City Research Online

Abstract

Netflix’s competitive edge lies in its capacity to make its programmes travel. Its digital architecture and content strategy are aligned to achieve this objective. While Netflix has expanded its commissioning footprint to seek out local narratives, this pursuit of cultural specificity is shaped by commercial imperatives. Cultural specificity is no longer self-contained but reconstructed and performed as authenticity for an algorithmic infrastructure. Consequently, Netflix’s catalogue resembles a Derridean universe in which cultural difference is reconfigured as algorithmic différance. As the meaning of cultural values is deferred in time and space, the value of cultural meaning becomes fleeting and uncertain.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Publisher Keywords:	algorithmic studies, cultural authenticity, cultural specificity, digital architecture, digital culture, Netflix, streaming dramas, streaming platforms
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater T Technology > T Technology (General)
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs School of Policy & Global Affairs > Department of Sociology & Criminology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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