This article explores travel television as a space for intercultural understanding. Previous studies have argued that the genre has little to offer in this respect. Such a response can partly be explained by its affinity to the tourist industry and in part by economic priorities of television channels. In addition, there are considerable challenges involved in describing foreign countries that make the genre vulnerable to allegations of stereotyping and Orientalism. Using insights from moral cosmopolitanism, humour theory and politeness studies, this article examines the communicative strategies of three popular travel series which display a self-reflexive awareness of the difficulties involved in addressing the Others.
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