Time Travelling in Dixie: Race, Music, and the Weight of the Past in the British ‘Televisual’ South

This article examines the representation of the South in a series of British travel documentaries made since 2008 by presenters such as Stephen Fry, Sir Trevor McDonald, celebrity chefs Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver, and the actor turned musician Hugh Laurie. These travelogues are not only indicative of the appeal of the South in modern British popular culture, but are representative of the way in which ideas of Southern distinctiveness are maintained and reproduced through television within a transatlantic context. Rather than focusing on the inaccuracies or inconsistencies of the television format, the article interprets television as a key agent in shaping popular perceptions of the American South.