Abstract

This study investigates the phenomenon of metastereotyping — that is, the linguistic parody of stereotypic mediatized personas. The analysis draws on data from the 2008 reality television program Big Brother Africa 3, in which contestants ironically perform the lead characters from a 1989 Hollywood teen comedy film who exemplify a highly mediatized California male slacker youth stereotype, the ‘dude’ persona. By examining the linguistic and embodied features deployed by the reality show contestants in their stylization of the film characters, the article shows how metastereotyping involves forms both from within the original representation and beyond. The use by these African contestants of features with such varied semiotic trajectories reveals their globalized ideologies about California and American youth styles as well as their understanding of the film characters’ positions within these styles.