Affiliation:
1. University of Bern
2. University of Hong Kong
Abstract
Abstract
This paper considers the interplay of small-scale pragmatic actions and large-scale discursive formations;
specifically, we examine frame-shifting and keying in the globally syndicated BBC television show Amazing Hotels: Life
Beyond the Lobby. Focusing on the fourth season of Amazing Hotels, which broadcast in 2021, we
document how work and workers are staged for entertainment as quintessential examples of a non-serious frame that Goffman called
regroundings. We argue that this particular keying of other people’s labour as play is further evidence for
how mediatized representations of super-elite lifestyles normalize inequality by “democratizing” privilege and amplifying
entitlement.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company