Popular culture Books

Book SynopsisOn a hot summer night in August of 1973, DJ Kool Herc and his sister, Cindy, put on a “back to school jam” in the rec room of their apartment block at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the West Bronx. The rest is history. The birth of hip hop rippled out across the globe, influencing music and fashion for generations.Fresh Fly Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip Hop Style draws on the experiences and memories of those who were there, from a foreword by Slick Rick, to interviews with Disco Fever club owner Sal Abbatiello and designers Dapper Dan and April Walker, to chapters from Vibe stylist Emil Wilbekin and former editor of The Source Kim Osorio. Topics cover the range of hip hop’s influential style over the past half century, tracing the evolution from early hip hop style, born of aspiration, individuality, and practicality to contemporary fashion steeped in luxury brands.Hip hop style is a local story, told through spotlights on Times Square as an early Trade Review"Slick Rick writes the foreword to this vibrant exploration of the birth, spread and evolution of hip-hop style — from rec rooms to red carpets — through images and analyses from stylists, designers and more." —NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW"To mark the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop, an exhibition at New York's Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology and an accompanying Rizzoli monograph unpack the stories of designers like Dapper Dan and behind iconic looks like Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" jackets, created by rapper Christopher "Play" Martin, exploring the creative relationship between music and fashion." —HARPER'S BAZAAR

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Book SynopsisBetween 1967 and 1970 Italian auteur Giovanni 'Tinto' Brass directed four feature films in London, each starring a woman. Exploring the political, cultural and sexual ideas of their time, they contain priceless footage of now forgotten neighbourhoods, galleries, clubs and events. This book describes the films, their stars and how they...Trade ReviewMatthews doesn't hold back when it comes to detail, and this makes for a fascinating read as we uncover a whole new perspective on the well-worn history of underground London. -- Sarah Gregory * Shindig! *But Simon Matthews weaves a web around the story of Tinto Brass, adding dozens of links with people and organisations from the underground, the avant-garde, the rock scene, and the movie world. (Just like Julian Palacios did in Dark Globe, but around Syd Barrett and the early Floyd.) In that aspect, it is much more than a Tinto Brass biography. Just like the title predicts, it gives an overview of 'swinging London and the 60s pop culture scene', through the cinematographic lens of Giovanni Brass. People who have read some of my reviews know that I am a sucker for footnotes (Men On The Border is mentioned in one of those) and that I can't resist a bulky index. Free Your Mind! has a 23-page index, making it a joy to jump from page to page. Free Your Mind! is the kind of book I like to read. -- Felix Atagong * The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit *

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Book SynopsisAccessible guide to the effect - good and bad - of the internet on our everyday lives.Trade Review'A fantastic read and a marvel of economy ... This is the kind of primer you want to slide under your boss's door' Cory Doctorow, Observer. * Cory Doctorow, Observer *'An accessible guide to the Internet, which covers the nine need-to-know ideas about its cultural significance' Sunday Times. * Sunday Times *Table of ContentsPrologue: Why this book? Take the long view. The web is not the Net. For the Net, disruption is a feature, not a bug. Think ecology, not just economics. Complexity is the new reality. The network is now the computer. The Web is evolving. Copyrights and 'copywrongs': or why our Intellectual Property regime no longer makes sense. Orwell vs Huxley: the bookends of our networked future? Epilogue. Appendix. Acknowledgements. Glossary. Notes. Index.

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Book SynopsisPresents essays that explore the theoretical, material, social, cultural, and political impacts of celebrity on and for Indigenous people. The book questions and critiques the whitestream concept of celebrity and the very juxtaposition of ‘Indigenous’ and ‘celebrity’ and casts a critical lens on celebrity culture's impact on Indigenous people.Table of Contents Introduction - Indigeneity, Celebrity, and Fame: Accounting for Colonialism Chapter. 1 Mino-Waawiindaganeziwin: What Does Indigenous Celebrity Mean within Anishinaabeg Contexts? Chapter 2 Empowering Voices from the Past: The Playing Experiences of Retired Pasifika Rugby League Athletes in Australia Chapter 3 My Mom, The 'Military Mohawk Princess': kahntinetha Horn through the lens of Indigenous female celebrity Chapter 4 Indigenous activism and celebrity: negotiating access, expectation, and obligation Chapter 5 Rags-to-Riches and Other Fairytales: Indigenous Celebrity in Australia 1950-1980 Chapter 6 'Pretty Boy' Trudeau vs. the 'Algonquin Agitator': Hitting the Ropes of Canadian Colonialist Masculinities Chapter 7 Famous 'Last' Speakers: Celebrity and Erasure in Media Coverage of Indigenous Language Endangerment Chapter 8 Celebrity in Absentia: situating the Indigenous of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian social imaginary Chapter 9 Marvin Rainwater and the Pale Faced Indian: How Cover Songs Appropriated a Story of Cultural Appropriation Chapter 10 Collectivity as Indigenous Anti-Celebrity: Global Indigeneity and the Indigenous Rights Movement Chapter 11 Makings, Meanings, and Recognitions: The Stuff of Anishinaabe Stars

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Book SynopsisCool Britannia and Multi-Ethnic Britain: Uncorking the Champagne Supernova attempts to move away from the melancholia of Cool Britannia and the discourse which often encases the period by repositioning this phenomenon through an ethnic minority perspective.In March 1997, the front page of the magazine Vanity Fair announced London Swings! Again!' This headline was a direct reference to the swinging London of the 1960s the English capital which became the era-defining epicentre of the world for its burgeoning rock and pop music scene, with its daring new youth culture, and the boutique fashion houses of Carnaby Street captured most indelibly by the Mods, Rockers, and psychedelic hippies of the time. In the 1990s this renewed interest in the swinging 60s seemed to reinvigorate popular culture, after a global period in the 1980s which would see the collapse of traditional communism and the ending of Cold War, while ushering in the beginnings of a new technologiTrade Review"Arday’s Cool Britannia is both a brave cultural history and a deeply personal odyssey. Retrieving the 1990s from retro sentimentality, Arday reminds us that the decade of Brit pop and girl power was also an era of discriminatory policing, hostile immigration policy and the murder of Stephen Lawrence. A necessary corrective to the Brit nostalgia and historical amnesia that mark our present day."Prof. Paul Warmington, University of Warwick "A must-read for anybody seeking the truth of Britain’s uncomfortable relationship with race, as well as for those who are yet to wake up. Offering an unfiltered – and at times deeply confronting – reflection on British culture, Jason Arday’s Cool Britannia is a brave and powerful antidote to our collective amnesia."Rt. Hon David Lammy MP, Member of Parliament for Tottenham"Cool Britannia and Multi-Ethnic Britain: Uncorking the Champagne Supernova provides a striking and powerful counter-argument to the romanticised view of the '90s, currently imagined so fondly as the past we have lost to Brexit nationalism. As Arday shows, ‘diversity’ was cynically used as a slogan to distract from the reality of racism, oppression and broken-promises."Prof. David Gillborn, Centre for Research in Race & Education (CRRE), University of Birmingham "In this timely and engaging book, Jason Arday writes with the passion and purpose. He brings the perspectives of people of colour from margin to centre in order to offer an important counter-narrative to the melancholic historicization of ‘The Cool Britannia Years’. Touching on key historical moments in the popular imaginary, and weaving through his own personal experiences, Jason Arday encourages us to see the institutional racisms that society is too quick to forget."Dr. Remi Joseph-Salisbury, University of Manchester"The vivid soundtrack of Arday’s stylish youth comes alive in these pages. While you feel the beat of bands like Oasis and New Order signalling the euphoria and optimism of the Post-Thatcher New Labour era, Arday deftly reveals the ‘Other’ story of the underbelly of racial violence, fear and discrimination that marked the life of so many young black men, culminating in the death of Stephen Lawrence. If you grew up or lived through the 1990s you will not fail to be moved by this eloquent unwritten song of the myth of multicultural Britain." Emeritus Prof. Heidi Safia Mirza, University of London"In this insightful book, Jason Arday reflects upon a period in which he came of age. While the 1990s represented a welcome rupture from the torpor of the previous decade, the cheer leaders of 'Cool Britannia' overstated, it is argued, the inclusivity of the new era. Forensically examining the period through a minority lens, Jason convincingly demonstrates the prevalence of institutional racism and how minority ethnic groups continued to be marginalised." Prof. Andrew Pilkington, University of Northampton Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Love Spreads: The Impact of The Cool Britannia Years on Multi-Ethnic Britain; 2. Don’t Look Back in Anger: Bringing Institutional Racism into Public Focus during the Cool Britannia Years; 3. Bitter Sweet Symphony: Reflecting and Drawing Conclusions on the Cool Britannia years on Multi-Ethnic Britain.

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Book SynopsisTikTok Cultures in the United States examines the role of TikTok in US popular culture, paying close attention to the appâs growing body of subcultures.Featuring an array of scholars from varied disciplines and backgrounds, this book uses TikTok (sub)cultures as a point of departure from which to explore TikTokâs role in US popular culture today. Engaging with the extensive and growing scholarship on TikTok from international scholars, chapters in this book create frameworks and blueprints from which to analyze TikTok within a distinctly US context, examining topics such as gender and sexuality, feminism, race and ethnicity and wellness.Shaping TikTok as an interdisciplinary field in and of itself, this insightful and timely volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of new and digital media, social media, popular culture, communication studies, sociology of media, dance, gender studies, and performance studies.Trade ReviewAs platforms like TikTok emerge, there is much to learn about the many people and ideas it gives voice to, as well as silences and suppresses. Boffone has given us a must-read collection for those working to make the pressing issues of internet culture and community legible. This work further expands the urgent need for a disciplinary field of internet studies as digital media platforms are remaking our worlds.Safiya Umoja Noble, author of Algorithms of OppressionTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Rise of TikTok in US Culture; Section I: Race and Ethnicity on TikTok; 1. The D’Amelio Effect: TikTok, Charli D’Amelio, and the Construction of Whiteness; 2. Digital Blackface and the Troubling Intimacies of TikTok Dance Challenges; 3. TikTok For Us By Us: Black Girlhood, Joy, and Self Care; 4. #JewishTikTok: The JewToks’ Fight Against Antisemitism; Section II: Gender and Sexuality on TikTok; 5. Watching TikTok, Feeling Feminism: Intergenerational Flows of Feminist Knowledge; 6. "Do you want to form an alliance with me?": Glimpses of Utopia in the Works of Queer Women and Non-Binary Creators on TikTok; 7. Trans TikTok: Sharing Information and Forming Community; Section III: TikTok (Sub)Cultures; 8. Hocus-Pocus: WitchTok Education for Baby Witches; 9. Wellness TikTok: Morning Routines, Eating Well, and Getting Ready to be "That Girl"; 10. Hype it Up: US Latinx Theater on TikTok; Afterword TikTok Industrial Complex; or Twenty-first Century Transculturative Creative Critical Collaboratory?

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive and critical introduction to understanding the Korean Wave (Hallyu) as a transnational media phenomenon.This book provides an accessible introduction to the Korean Wavethe rapid growth of local cultural industries and the global popularity of Korean popular culture over the past 30 yearsproviding historical, political, economic, and socio-cultural context to its initial rise and enduring popularity. Jin explores the transnational cultural flows of Hallyu across a variety of products and digital technologiesfrom television dramas, film, and K-pop to online games, and webtoonsand explains the process of cross-media convergence and the socio-political contexts behind the Hallyu phenomenon. He also explores how overseas fans and audiences advance K-pop fandom as social agents in different geo-cultural contexts. The book concludes by discussing if Hallyu can become a sustainable global popular culture beyond a fan-based regional cultural phenomenon. Each chaptTable of Contents1. Introduction Part I. History, Theory, and Context of The Korean Wave 2. The History of the Korean Wave 3. Theoretical Approaches: From Cultural Proximity to Transnational Proximity 4. Cultural Policy in the New Korean Wave 5. Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy 6. Local Cultural Industries toward the Global Cultural Markets Part II. Transnational Korean Wave 7. The New Wave in K-dramas in the Digital Platform Age 8. K-pop Fandom from Global Perspectives 9. Korean Cinema as Hallyu Cinema 10. Transnational Digital Games and Esports Part III. Problematizing the Korean Wave 11. What is the K in the Korean Wave? 12. Diaspora, Ethnicity, and the Korean Wave 13. BTS and Fan-nationalism 14. Webtoons, Transmedia Storytelling, and Intellectual Property

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Book SynopsisThis accessible guide through audience studies' histories outlines a contemporary Cultural Studies approach to audiences for the digital age. This book is not a survey of all existing audience research. Instead, its chapters survey parts of the field in order to draw some through-lines' from older traditions to contemporary debates, giving students a way in' to thinking about the current landscape from an audience-sensitive' perspective. In order to do this, the book utilises a series of verbs to organise and cut a path through audience research and register its ongoing relevance today. These verbs are: audience, anchor, mean, feel and work. The list is not exhaustive and the reader is invited to think about what verbs they would add or change throughout the book. Audience suggests renewing the importance of form' as a cultural process and in circling-back' to Cultural Studies' circuit of culture', it proposes a modified framework for the digital circuit'. Each Trade Review"Helen Wood, researcher, writer, teacher and feminist, shows how media meaning making has been studied. Read Audience to get an excellent overview or to find out where we need to take audience research next!"Joke Hermes, Professor of Practice-based Research in Media, Culture and Citizenship at Inholland UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Audience 2. Anchor 3. Mean 4. Feel 5. Work 6. The Digital Circuit

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the relationship between video games and satire through an in-depth examination of Capcomâs Dead Rising series, which alludes to, recontextualises, and builds upon George A. Romeroâs filmic satire on American consumer culture, Dawn of the Dead.Proposing a taxonomy of videoludic satire, this book details how video games can communicate satire through their virtual environments, their characters, their audio, the way they frame the passage of time, and the outcomes of in-game choices that their players can make. By applying this taxonomy to the Dead Rising series, this book presents a compelling case for how video games can function as instruments for social commentary and indicators of ideological tensions.This unique and insightful study will interest students and scholars of media studies, video game studies, satire, visual culture, and zombie studies.

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Book SynopsisThis book proposes the âsignature role TV starâ as a new theoretical category of stardom by evaluating Adam West as a quintessential example of this type of figure.West was best known for playing the titular role in the 1960s television series Batman. After Batman was cancelled, West was unable to develop a lasting career as a mainstream leading man, meaning that his signature role remained the defining aspect of his public image. In various ways, West demonstrated that the strong link with a signature televisual role can generate new inflections over time, meaning that he embodies both the advantages and disadvantages of this form of stardom. The analysis of West as an archetypal signature role TV star is accomplished within a star studies theoretical framework that focuses on his onscreen roles, his promotional and publicity appearances and criticism and commentary materials about him. The signature role TV star category proposed in this book can be utilised to illuminate t

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Book SynopsisTo his millions of fans worldwide, Ryan Gosling is not just a handsome face that can say Hey girl! in a way that makes them go weak at the knees (though he can and does), he is the defining icon of the new Golden Age of cinema, a 21st-century Cary Grant, as macho as he is feminine, with a total of 11 Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations under his belt, and a Golden Globe victory for Best Actor.Since his tenure as a leading man, 20 years ago in The Notebook, Ryan''s films have grossed more than $2 billion dollars, and his next few projects will certainly add to that figure, with Project Hail Mary, Wolf Man, Gray Man 2, and Margot Robbie''s Ocean Eleven reboot keeping him in the La La Land limelight for many years to come.I''m Just Ryan throws a bright spotlight on the actor''s playful and positive sense of humour and philosophy and revels in his ridiculous charm and sexiness with a wealth of iconic quotes and facts about the man - the legend - himself.I did doubt my Kenergy in the beginning. I just wasn''t sure I could do it but I just decided I was going to Ken as hard as I can. I Kenned in the morning; I Kenned at night. If I''m honest, I''m Kenning a little right now.Ryan, on channeling his Kenergy.Eva''s the dream mother, and they''re dream babies, and it''s like a dream that I''m having right now. I''m dreaming it all.Ryan, on his wife Eva Mendes.Ryan Gosling''s live performance of I''m Just Ken at the 2024 Academy Awards is already considered one of the most iconic moments in Oscars history. Dressed head-to-toe in pink, Ryan stole the show with Guns & Rose guitarist Slash and Mark Ronson, alongside 65 other Ken''s, and his Barbie co-stars. More than 20 million people tuned in to watch and sales of the song jumped by 900 per cent during the performance.

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Book SynopsisThe Speculative Route explores speculative traditions and science fictional modes across South and Southwest Asia and North Africa (SSWANA), examining their historical connections, inter and intra-regional entanglements, overlaps, and differences. Conceptualizing science fiction and fantasy (SFF) as a mode rather than genre, this volume challenges the putative boundaries between literary and genre fiction through critical studies and essays focusing on SFF from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. It demonstrates the ways in which science fictional modes of thinking and imagination function as critical tools for addressing social, cultural, and political issues beyond genre conventions and expectations. Bringing together articles by leading scholars of SFF and think-pieces by acclaimed authors of contemporary SF, this volume focuses on central themes such as the relationship between aesthetics and politics, alterity, worldbuilding, memory, trauma, colonialism and decolonization, ecology, gender, religion, and mythopoetics. It engages with the past, present, and future of speculative traditions in SSWANA, and compares the visions that emerge from these seemingly disparateââbut historically connectedââentities. Part of the Studies in Global Genre Fiction series, this volume will be of great interest to academics, students, and practitioners in the fields of genre studies (notably, SF, SFF), comparative literature, media and popular culture, area studies, postcolonial studies, and future studies, as well as to readers who are interested in exploring SFF works from the Global South.

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Book SynopsisThis book, first published in 1987, sets out to examine and extend our understanding of Australian popular culture, and to counter the long-established, traditional criticism bewailing its lack. The authors argue that the ''knocker''s'' view started from an elitist viewpoint, yearning for Australia to aspire to a European culture in art, music, literature and other traditional cultural fields. They argue however that there are other definitions of culture that are more populist, more comprehensive, and which represent a vitality and dynamism which is a true reflection of the lives and aspirations of Australians. Myths of Oz offers no comprehensive definition of Australian culture, but rather a way of interpreting its various aspects. The barbeque or the pub, an expedition to the shops or a day at the beach, the home, the workplace or the job queue; all these intrinsic parts of Australian life are examined and conclusions drawn as to how they shape or are shaped by what we calTable of Contents1. The Pub 1.1. Revolution at Surfers Paradise 1.2. A Home Away From Home 1.3. Dionysus Down Under 1.4. Youth, Rock 'n' Roll and the Pub 2. Homes and Gardens 2.1. Suburban Homes as Goods to Think With 2.2. Visiting a Display Home 2.3. The Ideal Home 2.4. Outdoor Living 2.5. The Old Backyard 3. The Beach 3.1. The Meanings of the Beach 3.2. Lifesavers, Surfers and Anomalous Categories 4. Out of Work 4.1. At the CES 4.2. Time on Their Hands: the Case of the Video Parlour 4.3. TV and the World of School 5. Shopping 5.1. Buying, Leisure and Work 5.2. The Pleasure of Looking 5.3. The Appeal of the New 5.4. Shopping for Class 5.5. Shifting Centres 6. Tourism 6.1. The Short Trip 6.2. Travel, Identity and the Look 6.3. Ayers Rock and the Tourist 6.4. The Ugly Australian 7. Monuments 7.1. In Praise of the Past 7.2. Art Galleries 7.3. The Sydney Opera House 8. The Australian Accent 8.1. Hawkespeak: the Politics of Accent 8.2. Flat Brown Speech: the Meaning of the Australian Accent 8.3. Cricket, Thongs and Vegemite: an Australian Cultural Accent 8.4. Work as Accent: the Myth of the Lucky Country

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Book SynopsisNow twenty years since its initial release, Richard Dyer's classic text White remains a groundbreaking and insightful study of the representation of whiteness in Western visual culture.White explores how, while racial representation is central to the organisation of the contemporary world, white people have remained a largely unexamined category in sharp contrast to the many studies of images of black and Asian peoples. Looking beyond the apparent unremarkability of whiteness, Dyer demonstrates the importance of analysing images of white people. Dyer places this representation within the contexts of Christianity, race' and colonialism. In a series of absorbing case studies, he shows the construction of whiteness in the technology of photography and film as part of a wider culture of light'; discusses heroic white masculinity in muscle-man action cinema, from Tarzan and Hercules to Conan and Rambo; analyses the stifling rolTable of ContentsContentsList of platesAcknowledgementsLooking into the light: Whiteness, racism and regimes of representationMaxime CervulleIntroduction1 The matter of whiteness2 Coloured white, not coloured3 The light of the world4 The white man’s muscles5 ‘There’s nothing I can do! Nothing!’6 White deathNotesBibliographiesIndex

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Book SynopsisA complete guide to the comics work of the writer Alan Moore, this book helps readers explore one of the genre's most important, compelling and subversive writers. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers: Moore's comics career from his early work in 2000AD to his breakthrough graphic novels and his later battles with the industry Moore's major works including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Saga of the Swamp Thing and Promethea Key themes and contexts from Moore's subversion of the superhero genre and metafictional techniques to his creative collaborations and battles with the industry for creator control Critical approaches to Moore's workThe book includes a bibliography of critical work on Moore and discussion questions for classroom use.Trade ReviewAyres' comprehensive study explores Moore in all his contradictions: a superstar who was exploited by the system; a champion of minority representation who has been criticised for his use of stereotypes; the man who made graphic novels 'grim and gritty' yet embraced gentle comedy alongside dark realism. This critical examination is perfect for those discovering Moore, but long-term fans will also find new angles and insights, encouraging them to revisit the work of this towering, complex figure. * Will Brooker, Professor of Film and Cultural Studies, Kingston University London, UK *In Alan Moore: A Critical Guide, Jackson Ayres takes on the daunting task of covering Alan Moore’s career historically, chronologically, formally, thematically and ideologically. He does so with impressive thoroughness, sensitivity and panache. Ayres reminds us of why Alan Moore is so important to the history of comics in the first place, while also productively and impressively examining recent challenges to his canonical status. This book is a great place to start for Moore fans, but also for those who are more skeptical about his work’s value and relevance. Ayres leaves very few stones unturned in the quest to grapple with Moore, his legacy, and the development of the comics medium and industry over the past 40 years. * Eric Berlatsky, Professor of English, Florida Atlantic University, USA *Table of ContentsDedication Series Editor’s Preface List of Figures Acknowledgments 1. Introduction Do We Need Moore? The Original Writer A Guide to this Guide 2. Historical and Biographical Contexts Mage of the Midlands Thatcherism The British Invasion Creator Rights 3. Key Texts, Part One Invading British Comics Origins 2000 A.D.: Short Stories, Skizz, DR and Quinch, and The Ballad of Halo Jones The Bojeffries Saga Reinventing Superheroes: Britain Marvelman/Miracleman Captain Britain V for Vendetta Reinventing Superheroes: America The Saga of the Swamp Thing Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? The Killing Joke Watchmen 4. Key Texts, Part Two Horrors of History From Hell A Small Killing Big Numbers Brought to Light Re-Imagining Superheroes 1963 Supreme Moore’s ‘90s Superheroes Cultural Commons “In Pictopia” Lost Girls The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen America’s Best Comics Tom Strong Tomorrow Stories Top 10 Promethea Histories of Horror Lovecraft Cycle: The Courtyard, Neonomicon, and Providence Crossed + 100 Cinema Purgatorio 5. Critical Questions Themes and Techniques Intertextuality Magic Psychogeography Englishness Representations Race Sexuality Sexual Violence 6. Social and Cultural Impact Authorship and Ownership The Revised Superhero Mature Readers? Politics and/of Comics Cultural Remixing Moore After Comics, Comics After Moore Glossary Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisA wide-ranging introductory guide for readers making their first steps into the world of manga, this book helps readers explore the full range of Japanese comic styles, forms and traditions from its earliest texts to the internationally popular comics of the 21st century. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers: The history of Japanese comics, from influences in early visual culture to the global Manga Boom' of the 1990s to the present Case studies of texts reflecting the range of themes, genres, forms and creators, including Osamu Tezuka, Machiko Hasegawa and Katsuhiro Otomo Key themes and contexts from gender and sexuality, to history and censorship Critical approaches to manga, including definitions, biography and reception and global publishing contextsThe book includes a bibliography of essential critical writing on manga, discussion questions for classroom use and a glossary of key critical terms.Trade ReviewAs someone who works on mostly the western tradition in comics I have long wanted to have an up to date work that provides both a historical overview of manga and deals with its social and cultural impact both in Japan and globally. Suzuki and Stewart have delivered that work. It will be both a useful reference work for comics scholars wishing to engage with manga and a useful text book for classroom teaching that wishes to encompass the global forms of comics. * Ian Gordon, National University of Singapore, Singapore *Japanese manga culture is a vast universe in terms of both its scale and diversity. To the uninitiated, the question of where and how to best enter this universe is often hard to answer. To existing fans of specific artists and works, the question is often how to break through a type of tunnel vision and place one’s own interests in some sort of larger context. And as more and more people need to teach, or want to write, about manga, the need for an updated guide becomes essential. Kudos to scholars Shige (CJ) Suzuki and Ronald Stewart for their stellar work with Manga: A Critical Guide. * Frederik L. Schodt, author of Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics (1983) *Table of ContentsSeries Editor’s Preface List of Figures Acknowledgements Notes on Japanese Names and Terms 1. Introduction 2. Historical Overview Part I: The Emergence of Manga to 1945 The Problem of Start Points and Definitions Manga’s Emergence in Modern Periodical Print Media Towards Character-Driven Narratives and a Profession Children’s Manga Growth, Media Interplay, and the Dark Valley of War Part II: 1945 to the Present From Ashes and Ruins Expanding and Diversifying Readerships Manga Goes Mainstream After the Death of “God” 3. Social and Cultural Impact Controversy and Censorship Gender and Sexuality Historical Representation Media Mix and Dojinshi Participatory Culture Cultural Status and Institutions 4. Critical Uses Bounds of Manga Formal and Visual Analysis Biographical Approaches Gender and Sexuality Studies Approaches Historical Questions and Historical Representation 5. Key Texts Appendix: Glossary List of Museums Resources Index

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Book SynopsisThe reactionary Comicsgate campaign against alleged forced diversity in superhero comics revealed the extent to which comics have become a key battleground in America's Culture Wars. In the first in-depth scholarly study of Marvel Comics' most recent engagement with progressive politics, Superhero Culture Wars explores how the drive towards greater diversity among its characters and creators has interacted with the company's commercial marketing and its traditional fan base. Along the way the book covers such topics as: Major characters such as Miles Morales's Spider-man, Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel, Jane Foster's Thor, Sam Wilson's Captain America and the Secret Empire series' turncoat Captain America Creators such as G. Willow Wilson, Jason Aaron, Nick Spencer and Michael Bendis Marketing, the Marvel Universe, and online fan culture Superhero Culture Wars demonstrates how the marketing of Marvel comics as politically progressive has both indelibly shaped its iTrade ReviewWith its starting point that superhero comics are and have always been political, Superhero Culture Wars is a welcome examination of Marvel’s moves toward diversifying its characters in the 2010s. It illuminates not only the tensions between fans and storytellers, but also the tensions inherent in a company’s neoliberal strategy of marketing its products and itself as progressive in order to increase its profits. -- Carolyn Cocca, author of Eisner Award-winning Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation (Bloomsbury 2016), SUNY College at Old Westbury, USABlatino Spidey. Muslim-American Ms. Marvel. Queer teen Hulk. For some, these and other superhero reincarnations ring the death knell to Western civilization. For others, they reflect a vitally attentive response to today’s social make-up and the spirit of our times. With dazzling scholarly dexterity, Monica Flegel and Judith Leggatt take us on the rollercoaster ride of Marvel Comics: how its socio-politically alert contemporary stories entertain, incite incendiary debate, reveal deep sociopolitical chasms, and act as agents of change. Superhero Culture Wars forcefully reminds: Comics matter! -- Frederick Luis Aldama, Eisner Award winning scholar and Distinguished University Professor, Ohio State University, USATable of ContentsIntroduction: Mockingbird and Milkshakes: Comicsgate, Identity, and the Politics of Marketing in an Age of Outrage Chapter One: From Stan’s Soapbox to Twitter: Politics and Story-Telling in the Marvel Universe Chapter Two: Diversity Done Right?: Miles Morales and Kamala Khan Chapter Three: “Captain America is Black and Thor is a Woman”: Gender- and Race-Bent Mantle Passing in Marvel’s All-New, All-Different Campaign Chapter Four: Rethinking Secret Empire: Writing and Marketing Political Comics in an Age of Rising Fascism Conclusion: Marvel Legacy and Fresh Start: Selling (and Selling Out) Progressive Politics Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisThe phenomenon of ''Cool Japan'' is one of the distinctive features of global popular culture of the millennial age. A History of Popular Culture in Japan provides the first historical and analytical overview of popular culture in Japan from its origins in the 17th century to the present day, using it to explore broader themes of conflict, power and meaning in Japanese history.E. Taylor Atkins shows how Japan was one of the earliest sites for the development of mass-produced, market-oriented cultural products consumed by urban middle and working classes. From traditional monochrome ink painting, court literature and poetry to anime, manga and J-Pop, popular culture was pivotal in the rise of Japanese nationalism, imperialism, militarism and economic development, and to the present day plays a central role in Japanese identity. With updated historiography throughout, this fully revised second edition features: - A new chapter on popular culture in the Edo period- An expanded sectTrade Review1st edition reviews: “[It] brings to the fore themes such as cultural power, political conflict, and social identity (importantly, including gender, class, and race) against the backdrop of Japan's cultural history.” * H-Japan *“The result is certainly suitable for undergraduate teaching but in many ways goes so far beyond as to repay close reading by scholars, graduate students, and the public. What Atkins achieves is a dense, multilayered history, not simply of Japanese pop but of Japan itself as seen through the lens of its highly consumable cultural products … Immensely readable, Atkins's prose is as full of humor and idiosyncratic character as his subject matter. The book's strength lies in the author's ability to capture the very vibrancy of popular culture in Japan while untangling its knotty threads (pun intended). Summing Up: Essential. All public and academic levels/libraries.” * CHOICE *“[The] book provides, as well as an excellent narrative of historical popular culture, an articular and well-elaborated theoretical structure to understand it. It would be a valuable tool to teach theory as well as history and to sharpen the knowledge and wits of students and professors alike.” * Journal of Japanese Studies *“At last, a concise volume that places Japanese popular culture-from the 17th-century origins of kabuki to Babe Ruth barnstorming Tokyo ballparks to Godzilla movies and Hello Kitty slippers-in a broader historical context. Students and instructors alike will welcome this book for its richness of detail, nuanced analysis, crisp writing, and flashes of humor.” * William M. Tsutsui, President and Professor of History, Hendrix College *“This book surveys popular culture with a close eye on the socio-political workings that have shaped Japanese art, music, film, animation and sport through the years. Though expressly written as an undergraduate textbook, the detail of the research and the inclusion of sophisticated theory means that Atkins' book can also be used as a resource for writers working on contemporary Japanese culture.” * Carolyn Stevens, Professor of Japanese Studies, Monash University, Australia *Atkins ... has crafted a gem of a revised, updated, and expanded second edition of his original volume ... an excellent volume for all readers interested in Japan and Japanese culture and for college courses on modern Japan. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1 The worst which has been thought and said? Defining popular culture 2 Floating worlds—the birth of popular culture in Japan 3 A whole new world—cultural exchanges with East Asia and Europe 4 Naughty and nice—early modern Japan’s culture wars 5 Popular culture as subject and object of Meiji modernization 6 Cultural living—cosmopolitan modernism in imperial Japan 7 Entertaining empire—popular culture as a “technology of imperialism” 8 “Our spirit against their steel”—mobilizing culture for war 9 Democracy, monstrosity, and pensive prosperity—postwar pop 10 Millennial Japan as dream factory Afterword—Contemplating cool Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisThe Pet Shop Boys came of age at a time of deep socio-political tension. From the rise of sexual politics and awareness to Thatcherite neoliberalism and the Cold War, this book explores the cultural and political impact of the band and offers a fascinating window into the late 20th and early 21st centuries. An archetypal gay band', it shows how their overt queerness influenced generations of LGBTQIA+ music lovers and artists alike.Covering the full oeuvre of the Pet Shop Boys; their albums, films, stage productions and collaborations, chapters in this collection show how their work is suffused with political commentary on the past and present covering themes as broad as queer identity, the HIV/AIDs epidemic, globalization and Brexit. It also places them within the context of their times and considers them as activists, authors, social commentators, political actors and personalities to better understand what influenced them. Bringing together a range of perspectives and discTrade ReviewThis delightful collection brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars. As the authors dive into themes like Thatcherism and queerness, they showcase both the critical role the Pet Shop Boys played in shaping the social and cultural landscape as well as the meaning(s) its music has brought to listeners. * Jovana Babovic, Associate Professor of History, SUNY Geneseo, USA *Table of ContentsList of Figures Introduction, Bodie A. Ashton, (Universität Erfurt, Germany) Part I It’s All About Change, It’s a Metamorphosis: The Personal-Political 1. Che Guevara and Debussy to a Disco Beat: Intellectualism and the Pet Shop Boys, Antares Russell Leask, (North Virginia Community College, USA) 2. The End of the West: Community and Chorus in Pet Shop Boys since ‘Go West’, Adrian Daub, (Stanford University, USA) 3. He Dreamed of Machines: Queer Heritage and the Pet Shop Boys’ Turing Test, Bodie A. Ashton, (Universität Erfurt, Germany) Part II Blaming the Colour TV: Neoliberal and Capitalist Critique 4. Buying and Selling Your History: Navigating the Ruins of Neoliberalism with Tennant and Lowe, Jonathan Dean, (University of Leeds, UK) 5. The Currency We Spent: The Pet Shop Boys and the Actualisation of Thatcherite Economics, Stephanie Polsky, (Goldsmiths University of London, UK) 6. Moscow or Manderley? Spectrality and Sovietism in the Pet Shop Boys’ Oeuvre, Carolin Isabel Steiner (University of Applied Sciences Mittweida, Germany) Part III We Came from Outer Space: Siting and Spatiality 7. “All that Swinging Sixties. It Never Did Anyone Any Good, Did It?” The Pet Shop Boys and the Scandal of the Profumo Affair, Christopher Spinks (University of East Anglia, UK) 8. Go West, Young Band, Torsten Kathke (Johannes-Guttenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany) Part IV We’re the Pet Shop Boys: Metanarrativity and Manifestations 9. It’s a Sin: Religious Imagery and Queer Identities in It Couldn’t Happen Here, Lisa-Marie Pöhland (Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany) 10. What Have I Done to Deserve This? Personal, Professional, and Political Representations in Smash Hits during the ‘Imperial Phase’ (1986-1988), Lexi Webster (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) 11. You’ve Been Around but You Don’t Look Too Rough: The Pet Shop Boys as Legacy Artists, Abby S. Waysdorf (Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands) 12. It's (Not) Obvious: Queerness and Queer Identities Pre- and Post-Bilingual, Bodie A. Ashton (Universität Erfurt, Germany) and Carolin Isabel Steiner (University of Applied Sciences Mittweida, Germany)

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Book SynopsisThe latest Amberley collectibles book, focusing on the iconic TV show The Saint and Return of the Saint.

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Book SynopsisThe nineties was the decade when British culture reclaimed its position at the artistic centre of the world. Not since the ''Swinging Sixties'' had art, comedy, fashion, film, football, literature and music interwoven into a blooming of national self-confidence. It was the decade of Lad Culture and Girl Power; of Blur vs Oasis. When fashion runways shone with British talent, Young British Artists became household names, football was ''coming home'' and British film went worldwide. From Old Labour''s defeat in 1992 through to New Labour''s historic landslide in 1997, Don''t Look Back In Anger chronicles the Cool Britannia age when the country united through a resurgence of patriotism and a celebration of all things British. But it was also an era of false promises and misplaced trust, when the weight of substance was based on the airlessness of branding, spin and the first stirrings of celebrity culture. A decade that started with hope then ended with the death of the Trade ReviewA rollicking read....a tale of hedonism and opportunism, of great hope and dashed expectations * MAIL ON SUNDAY *A grade, A list oral history...through this shifting, twisting narrative, Rachel creates a potent record * THE SUNDAY TIMES *Entertaining * OBSERVER *Rachel proves himself, again, the Studs Terkel of British pop political movements, delivering a brilliantly polyphonic pop-cultural history of Britain in the 1990s. Provoking a heady stew of memories for those who lived through it, and acting as a primer for the era for those who missed out, Don't Look In Anger conveys something of the hope, energy, optimism and egalitarianism that seemed to abound then. Things we could perhaps do with rather more of right now -- Travis Elborough, author of THE ATLAS OF IMPROBABLE PLACESEminently, moreishly readable * THE NEW STATESMAN *We guarantee, this will change the way you think about the era you lived through * DAVID HEPWORTH *The tumult, the triumph and the toilery of the 90s...a who's who of the decade, chocked full of anecdotes from all the runners and riders -- SHAUN KEAVENY * BBC 6 MUSIC *I read this book its really good if you are interested in the 1990s * ALAN MCGEE *Book of the Week * GUARDIAN *Such a good speaker - precise and thoughtful and funny - and full of great theories and stories. Daniel's got an enviable knack of being able to explain really complicated analysis very clearly. It's so original to read about the 90s that takes in all those different perspectives - politics, art, sport, media etc. - and doesn't just paint a picture of a heap of cocaine with Noel Gallagher in the middle of it -- MARK ELLEN, author of ROCK STARS STOLE MY LIFE!A fascinating step back to right before the web, smartphones and streaming changed the face of culture * STYLIST *I tore through it, savouring every high and low point of this hazy, hard-to-define epoch * EVENING STANDARD *The story of Cool Britannia: from the ecstasy fuelled euphoria of the summer of love to the moment the serotonin ran out -- TOM SUTCLIFFE * BBC RADIO 4 *I very much enjoyed reminiscing with Daniel about the 90s and the extraordinarily rich and diverse period for British culture. The political landscape was also interesting as I recall! - a great book * TONY BLAIR *An excellent book, superbly put together. I absolutely devoured it -- CHRIS WARBURTON * BBC RADIO 5 LIVE *[An] absorbing oral history of the 1990s * METRO, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2019 *

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Book SynopsisWatch LEGO bricks transform into everyday objects, turning the humdrum into a delightful surprise.

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Book SynopsisThe only lie told more often than No, that looks totally cute on you and I got AIDS through oral is It gets better. Well, a lotta times it don''t. Sometimes it just sucks less. But I promise you: where there''s a Willam, there''s a way.But this isn''t all about me (for once). It''s about you and how you can Suck Less at a variety of things drag queens are so much better at than the average person. I''ve got clap backs and life hacks and tips on classing up a simple grab-and-run lifting spree to the much more dignified act of larceny. Super-important life stuff with my own special, secret fag- swag sauce. So welcome to Willam''s School of Bitchcraft and Wiggotry. Class is in session.With a foreword from Neil Patrick Harris.

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Book SynopsisThis text comprehensively surveys and critically positions the main issues, theories and contemporary debates surrounding postfeminism.

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Book Synopsis''A wholly successful endeavour carried along by waves of infectious enthusiasm'' Mojo''Fascinating'' New StatesmanThe ''80s were about big ideas writ large - new money, new style, gender fluidity, gay pride, attritional politics, the ''special relationship'', nuclear fear, AIDS, cocaine, ecstasy, tabloid royalty, the rise of urban pop, and ultimately geopolitical chaos. Dylan Jones'' history of the decade in pop frames the ''80s through some of its most important and popular hits, choosing records which either epitomised their time, or ushered in a new cultural shift. So we move seamlessly from ''Rapper''s Delight'' and the genre defining moment of hip hop into The Specials'' spectral, ''Ghost Town''; from ABC and the apotheosis of New Pop (''The Look of Love'') to Madonna''s breakthrough moment with ''Like a Virgin'', and so on.Subjective and idiosyncratic, Shiny and New takes us from downtown New York to post-industrial Manch

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Book Synopsis'Properly analytical ... always entertaining' TIME OUT'Should tempt both those generally familiar with Andy Warhol and, even more, young people who have trouble imagining how popular art can challenge the status quo' L A TIMESPainter, filmmaker, photographer, philosopher, all-round celebrity, Andy Warhol is an outstanding cultural icon. He revolutionised art by bringing to it images from popular culture - such as the Campbell's soup can and Marilyn Monroe's face - while his studio, the Factory, where his free-spirited cast of 'superstars' mingled with the rich and famous, became the place of origin for every groundswell shaping American culture. In many ways he can be seen as the precursor to today's 'celebrity artists' such as Tracey Emin and Damian Hirst. But what of the man behind the white wig and dark glasses? Koestenbaum gives a fascinating, revealing and thought-provoking picture of pop art's greatest icon.Trade ReviewA properly analytic, and always entertaining, account of Warhol's effort to record the encounter between his awkward, shamed and failing body and the corporeal lustre for which he longed.This is as smart and serious account as you could desire * TIME OUT *Throughout, Koestenbaum's engagements with Warhol's life and art, tinged with poetic brilliance and surgical dispassion, feel very high-stakes indeed, making this book an engrossing battle of wills * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *Koestenbaum gives us a Warhol who is ineffably sad but heroic too: a man full of bravado, patience, energy and devotion to work, to making things. It's a book that should tempt both those generally familiar with Andy Warhol and, even more, young people who have trouble imagining how popular art can challenge the status quo * LA TIMES *Wayne Koestenbaum, an astute cultural critic who in the past has eloquently explored topics ranging from opera to Jacqueline Onassis, has written a brief biography, Andy Warhol, ... Instead of portraying Warhol as he has been popularly depicted for decades, as the pope of Pop, Koestenbaum sketches him as the sovereign of Swish. This is a portrait of Andy Warhol as the ''20th century's quintessential "queer" artist.' * NEW YORK TIMES *

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Book SynopsisOver the past thirty years, queer women have been coming out of the media closet to enter the mainstream consciousness. This book explores the rise of lesbian visibility since the 1990s with in-depth historical analyses of representation in sports, music, photography, comics, television and cinema. Each chapter is complemented by an interview: soccer player and coach Saskia Webber, singer-songwriter Gretchen Phillips, photographer Lola Flash, cartoonist Alison Bechdel and filmmakers Jamie Babbit and Anna Margarita Albelo discuss the societal transformations that shaped their careers. From the riot grrrl movement of the early 1990s punk scene to screen representations of queer culture (The L Word, Orange Is the New Black), this book discusses how lesbian presence successfully infiltrated several patriarchal strongholds, and was transformed in return.Trade ReviewNow You See Her is a comprehensive look at how lesbians and queer women have both influenced and been impacted by American culture. Anne Cremieux's detailed record offers a nuanced perspective and intersectional overview that's long overdue. From athletics to art to performance in music or on screen, Now You See Her accurately reflects the ways in which LBTQ+ women have experienced themselves and each other."—Trish Bendix, author and journalist, former editor-in-chief of AfterEllen.com"This ingenious and spirited exploration of modern lesbian culture from the 70s to the present links representation to culture to politics with knowledgeable ease. Cremieux has created a scholarly guidebook, alternating her analyses with interviews and reviving a powerful sense of lesbian life at a moment when it's in danger of disappearing. Now You See Her deserves to be assigned to every gender studies class... and every Girl Scout troop, too. I am grateful."—B. Ruby Rich, author and film critic, Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of the Feminist Film Movement and The New Queer Cinema: The Director's Cut"How wonderful to have this gift from Anne Crémieux, a book as generous in its scope as in its attitude. Richly informed by lucidly deployed theory and brilliantly responsive to the particularities of a wide range of media, Now You See Her is also a celebration of the exuberance, diversity, gorgeousness and importance of lesbian visibility. Anne Crémieux is not afraid to confront awkward questions or political complexity—porn, trans, butch, negative images, they're all here—but, with its inspiring interviews with a range of practitioners, this is above all a book full of joy."—Richard Dyer, professor, film scholar and gay critic, Now you see it: studies on lesbian and gay film, The Culture of Queers

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Book Synopsis This edited volume of essays analyzes how the entire practice of journalism in America has changed irrevocably due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Written by journalists and other industry professionals, essays outline an assortment of related topics, including the rapid adoption of new technology like Zoom, the state of public health reporting, diversity in journalism and more. This book also outlines major implications for the future of journalism, detailing some long-lasting changes that could impact generations to come. These shifts in journalism will have economic, social and ethical consequences long after the pandemic ends and could shift the entire paradigm for deciding what news is and how it is covered.Table of Contents Table of Contents Foreword Bill Whitaker Introduction: A Collaborative Pandemic Project Tony Silvia Part I. Reporting a Pandemic The Rapid Pace of Disruptive Change Tony Silvia Personal Perspectives from the Frontlines of News Janet K. Keeler Covering Politics During the Pandemic: A Personal Journey LaCrai D. Mitchell Investigative Reporting: Assessing Covid's Lasting Impact Mark Douglas Iusi The Future of Collegiate Journalism in the Wake of ­Covid-19 Jennifer Fleming and Teresa Puente Community Journalism: The Pandemic as a Catalyst for Change Bernardo H. Motta Part II. Gaining Understanding Coronavirus and the Bermuda Triangle of Public Health Reporting Mark Jerome Walters Social Media and the Pandemic: Myths and Misinformation Tony Silvia and Casey Frechette Part III. Charting a Course Shifting Newsroom Economics: A Lasting Impact Elliott Wiser Zooming the Pandemic: Developing New Technologies Casey Frechette Diversity: ­Covid-19, George Floyd and Lessons Learned Lillian R. Dunlap Ethical Reporting in the Pandemic and Beyond Deni Elliott and Andrea Chu Teaching Journalism During (and After) the Pandemic Tony Silvia and Janet K. Keeler Part IV. Revisiting News Practices­Post-Pandemic: A Roundtable Discussion "Journalism After the Pandemic" Roundtable Suggestions for Further Reading About the Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisContributions by Lanette Cadle, Züleyha Çetiner-Öktem, Renata Lucena Dalmaso, Andrew Eichel, Kyle Eveleth, Anna Katrina Gutierrez, Darren Harris-Fain, Krystal Howard, Christopher D. Kilgore, Kristine Larsen, Thayse Madella, Erica McCrystal, Tara Prescott, Danielle Russell, Joe Sutliff Sanders, Joseph Michael Sommers, and Justin WigardNeil Gaiman (b. 1960) reigns as one of the most critically decorated and popular authors of the last fifty years. Perhaps best known as the writer of the Harvey, Eisner, and World Fantasy-award winning series The Sandman, Gaiman quickly became equally renowned in literary circles for Neverwhere, Coraline, and award-winning American Gods, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie Medal-winning The Graveyard Book. For adults, children, comics readers, and viewers of the BBC's Doctor Who, Gaiman's writing has crossed the borders of virtually all media, making him a celebrity around the world.Despite Gaiman's incredible

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Book SynopsisJoanna Scott (b. 1960) has been one of America's leading writers since the 1990s. Both critically acclaimed and winner of numerous prestigious awards, Scott's unique and probing vision and masterful writing has inspired readers to adjust their perceptions of life and of themselves. Her fiction jolts and illuminates, frequently exposing the degree to which the perverse is natural and the ordinary is twisted and demented.Conversations with Joanna Scott presents eighteen interviews that span two decades and are as much about the process of reading as they are about writing. Witty, probing, wide-ranging, and insightful, Scott's off-the-cuff observations about literature and life are as thought-provoking as some of the most memorable lines and scenes in her fiction. Not only shedding new light on Scott's fiction, Conversations with Joanna Scott also illuminates enduring areas of inquiry, like the challenge of trying to make art out of sentences; the effort to recov

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Book SynopsisFrom the moment Captain America punched Hitler in the jaw, comic books have always been political, and whether it is Marvel''s chairman Ike Perlmutter making a campaign contribution to Donald Trump in 2016 or Marvel''s character Howard the Duck running for president during America''s bicentennial in 1976, the politics of comics have overlapped with the politics of campaigns and governance. Pop culture opens avenues for people to declare their participation in a collective project and helps them to shape their understandings of civic responsibility, leadership, communal history, and present concerns. Politics in the Gutters: American Politicians and Elections in Comic Book Media opens with an examination of campaign comic books used by the likes of Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman, follows the rise of political counterculture comix of the 1960s, and continues on to the graphic novel version of the 9/11 Report and the cottage industry of Sarah Palin comics. It ends with a considera

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Book SynopsisThe superhero Wolverine time travels and changes storylines. On Torchwood, there''s a pill popped to alter memories of the past. The narrative technique of retroactive continuity seems rife lately, given all the world-building in comics. Andrew J. Friedenthal deems retroactive continuity, or retconning, as a force with many implications for how Americans view history and culture. Friedenthal examines this phenomenon in a range of media, from its beginnings in comic books and now its widespread shift into television, film, and digital media. Retconning has reached its present form as a result of the complicated workings of superhero comics. In comic books and other narratives, retconning often seems utilized to literally rewrite some aspect of a character''s past, either to keep that character more contemporary, to erase stories from continuity that no longer fit, or to create future story potential. From comics, retconning has spread extensively, to long-form, continuity-rich

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Book SynopsisDrop the record needle on any vinyl album in your collection, then read the first pages of that novel you've been meaning to pick upthe reverberations between them will be impossible to miss. Since Dylan went electric, listening to rock 'n' roll has often been a surprisingly literary experience, and contemporary literature is curiously attuned to the history and beat of popular music. In The Ink in the Grooves, Florence Dore brings together a remarkable array of acclaimed novelists, musicians, and music writers to explore the provocatively creative relationship between musical and literary inspiration: the vitality that writers draw from a three-minute blast of guitars and the poetic insights that musicians find in literary works from Shakespeare to Southern Gothic. Together, the essays and interviews in The Ink in the Grooves provide a backstage pass to the creative processes behind some of the most exciting and influential albums and novels of our time. Contributors: Laura Cantrell, Michael Chabon, Roddy Doyle, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, William Ferris, Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, Dave Grohl, Peter Guralnick, Amy Helm, Randall Kenan, Jonathan Lethem, Greil Marcus, Rick Moody, Lorrie Moore, the John Prine band (Dave Jacques, Fats Kaplin, Pat McLaughlin, Jason Wilber), Dana Spiotta, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Richard Thompson, Scott Timberg, Daniel Wallace, Colson Whitehead, Lucinda Williams, Warren Zanes.Trade ReviewNovelists, musicians, and other cultural movers and shakers muse on the intersection of literature and rock music in this rich collection of essays. Music lovers with a literary bent will find this worth tuning in to. * Publishers Weekly *Florence Dore has created an excellent collection of old and new writing that explores the convergence of rock and literature. Readers will want to take the time to slowly savor this rich gathering. * Booklist *Florence Dore's search along the seam of rock music and fiction evinces rare moments in the lives of writers and musicians, epiphanies suggesting a shared psyche of art seeking freedom, art quaking with hungers of expression that anyone who has gone stomp-down dancing in a club where the music soars will feel into the bone. * The Daily Beast *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Needles and Pens, by Florence Dore Part 1: The Inescapable Dylan 1. Let it Rock 2. The Genius and Modern Times of Bob Dylan 3. All the Poets (Musicians on Writing): An Interview with Rhiannon Giddens 4. Chronicles: Volume One (Excerpt) Part II: Rock 'N' Roll Saved My Life: Writers on Music 5. Banjo Interlude: An Idle Teen's Life Is Saved by Music 6. Tonight We Improvise: From Sag Harbor (Excerpt) 7. Ubu Lives! Remembering Punk and Its Stories 8. By Heart: From Eat the Document (Excerpt) 9. Precious Resource (Rock and Our Generation of Novelists): An Interview with Jonathan Lethem and Dana Spiotta 10. Whack Fol the Daddy-O: How I Learned to Hate Irish Music Slightly Less Part III: Rock's Literary Identity: Musicians on Literature 11. Dear Dylan: An Interview with Lucinda Williams 12. Iambic Pentameter and the Blues: An Interview with Steve Earle 13. Sir Patrick Rocks! Dragging Ancient Ballads into the Twentieth Century, and What That Can Do to Fragile Young Minds 14. Two Blue Suedes Part IV: Don't Let Anyone Write Your Story: Musings on Rock as Literature 15. When We All Get to Heaven 16. English as a Second Language 17. Cosmic Ray: How Ray Charles's "I Got a Woman" Transformed the Music of Ray Charles, Allowed Him to Keep His Band, and Created a Musical and Social Revolution 18. Ain't It Always Stephen Stills Part V: Losses and Erasures 19. Black Cowboys and Jimi Hendrix: An Interview with Dom Flemons 20. Anatomy of a Canned Heat Hit: "Let's Work Together" by Wilbert Harrison 21. John Prine (The Reluctant Genius): An Interview with Dave Jacques, Jason Wilbur, Fats Kaplin, and Pat McLaughlin 22. The Day the Live Concert Returns 23. Unknown Band on a Forgotten Stage 24. Right on Time: An Interview with Amy Helm,

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Book SynopsisA rigorous study of the social meaning and consequences of racist humor, and a damning argument for when the joke is not just a joke. Having a "good" sense of humor generally means being able to take a joke without getting offended—laughing even at a taboo thought or at another's expense. The insinuation is that laughter eases social tension and creates solidarity in an overly politicized social world. But do the stakes change when the jokes are racist? In The Souls of White Jokes Raúl Pérez argues that we must genuinely confront this unsettling question in order to fully understand the persistence of anti-black racism and white supremacy in American society today. W.E.B. Du Bois's prescient essay "The Souls of White Folk" was one of the first to theorize whiteness as a social and political construct based on a feeling of superiority over racialized others—a kind of racial contempt. Pérez extends this theory to the study of humor, connecting theories of racial formation to parallel ideas about humor stemming from laughter at another's misfortune. Critically synthesizing scholarship on race, humor, and emotions, he uncovers a key function of humor as a tool for producing racial alienation, dehumanization, exclusion, and even violence. Pérez tracks this use of humor from blackface minstrelsy to contemporary contexts, including police culture, politics, and far-right extremists. Rather than being harmless fun, this humor plays a central role in reinforcing and mobilizing racist ideology and power under the guise of amusement. The Souls of White Jokes exposes this malicious side of humor, while also revealing a new facet of racism today. Though it can be comforting to imagine racism as coming from racial hatred and anger, the terrifying reality is that it is tied up in seemingly benign, even joyful, everyday interactions as well— and for racism to be eradicated we must face this truth.Trade Review"This book is an example of the best the sociological imagination has to offer. Pérez advances a powerful theory, elegantly substantiated with historical and contemporary examples. I learned a lot and so will everyone who reads this book."—Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, author of Racism without Racists"In providing the first sustained discussion of racist humor in the United States, Pérez contributes a significant critical intervention to intellectual discussions of racism."—Simon Weaver, author of The Rhetoric of Racist Humour"Theoretically astute and historically rich, this unique study depicts the racial joke—far from being harmless and disarming—as being inseparable from the cementing of white solidarity, from the spreading of racist commonsense, and from easy disavowal of the damage being done."—David Roediger, author of The Wages of Whiteness"It is a commonplace assumption that humor is always harmless fun and vital for our everyday well-being. In this important new book, Raúl Pérez cogently argues that this is not invariably the case, and that jokes and joking relations can be hostile, divisive, alienating and dehumanizing – or in other words, very harmful. Within a strong and well-woven theoretical framework, The Souls of White Jokes offers a major contribution to the critical sociology of ethnicity and racism as well as to the study of humor in key institutions and organizations."—Michael Pickering, author of Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain"Pérez has written the most consequential sociological analysis of humor in the past 20 years... With the current debates over who or what is racist, Pérez has provided a guide that will provoke debates that are essential in a world of comic possibilities and comic cringes."—Gary Alan Fine, Symbolic Interaction"Raúl Pérez has published a much needed addition to the critical study of how racist jokes do the dirty work of constructing racism and racially hierarchical environments."—Michael J. Lorr, Ethnic and Racial Studies"Pérez has written an essential book for both the non-academic and academic audience—one that will undoubtedly serve as an important teaching tool about racial humor and the importance of understanding how racism is reproduced, even in the absence of hatred or negative feelings."—Muna Adem, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity"I find The Souls of White Jokes an important, theoretically rich and thoroughly convincing study of the entanglements of racist humour with white supremacy. I look forward to seeing how this book will influence scholarship in the field of humour studies in years to come."—Lucy Spoliar, The European Journal of Humour Research"In The Souls of White Jokes, Raúl Pérez provides a compelling explanation of how White racist jokes represent a real-time measurement where Americans can see or hear the continued subjugation and disenfranchisement of Non-Whites in the United States."—Cameron D. Lippard, Social Forces"The Souls of White Jokes seeks to counter the concerns of those on the left who believe that targeting racist humor diverts attention from more important issues, such as poverty and diminishing democratic institutions, in the US. More important, Pérez provides a forceful argument to counter those who believe disparaging racial and ethnic humor merits protection as free speech. Recommended."—J. S. Franks, CHOICETable of Contents1. The Racial Power of Humor 2. Amused Racial Contempt, or a Theory of White Racist Humor 3. Hiding in Plain Sight: The Violent Racist Humor of the Far Right 4. Blue Humor: The Racist Insults and Injuries of the Police 5. President Chimp: The Politics of Amused Racial Contempt Epilogue: Racist Humor and the Cult(ure) of Whiteness

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Book SynopsisVirtually anyone who has ever watched a profound movie, a powerful TV show, or read a moving novel understands that entertainment can and does affect us in surprising and significant ways. But did you know that our most popular forms of entertainment can have a direct physical effect on us, a measurable impact on society, geopolitics, the economy, and even the future itself? In You Are What You Watch, Walter Hickey, Pulitzer Prize winner and former chief culture writer at acclaimed data site FiveThirtyEight.com, proves how exactly how what we watch (and read and listen to) has a far greater effect on us and the world at large than we imagine.Employing a mix of research, deep reporting, and 100 data visualizations, Hickey presents the true power of entertainment and culture. From the decrease in shark populations after Jaws to the increase in women and girls taking up archery following The Hunger Games, You Are What You Watch proves its points not just with research and argument, but hard data. Did you know, for example, that crime statistics prove that violent movies actually lead to less real-world violence? And that the international rise of anime and Manga helped lift the Japanese economy out of the doldrums in the 1980s? Or that British and American intelligence agencies actually got ideas from the James Bond movies?In You Are What You Watch, readers will be given a nerdy, and sobering, celebration of popular entertainment and its surprising power to change the world.Trade Review“Pulitzer Prize winner Hickey presents a refreshing analysis of media consumption… A worthy, fun dissection of pop culture that’s full of infographics and data.”—Library Journal, starred review"Hickey’s argument is cogent and original and couched informally, with palpable enthusiasm. He enlivens his research with witty opinions, amusing digressions, and arresting visuals... Hickey’s lighthearted approach will prove especially enticing for fellow data heads and devotees of pop culture.”—Booklist“The trivia surprises and the bounty of colorful charts and graphs offer fun insight into popular culture. This is a blast.”—– Publishers Weekly“Every page is lovingly written, reported, charted, and graphed in a way that only Walt Hickey could do.”—Nate SilverTable of Contents INTRODUCTION 1: HOW CULTURE AFFECTS OUR BODIES 2: HOW CULTURE CAPTURES US 3: HOW CULTURE RELFECTS US 4: HOW CULTURE CHANGES US 5: COMMERCE & CULTURE & COMMERCE 6: HOW CULTURE FUELS EMPIRES 7: HOW CULTURE SURVIVES 8: WHAT STORIES DO TO THEIR CREATORS INDEX SOURCES PHOTO CREDITS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Book SynopsisIn the 1970s, Northern Soul held a pivotal position in British youth culture. Originating in the English North and Midlands in the late-1960s, by the mid-1970s it was attracting thousands of enthusiasts across the country. This book is a social history of Northern Soul, examining the origins and development of this music scene, its clubs, publications and practices. Northern Soul emerged in a period when working class communities were beginning to be transformed by deindustrialisation and the rise of new political movements around the politics of race, gender and locality. Locating Northern Soul in these shifting economic and social contexts of the English North and Midlands in the 1970s, the authors argue that people kept the faith not just with music, but with a culture that was connected to wider aspects of work, home, relationships and social identities.Drawing on an expansive range of sources, including oral histories, magazines and fanzines, diaries and letters, this book offers a detailed and empathetic reading of a working class culture that was created and consumed by thousands of young people in the 1970s. The authors highlight the complex ways in which class, race and gender identities acted as forces for both unity and fragmentation on the dancefloors of iconic clubs such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, Blackpool Mecca, the Torch in Stoke-on-Trent, the Catacombs in Wolverhampton and the Casino in Wigan.Marking a significant contribution to the historiography of youth culture, this book is essential reading for those interested in popular music and everyday life in postwar Britain.Trade Review'Keeping the Faith’s chronological examination of northern soul’s first phase is extensively researched. Stephen Catterall and Keith Gildart deliver a history that presents an untold story that is indispensable for the understanding of an overlooked youth culture and influential underground music scene. Overall, it is a thought-provoking study which will no doubt influence the direction of futureresearch and provides a template for study into other neglected areas of popularmusic.'History'Catterall and Gildart successfully present a nuanced picture of the heterogeneous everyday practices and rituals of northern soul in the 1970s. They indeed deliver on the aim of writing an unapologetically empathetic history from below, and persuasively using this case study to consider how to tell a story of working-class identity which focuses on leisure and pleasure rather than the traditional area of employment. It is an expansive contribution to the ongoing work by social historians of modern Britain and members of the Subcultures Network — including the authors — to take working-class leisure and identity seriously as categories of analysis for social change.'Freya Marshall Payne, Twentieth Century British History'With this pathbreaking contribution, they have shown the significance of Northern Soul, and will hopefully inspire a new generation of historians to explore the many aspects of this and other comparable scenes and subcultures.'Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Marc Collinson -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Mods, Motown and ‘rare soul’ in northern England 2 In the days before Wigan 3 The beating heart of soul: Wigan Casino 4 Soul explosion, fragmentation and decline 5 The chosen few: the experience and practice of northernsoul 6 Locating northern soul: place, class and identity 7 Race, gender, sexuality and the politics of northern soul 8 Going back and checking it out: myth, legacy, history andnostalgia Conclusion Index

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Book SynopsisIn the late 1990s, Manchester was a city in upheaval. The devastation of the IRA bomb and the closure of the notorious Haçienda nightclub were seismic events that rocked the city’s confidence at a time when identikit bands were flooding its clubs and bars, fuelled on anthemic guitar rock and swagger. Stereotypes were everywhere, while the spirit of Manchester was silently suffocating.Mancunians: Where do we start, where do I begin? is the story of those who didn’t fit the typecast: the musicians of colour, the football fans alienated by rampant commercialism, frustrated public figures, optimistic developers and ambitious artists.Through a mixture of memoir and interviews with well-known Mancunians such as Guy Garvey, Tunde Babalola, Sylvia Tella, Badly Drawn Boy and Stan Chow, David Scott portrays the city at the turn of the century in a way never seen before.Trade Review‘Witty and wise... Mancunians is everything a book about Mancunians should be.’Daniel Harris, The Guardian‘Here is someone who is fiercely "Mancunian", with an understanding of the city’s recent past, but not bogged down by the baggage and beholden to it... Highly recommended.'Iain Key, Louder Than War‘A great read from one of Manchester’s finest wordsmiths.’Clint Boon‘An honest love letter to the city.’Christine Bottomley‘A touching and brilliant balance of the personal and the popular, from a time when there was so much change in the city.’Mr Scruff -- .Table of ContentsPreface: A view from the Low1 'Manchester was miserable' / 15 June 19962 'The city that lets down its pupils' / Youth3 'It’s the world of the drama series The Wire' / Crime4 'He’s going to have sex with that girl on stage!' / Nightlife5 'A different success for Manchester' / Music6 'Did horse semen lead to their downfall?' / Football7 'And Tony Wilson didn’t even say it!' / Media8 'Proper Manc' / Identity9 (There is no) ConclusionIndex

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Book SynopsisThe dawning of the nineteenth century brought with it a new era for entertainment. Vaudeville was the preferred form of entertainment, until the popularization of the silent film. This new medium proved to be a draw for many of the stars of the Vaudevillian stage and soon they migrated to the exciting possibilities that the movies had to offer. Audiences were instantly enthralled and captivated by the stars of the silent screen. The early days of Hollywood were full of glamour and a newfound decadence. The stars in these films were instantly catapulted to fame and fortune and the spotlight of the public eye. The real people behind the glamour were far different than the characters that audiences grew to know and love and much like Hollywood today, the lives of the stars were often full of scandal and debauchery. This book examines the forgotten scandals of yesterday, featuring silent and silver screen stars like Jean Harlow, Mae West, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Errol Flynn. Don't let the romanticized black and white world of yesterday fool you, their stories are rife with sex, drugs and murder.

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