past: Commodification, Nostalgia and Feminist/Queer Pleasures in Netflix Originals GLOW (2017-2019) and Hollywood (2020)
2023 (English)In: Television by Stream: Essays on Marketing, Content and Audience Worldwide / [ed] Christina Adamou; Sotiris Petridis, Jefferson: McFarland, 2023, p. 175-191Chapter in book (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Jefferson: McFarland, 2023
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-95035 (URN)978-1-4766-4833-0 (ISBN)
Available from: 2023-06-04 Created: 2023-06-04 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Aitaki, G. (2023). Television anniversaries: Private television, collective memory and national television history. In: Vassilis Vamvakas; Grigoris Paschalidis (Ed.), Το Κουτί: Εικόνες της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας στην ιδιωτική τηλεόραση (pp. 24-38). Athens: Brainfood
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Television anniversaries: Private television, collective memory and national television history
2023 (Greek, Modern (1453-))In: Το Κουτί: Εικόνες της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας στην ιδιωτική τηλεόραση / [ed] Vassilis Vamvakas; Grigoris Paschalidis, Athens: Brainfood , 2023, p. 24-38Chapter in book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Book chapter in Greek.

Book title in English: The Box: Images of modern Greece in private television

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Athens: Brainfood, 2023
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-94933 (URN)978-618-86418-5-3 (ISBN)
Available from: 2023-05-26 Created: 2023-05-26 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-3872-5096

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