Food Culture Communication In Reality TV And The Construction Of ‘Sense Of Place'

In the process of globalization, the homogenization of the media often leads to the elimination of the "sense of place". With the popularity of the reality TV program, the local culture has been revived more emphasis in the spring tide of cross-cultural communication. The construction of identity is no longer confined to the grand narrative of the traditional mainstream media, but gradually transferred to the daily life communication in the mass media. How media present the place text and construct the "sense of place", not only become the key to engender the identification of audiences, but also can protect and inherit the culture with "place characteristics" in the cross-cultural communication of the television program mode, and enhance the recognition of local culture and the soft power of culture communication. As the carrier of collective memory, nostalgia and identity in man-land relationship, food culture has become the most appropriate brand symbol of the place culture and the "sense of place". This paper will study on how to construct the "sense of place" by food culture elements which are more and more common in the reality TV shows.This study is based on the interdisciplinary perspective of Media Geography and Human Geography, the theory is based on the representation and construction of the "Media Space" in Media Geography, and the intension structure is referenced from the "sense of place" of Human Geography. The "sense of place" includes two connotations, the objective geographical "place characteristics" and the cultural and psychological "place attachment". Therefore, this paper mainly discusses how reality TV programs use the food symbols to represent the objective geography information of "place characteristics", and to carry the symbolic meanings of food which are constructed by media and social. Moreover, how reality TV programs construct the audiences' "place attachment" which is based on memories, nostalgia and identity by producing the meanings of food.This paper will analyze the core concept and connotation by literature review, and study on the reality TV programs at home and abroad by text analysis and case study method, discussing on the media construction of the "sense of place" by local culture symbols in the background of the globalization and cross-cultural communication. Hoping to provide a useful reference for the production and communication of the "glocalization" of reality TV, protect and inherit the place culture in the cross-cultural communication trend, set up the cultural identification and local culture brand, enhance the soft power of Culture Communication.