Theorising desert islands : the island trope in 20th and 21st Century popular culture

Abstract

In 2013, the popular North American reality television show Survivor (2000- ) broadcast its twenty-seventh season, entitled Survivor: Blood vs. Water, in which contestants from previous seasons were stranded with their loved ones on a remote desert island location for thirty-nine days, to compete for the million-dollar prize money. Although the concept of this season differed from previous incarnations (with producers dividing the cast into two groups of former players and their relatives), the format of the show itself has remained almost completely unchanged since it first began airing in the summer of 2000, with Survivor: Borneo. Contestants are usually divided into two teams, or 'tribes', and are pitted against each other for a variety of rewards (food, comfort) and immunity.