Popular culture Books

Book SynopsisWhether you are drawn to the psychological belief in Aliens, the history of our interest in life on other planets, or the scientific possibility of Alien existence, Alien Universe is sure to hold you spellbound.Trade ReviewRather than dismiss Alien life out of hand, he presents the historical and social reasons for the growth of our fascination with the possibility. After covering popular ideas, Lincoln then delves into what is scientifically possible, explaining the concepts beautifully and in layman's terms... This is a clear and clear-sighted look at Aliens by a man who would be delighted if one day they appeared. Publishers Weekly I immediately warmed to this book. It's not only written in terms the average lay person can understand but it follows a well structured theme that has a start, middle, and an end. I like that because it maintains order in a subject that deals mainly with a mix of confusing ideologies, fact and scientifically based interpretations. David Reneke's World of Space and Astronomy By combining the latest research with historical perception, Alien Universe successfully creates an outstanding inquiry highly recommended for any science-based collection looking for a blend of historical references and modern-day probes. Midwest Book Review The book is a level-headed fusion of pop culture and the latest scientific advances in the field of astrobiology, discussing the requirements for life on Earth. BBC Focus This book comes close to being the definitive guide to where we are in the search for extraterrestrials. CosmosTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPROLOGUE1. BEGINNINGS2. ENCOUNTERS3. FICTIONS4. BLOCKBUSTERSInterlude5. LIFE-FORMS6. ELEMENTS7. NEIGHBORSEPILOGUESuggested ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisA unique exploration of how mental illness is portrayed in classic and contemporary films. The study of classic and contemporary films can provide a powerful avenue to understand the experience of mental illness. In Madness at the Movies, James Charney, MD, a practicing psychiatrist and long-time cinephile, examines films that delve deeply into characters' inner worlds, and he analyzes moments that help define their particular mental illness. Based on the highly popular course that Charney taught at Yale University and the American University of Rome, Madness at the Movies introduces readers to films that may be new to them and encourages them to view these films in an entirely new way. Through films such as Psycho, Taxi Driver, Through a Glass Darkly, Night of the Hunter, A Woman Under the Influence, Ordinary People, and As Good As It Gets, Charney covers an array of disorders, including psychosis, paranoia, psychopathy, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, a

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Book SynopsisOffers both a production history and a close analysis, with a chapter for each of the film''s eleven shots.The first book-length study in English of Alfred Hitchcock''s Rope (1948), Perpetual Movement offers both a production history that draws extensively upon little-known archival materials, including set drawings and drafts of the screenplay, and a close examination of the film in which Neil Badmington analyzes each of Rope''s eleven shots. Writing in an accessible and engaging style, Badmington explores the film''s treatment of space, sound, editing, sexuality, source material, design, intertexuality, narrative, and music. He looks at Hitchcock''s struggle with censorship while planning, shooting, and distributing the film. Perpetual Movement also addresses Rope''s reception and legacy, explaining why the film''s unusual qualities provide such lasting appeal for viewers.

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Book SynopsisA detailed history of the rise, fall and rise again of Progressive Rock, from its beginnings in the 60s to the vibrant contemporary scene in the new millennium. Completely Revised and updated for 2013Trade Review"An excellent read" * PROG MAGAZINE *"Heartily recommended" * FIREWORKS MAGAZINE *"A fascinating work" * ROCK SOCIETY *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking manifesto from journalist Gretchen Carlson about how women can protect themselves from sexual harassment in the workplace and reclaim their power against abuse or injustice.In BE FIERCE, Gretchen shares her own experiences, as well as powerful and moving stories from women in many different careers and fields who decided they too weren''t ready to shut up and sit down. Gretchen became a voice for the voiceless.In this revealing and timely book, Gretchen shares her views on what women can do to empower and protect themselves in the workplace or on a college campus, what to say when someone makes suggestive remarks, how an employer''s Human Resources department may not always be your friend, and how forced arbitration clauses in work contracts often serve to protect companies rather than employees. Her groundbreaking message encourages women to stand up and speak up in every aspect of their lives. Gretchen also discusses w

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Book SynopsisWinner, 2021 NACCS Book Award, given by the National Association for Chicano and Chicana StudiesExplores the how, why, and what of contemporary Chicanx culture, including punk rock, literary fiction, photography, mass graves, and digital and experimental installation artRacial Immanence attempts to unravel a Gordian knot at the center of the study of race and discourse: it seeks to loosen the constraints that the politics of racial representation put on interpretive methods and on our understanding of race itself. Marissa K. López argues that reading Chicanx literary and cultural texts primarily for the ways they represent Chicanxness only reinscribes the very racial logic that such texts ostensibly set out to undo. Racial Immanence proposes to read differently; instead of focusing on representation, it asks what Chicanx texts do, what they produce in the world, and specifically how they produce access to the ineffable but material experience of race. Intrigued by the attention to diTrade Review"López staunchly debunks the idea that Chicanx identity can be thoroughly known or interpreted. Rather, she demonstrates why literature for and by people of color matters: they eschew the neoliberal argument for multicultural representation, instead questioning structural violence, shared precarity, and human imbrication within the more-than-human world. This is a bold, refreshing book that demonstrates the urgency and importance of Chicanx literature while simultaneously challenging the reasons why we read it." -- Julie A. Minich, author of Accessible Citizenships: Disability, Nation, and the Cultural Politics of Greater Mexico "Racial Immanence sets out to tackle a seemingly intractable problem for the study of race and literature: the constraints that racial representation puts on both interpretive methods and our understanding of race itself . In expanding our horizon of Chicanx cultural production beyond literary works to such objects as the Aztec “sun stone,” contemporary art photography, and Latinx punk music , López proposes a new way to read this body of work, asking what Chicanx texts do, what they produce in the world, and how they access the ineffable yet material experience of race. An urgent and necessary book." -- John Alba Cutler, author of Ends of Assimilation: The Formation of Chicano Literature"López advocates for reconsidering space and time through reading and writing in order to reimagine the social and to create a place of radical hope." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisA compelling explanation of the American public's acceptance of LGBT freedoms through the lens of pop cultureHow did gay people go from being characterized as dangerous perverts to military heroes and respectable parents? How did the interests of the LGBT movement and the state converge to transform mainstream political and legal norms in these areas?Using civil rights narratives, pop culture, and critical theory, LGBT Inclusion in American Life tells the story of how exclusion was transformed into inclusion in US politics and society, as pop culture changed mainstream Americans thinking about non-gay issues, namely privacy, sex and gender norms, and family. Susan Burgess explores films such as Casablanca, various James Bond movies, and Julie and Julia, and television shows such as thirtysomething and The Americans, as well as the Broadway sensation Hamilton, as sources of growing popular support for LGBT rights. By drawinTrade Review"A fascinating and path-breaking account of how pop culture reflected and produced the dramatic sea-change in American attitudes and policy towards LBGTQ+ persons. A rare combination of sophisticated theory and page-turning writing. A book you can assign in class and take to the beach." * Mark A. Graber, author of A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism *"This dazzling volume explains the recent trajectory of LGBT inclusion in American law, politics, and institutions through pop culture. By ‘queering political time,’ Susan Burgess builds a satisfying, nuanced explanation for the successes and failures of LGBT politics. Her work helps us to acknowledge fully the current dangerous resistance to LGBT rights and inclusion, but ultimately issues a compelling—and kind—invitation to imagine and build a just, inclusive, and democratic future. The hopeful book we need now!" * Julie Novkov, author of Racial Union: Law, Intimacy, and the White State in Alabama, 1865-1954 *"Burgess brilliantly integrates analysis of popular cultural narratives with traditional theories of progressive social change to explain how LGBT rights and liberties came to be accepted in mainstream politics. The book offers creative, often surprising, and always edifying interpretations of movies, television series, musicals, and other manifestations of pop culture to develop her argument. All in all, Burgess once again demonstrates that she is one of the most astute and provocative contemporary analysts of American political culture. Highly recommended!" * Michael McCann, co-author of Union by Law: Filipino American Labor Activists, Rights Radicalism, and Racial Capitalism *"The exchange of influence between pop culture and American politics flows in both directions, and sometimes becomes knotted in complex ways.... The book is a kind of gauntlet thrown down before the author’s colleagues, challenging them to think outside the ballot box." -- Scott McLemee * Inside Higher Ed *"Although Burgess uses ‘pop culture to better understand political transformation’ (p.21), she accomplishes much more. She brings insights from queer theory and critical race studies—notions of nonlinear time and of pop culture as both sources of challenge and tools of status quo reinforcement—to bear on key concepts of American political development, including political time and cyclical patterns of political change." * Perspectives on Politics *

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Book SynopsisA compelling explanation of the American public's acceptance of LGBT freedoms through the lens of pop cultureHow did gay people go from being characterized as dangerous perverts to military heroes and respectable parents? How did the interests of the LGBT movement and the state converge to transform mainstream political and legal norms in these areas?Using civil rights narratives, pop culture, and critical theory, LGBT Inclusion in American Life tells the story of how exclusion was transformed into inclusion in US politics and society, as pop culture changed mainstream Americans thinking about non-gay issues, namely privacy, sex and gender norms, and family. Susan Burgess explores films such as Casablanca, various James Bond movies, and Julie and Julia, and television shows such as thirtysomething and The Americans, as well as the Broadway sensation Hamilton, as sources of growing popular support for LGBT rights. By drawinTrade Review"A fascinating and path-breaking account of how pop culture reflected and produced the dramatic sea-change in American attitudes and policy towards LBGTQ+ persons. A rare combination of sophisticated theory and page-turning writing. A book you can assign in class and take to the beach." * Mark A. Graber, author of A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism *"This dazzling volume explains the recent trajectory of LGBT inclusion in American law, politics, and institutions through pop culture. By ‘queering political time,’ Susan Burgess builds a satisfying, nuanced explanation for the successes and failures of LGBT politics. Her work helps us to acknowledge fully the current dangerous resistance to LGBT rights and inclusion, but ultimately issues a compelling—and kind—invitation to imagine and build a just, inclusive, and democratic future. The hopeful book we need now!" * Julie Novkov, author of Racial Union: Law, Intimacy, and the White State in Alabama, 1865-1954 *"Burgess brilliantly integrates analysis of popular cultural narratives with traditional theories of progressive social change to explain how LGBT rights and liberties came to be accepted in mainstream politics. The book offers creative, often surprising, and always edifying interpretations of movies, television series, musicals, and other manifestations of pop culture to develop her argument. All in all, Burgess once again demonstrates that she is one of the most astute and provocative contemporary analysts of American political culture. Highly recommended!" * Michael McCann, co-author of Union by Law: Filipino American Labor Activists, Rights Radicalism, and Racial Capitalism *"The exchange of influence between pop culture and American politics flows in both directions, and sometimes becomes knotted in complex ways.... The book is a kind of gauntlet thrown down before the author’s colleagues, challenging them to think outside the ballot box." -- Scott McLemee * Inside Higher Ed *"Although Burgess uses ‘pop culture to better understand political transformation’ (p.21), she accomplishes much more. She brings insights from queer theory and critical race studies—notions of nonlinear time and of pop culture as both sources of challenge and tools of status quo reinforcement—to bear on key concepts of American political development, including political time and cyclical patterns of political change." * Perspectives on Politics *

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Book SynopsisA revealing look at the pleasure we get from hating figures like politicians, celebrities, and TV characters, showcased in approaches that explore snark, hate-watching, and trolling The work of a fan takes many forms: following a favorite celebrity on Instagram, writing steamy fan fiction fantasies, attending meet-and-greets, and creating fan art as homages to adored characters. While fandom that manifests as feelings of like and love are commonly understood, examined less frequently are the equally intense, but opposite feelings of dislike and hatred. Disinterest. Disgust. Hate. This is anti-fandom. It is visible in many of the same spaces where you see fandom: in the long lines at ComicCon, in our politics, and in numerous online forums like Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and the ever dreaded comments section. This is where fans and fandoms debate and discipline. This is where we love to hate. Anti-Fandom,a collection of 15 original and innovative essays, provides a fTrade ReviewTogether, the chapters in Anti-Fandom provide much of the groundwork needed to provide a framework for anti-fan theory, and anyone looking to jump into this emerging area of study will find this book both interesting and useful. * CBQ *

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Book SynopsisThe sacred ethos of the American Dream has become a central pillar of American civil religion. The belief that meaning is fashioned from some mixture of family, friends, a stable career, and financial security permeates American culture. Profane Parables examines three films that assault this venerated American myth.Trade ReviewRindge writes with both academic rigor and an approachable tone, which makes the text accessible for audiences in both academic circles and broader spheres, such as those interested in American civil religion, the particular filmmakers Rindge cites, or the biblical genre of parables. -- Joel Mayward -- Journal of Religion and FilmRindge's Profane Parables is an excellent work. It will appeal greatly to scholars of American Studies, film, religion, and popular culture. -- Margaret Weber -- Journal of Popular CultureA wonderful piece of work -- ChoiceAs a whole, Profane Parables is a refined work that offers both a thought provoking and an easy read and I would recommend it to anyone thinking of exploring film from the perspective of biblical studies or interested in film, myths and morals. -- Sofia Sjö -- Journal of Religion, Media, and Digital CutureTable of Contents Introduction 1. The American Dream: The Sacred Ethos of American Religion 2. Fight Club: Lamenting God's Abandonment and the American Dream 3. American Beauty: Death as Divine Beauty 4. About Schmidt: An American Rich Fool 5. Films as Parables of Disorientation Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAfter Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding region in 2005, the city debated whether to press on with Mardi Gras or cancel the parades. Ultimately, they decided to proceed. New Orleans's recovery certainly has resulted from a complex of factors, but the city's unique cultural life--perhaps its greatest capital--has been instrumental in bringing the city back from the brink of extinction.Voicing a civic fervor, local writer Chris Rose spoke for the importance of Carnival when he argued to carry on with the celebration of Mardi Gras following Katrina: 'We are still New Orleans. We are the soul of America. We embody the triumph of the human spirit. Hell, we ARE Mardi Gras.'Since 2006, a number of new Mardi Gras practices have gained prominence. The new parade organizations or krewes, as they are called, interpret and revise the city's Carnival traditions but bring innovative practices to Mardi Gras. The history of each parade reveals the

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Book SynopsisContributions by Jerold J. Abrams, José Alaniz, John Carey, Maurice Charney, Peter Coogan, Joe Cruz, Phillip Lamarr Cunningham, Stefan Danter, Adam Davidson-Harden, Randy Duncan, Stephen Graham Jones, Richard Hall, Richard Heldenfels, Alberto Hermida, Víctor Hernández-Santaolalla, A. G. Holdier, Tiffany Hong, Siegfried Kracauer, Naja Later, Ryan Litsey, Tara Lomax, Tony Magistrale, Matthew McEniry, Cait Mongrain, Grant Morrison, Robert Moses Peaslee, David D. Perlmutter, W. D. Phillips, Jared Poon, Duncan Prettyman, Vladimir Propp, Noriko T. Reider, Robin S. Rosenberg, Hannah Ryan, Lennart Soberon, J. Richard Stevens, Lars Stoltzfus-Brown, John N. Thompson, Dan Vena, and Robert G. WeinerThe Supervillain Reader, featuring both reprinted and original essays, reveals why we are so fascinated with the villain. The obsession with the villain is not a new phenomenon, and, in fact, one finds villains who are 'super' going as far back as ancient religious and myt

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Book SynopsisPop City examines the use of Korean television dramas and K-pop music to promote urban and rural places in South Korea. Building on the phenomenon of Korean pop culture, Youjeong Oh argues that pop culturefeatured place selling mediates two separate domains: political decentralization and the globalization of Korean popular culture.By analyzing the process of culture-featured place marketing, Pop City shows that urban spaces are produced and sold just like TV dramas and pop idols by promoting spectacular images rather than substantial physical and cultural qualities. Oh demonstrates how the speculative, image-based, and consumer-exploitive nature of popular culture shapes the commodification of urban space and ultimately argues that pop culturemediated place promotion entails the domination of urban space by capital in more sophisticated and fetishized ways.Trade ReviewPop City is a uniquely valuable text for celebrity and fan studies researchers... it distinguishes itself from mainstream scholarship on K-pop and the Korean Wave... Oh paints a compelling picture of the uneasy yet instrumental relationship of Korean popular culture to the municipalities—large and small—that gamble resources and political capital. * Cultural Sociology *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction PART I. THE SPECULATIVE PRODUCTION OF DRAMAS AND DRAMA SITES 1. Speculative Producers: The Production of Korean Drama 2. Spectacular Places: Drama-Filming Sites PART II. THE AFFECTIVE CONSUMPTION OF K-POP IDOLS AND PLACES 3. Image Producers: The (Re)Production of K-Pop Idols 4. K-Star Road: Making Gangnam into a K-Pop–Filled Place 5. Cosme Road: K-Beauty and the Globalization of Myeong-dong Conclusion Notes Reference List Index

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Book SynopsisA major work destined to change how scholars and students look at television and animation With the release of author Thomas Lamarre’s field-defining study The Anime Machine, critics established Lamarre as a leading voice in the field of Japanese animation. He now returns with The Anime Ecology, broadening his insights to give a complete account of anime’s relationship to television while placing it within important historical and global frameworks. Lamarre takes advantage of the overlaps between television, anime, and new media—from console games and video to iOS games and streaming—to show how animation helps us think through television in the contemporary moment. He offers remarkable close readings of individual anime while demonstrating how infrastructures and platforms have transformed anime into emergent media (such as social media and transmedia) and launched it worldwide. Thoughtful, thorough illustrations plus exhaustive research and an impressive scope make The Anime Ecology at once an essential reference book, a valuable resource for scholars, and a foundational textbook for students.Trade Review"The Anime Ecology is a path-breaking work of media philosophy whose influence will be felt for many years to come. In this wildly innovative book, Thomas Lamarre presents an enlarged concept of animation that entails a major theoretical revision of our understanding of the complexly interrelated genealogies of television, animation, and interactive gaming with respect to their media platforms, technologies, infrastructures, screen forms, and affective relations. What Lamarre describes as the ‘anime ecology’ is nothing less than the emergence of a new and distinctive mode of techno-sociality."—D. N. Rodowick, University of Chicago"By tracking the evolving modes of television animation across cultures as well as in modern Japan, Thomas Lamarre offers a painstaking account of the infrastructure complexes that constitute affective experiences in the age of non-discrete multimedia objects. Written with both a media specialist’s technical precision and a maverick theorist’s archival resourcefulness, this book compels us to rethink our relations with the electronic screens that cohabit intimately with us, body and soul. A brilliant work."—Rey Chow, author of Entanglements, or Transmedial Thinking about Capture"Infrastructures have a tendency to slide into the background, and after seven decades of television, it is hard to make it new and strange again. In his long-awaited book, Thomas Lamarre turns everything we think we knew about television upside down. Animation, not liveness, is the key to its ontology. Japan, not the USA, is the place to see its most radical development. Signals are not simply the raw materials of electrical engineering but the symptoms of our vulnerable existence in the world. Television turns out to be a strange and wonderful habitat, a meeting place of many species. In seeing media platforms as wormholes into alternate universes, The Anime Ecology fulfills the prime directive of media theory: to show that channels are not simply pipes but are worthy of existential dread, respect, and reverence. Steeped in both Japanese television and continental theory, this book is a kind of Japanese-French fusion, a delicious feast of insight. To write this book you would need to be a world-class media theorist, a long-time connoisseur of Japanese culture, and even a former marine biologist, and the one person on earth who is all of those things has brought the rest of us this gift."—John Durham Peters, author of The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a Philosophy of Elemental MediaTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction: Television Animation and Infrastructure EcologyPart I. The Screen–Brain Apparatus1. Population Seizure2. Neurosciences and Television3. This Stuff Called Blink4. A Thousand Tiny BlackoutsPart II. A Little Social Media History of Television5. Media Genealogy and Transmedia Ecology6. A Little History of Japanese Television7. Television and New Media8. Sociality or Something Like It9. Platformativity and OntopowerPart III. Infrastructure Complexes10. The Family Broadcast Complex11. The Home Theater Complex12. The Game Play Complex13. The Portable Interface ComplexConclusion: Signaletic AnimismNotesBibliography

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Book SynopsisCan social theories forge new paths into an uncertain future? The future has become increasingly difficult to imagine. We might be able to predict a few events, but imagining how looming disasters will coincide is simultaneously necessary and impossible. Drawing on speculative fiction and social theory, Theory for the World to Come is the beginning of a conversation about theories that move beyond nihilistic conceptions of the capitalism-caused Anthropocene and toward generative bodies of thought that provoke creative ways of thinking about the world ahead. Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer draws on such authors as Kim Stanley Robinson and Octavia Butler, and engages with afrofuturism, indigenous speculative fiction, and films from the 1970s and ’80s to help think differently about the future and its possibilities.Forerunners: Ideas First Short books of thought-in-process scholarship, where intense analysis, questioning, and speculation take the lead

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Book SynopsisAn ode to the joy of making waves.Ah, salty breezes, beach hair, the feeling of bare feet (or fins) in warm sand. And dreams of that mer-mazing world under the sea. An ode to the joys of making waves, this sweet celebration is filled with mermaids, merman, purrmaids, and other underwater lovelies- complete with quotes, folklore, and mantras.Let the currents guide your soul. Never allow anyone to burst your bubble. And know that life offers its treasures to those who seek magic.Stay wild, ocean child.

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Book SynopsisJohn Cassaday’s gorgeously dynamic compositions are known the world over, both in and out of the comic book market. Now, for the first time ever, all of his incredible work for Dynamite Enter- tainment has been collected into a single work, The Dynamite Art Of John Cassaday. This volume includes colored covers, sketches, inks...some seen before, others appearing in print for the first time! Don’t miss this chance to see Cassaday’s amazing interpretations of James Bond, Red Sonja, Green Hor- net, Sherlock Holmes, Zorro, The Lone Ranger and many, many more!

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Book SynopsisBritish science fiction television of the 1970s and 1980s is full of Machiavellian protagonists and fatalistic endings. It presents a complex world of moral and ethical dilemmas, appropriate to the emerging political landscape of Thatcherite Britain. This book analyses the science fiction series of the period – including Blake’s 7, Doctor Who and Sapphire & Steel – alongside Britain’s transition from social-democracy to neoliberal economics and the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. It examines the abrupt shifts in themes and tone that these series often exhibit compared to their predecessors, highlighting comparisons to the similarly abrupt change in Britain’s political landscape.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 British science fiction television in the consensus era: authority and paternalism2 ‘Wealth is the only reality’: Blake’s 7 and Thatcherism3 Sapphire & Steel: the illusion of independence4 Rewriting the Doctor: Doctor Who in the late-Thatcher era5 ‘A precarious existence’: science fiction television adaptations of the 1980s6 ‘It won’t be easy’: original science fiction series of the 1980sConclusionIndex

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Book SynopsisThe first book to explore the history of the It girl across the centuries. Nell Gwyn and Clara Bow, Marilyn Monroe and Edie Sedgwick, Jean Seberg and Margaux Hemingway, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian: These names all conjure up images of glamor and celebrity, as well as the toxic side of fame. They are the faces of their generationthe ones we can't look away from, and the ones who inevitably self-destruct.In The It Girls: Glamor, Celebrity, and Scandal, Caroline Young delves into the history and lives of these explosive, trend-setting women. From seventeenth-century London to twenty-first century Seoul, Young tells the fascinating, oftentimes tragic, stories of the women who have been celebrated for their looks and scandalized for their actions in equal measure. She explores how the It girls defined and set new standards of beautyincluding the red-haired muses of the Pre-Raphaelite artists, the World War II pin-up, the crop-haired icons of the sixties, and the cosmetically-enhanced social media darlings of todayand how, no matter the era, the treatment of these It girls is universal. While they are lauded and emulated, they are also scrutinized and criticized. The stories of the It girls are laced with childhood trauma, misogyny, gaslighting, and exploitation, revealing that fame and adoration don't always equate to happiness. The It Girls is a captivating examination of women's history, offering a reevaluation of how women have been celebrated and objectified over the centuries.

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Book Synopsis“Ghost of the Hardy Boys is an elegant book, full of charm and pathos and whimsy. The writing is restrained, the characterizations deep and rich, the humor nuanced.”—Washington Post As millions of boys and girls devoured the early adventures of the Hardy Boys, little did the young readers and aspiring sleuths know: the series’ author was not Franklin W. Dixon, as the cover trumpeted. It was Leslie McFarlane, a nearly penniless scribbler, who hammered out the first adventures while living in a remote cabin without electricity or running water in Northern Ontario. McFarlane was among the first bestselling ghostwriters and this, at last, is his story—as much fun as the stories he wrote.In 1926, 23-year-old cub newspaper reporter Leslie McFarlane responded to an ad: “Experienced Fiction Writer Wanted to Work from Publisher’s Outlines.” The ad was signed by Edward Stratemeyer, whose syndicate effectively invented mass-market children’s book publishing in America. McFarlane, who had a few published adventure stories to his name, was hired and his first job was to write Dave Fearless Under the Ocean as Roy Rockwood—for a flat fee of $100, no royalties. His pay increased to $125 when Stratemeyer proposed a new series of detective stories for kids involving two high school aged brothers who would solve mysteries. The title of the series was The Hardy Boys. McFarlane’s pseudonym would be Franklin W. Dixon. McFarlane went on to write twenty-one Hardy Boys adventures. From The Tower Treasure in 1927 to The Phantom Freighter in 1947, into full-fledged classics filled with perilous scrapes, loyal chums, and breakneck races to solve the mystery. McFarlane kept his ghostwriting gig secret until late in life when his son urged him to share the story of being the real Franklin W. Dixon. By the time McFarlane died in 1977, unofficial sales estimates of The Hardy Boys series already topped 50 million copies. Ghost of the Hardy Boys is a fascinating, funny, and always charming look back at a vanished era of journalism, writing, and book publishing. It is for anyone who loves a great story and who’s curious about solving the mystery of the fascinating man behind one of the most widely read and enduring children’s book series in history.Trade Review“Ghost of the Hardy Boys is an elegant book, full of charm and pathos and whimsy. The writing is restrained, the characterizations deep and rich, the humor nuanced.”—Washington Post “Written with the same fluid, energetic, and humorous style that brought life to the sleuthing Hardy siblings, this is an enjoyable memoir from a writer who loved his job.”—Library Journal “A must read by all fans of the Hardy Boys and even other Stratemeyer Syndicate series.”—The Hardy Boys Wiki “Leslie McFarlane has written more fiction than most authors on the North American Continent—lord knows how many millions of words. In this book, is not only a ghostwriter of the immortal Hardy Boys who speaks to us: it is a sensitive man who delights in recollection. McFarlane’s memoirs have a special romance, lyrical and profound.”—MacKinlay Kantor, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Andersonville

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Book SynopsisIn an age where most everything is mass-produced and technology has become the filter through which we experience much of life, there is a growing appreciation of the handmade.

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Book SynopsisProviding ways to engage students through their popular culture interests, this collection brings together several essays, across disciplines, to show how fan practices such as writing fan fiction, creating vids, communicating via Tumblr, and participating in film tourism can invite students to invest more of themselves into their education. Both scholarship and fandom encourage passionate engagement with texts—rather than passive consumption in isolation— and editor Katherine Anderson Howell and her contributors find that when students are encouraged to partake in a remix classroom that encourages their fan interests, they participate more in their education, are more critical of experts and authorities, and actively shape the discourse themselves. Creating this remix classroom requires thoughtfulness on the instructor’s part, and so the chapters in this volume come from teachers who have carefully constructed such courses, including several invaluable appendices that provide examples of methodologies, course assignments, teaching practices, and classroom setup. Each chapter also includes student responses that offer a sense of what students gained from each course. The result is an exciting and entertaining new way to motivate students and teachers alike, and it is sure to be a popular reference guide for instructors teaching classes from high school to graduate levels.

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Book SynopsisThis book is about ardent Korean female fans of gay representation in the media, their status in contemporary Korean society, their relationship with other groups such as the gay population, and, above all, their contribution to reshaping the Korean media's portrayal of gay people. Jungmin Kwon names the Korean female fandom for gay portrayals as “FANtasy” subculture, and argues that it adds to the present visibility of the gay body in Korean mainstream media, thus helping to change the public's perspective toward sexually marginalized groups.The FANtasy subculture started forming around text-based media, such as yaoi, fan fiction, and U.S. gay-themed dramas (like Will & Grace), and has been influenced by diverse social, political, and economic conditions, such as the democratization of Korea, an open policy toward foreign media products, the diffusion of consumerism, government investment in the culture, the Hollywoodization of the film industry, and the popularity of Korean culture abroad. While much scholarly attention has been paid to female fandom for homoerotic cultural texts in many countries, this book seeks to explore a relatively neglected aspect of the subculture: its location in and influence on Korean society at large.

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Book SynopsisWhen a K-pop boy band shows up to “save Christmas,” it’s the last straw!Santa Claus may be getting older, achier, more forgetful over the years, but he is determined to prove to the world he can still do his job without anyone’s help.“On Dasher, on Dancer, on Cupid, on Comet, I must show the world that Santa’s still got it!”Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Maher and New Yorker cartoonist Joe Dator have given the timeless tale of saving Christmas a clever twist when Santa decides to save the day himself this year. What follows is a laugh-out-loud adventure about refusing help.Will old Saint Nick discover the true meaning of Christmas? Or will he ruin everyone’s holiday because he’s too stubborn to admit when he’s wrong?Trade Review“A Santa story for all ages, with plenty of rhyme and comedy for those who just can’t get enough of Christmas.” —School Library Journal“Heaps of holiday fun!” —Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series“Santa may need help, but this book delivers warmth and laughs all on its own.” —Michael Rex, creator of Goodnight Goon“The best Christmas stories understand that seasonal joy comes at a price, and who pays more than the holiday’s very own mascot? With Santa Doesn’t Need Your Help, Kevin Maher and Joe Dator tap into a fresh but all-too-identifiable side of our favorite deliveryman: deep, reluctant, necessary self-awareness. It’s a cheeky, charming tale about confronting our own limitations set to a deliciously playful rhythm that fits perfectly on your December bookshelf.” —Emily Intravia, host of The Feminine Critique podcast“Santa Doesn’t Need Your Help is an instant holiday cult classic for every pop culture fan in your life. Equal parts hilarious and adorable, this book is a journey through the possible behind-the-scenes mishaps that Santa encounters on his hardest day of work each year. It’s a modern reimagining of several classics all rolled into one lovely book. The magic of Christmas is alive and well in this tale which shows that we can all use a little help from our friends.” —Ali Cotterill, filmmaker, North Pole, NY“A fun, funny read for all ages, this book is the perfect soothing tonic for a stressful holiday season.” —Jennie Egerdie, author of Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best“The brilliance of Santa Doesn't Need Your Help is how Maher and Dator breathe humanity and humor into the well-worn Santa Claus icon using fun pop tropes, clever rhymes, and beautiful illustrations. Be sure to include it into your holiday season bedtime reading rotation!” —Dan Yaccarino, author and illustrator of The Longest Storm“God, getting old is hard! Santa Doesn’t Need Your Help is the perfect holiday (or anytime) book for the Sandwich Generation. It is a tender and hilarious reminder that asking for help can be hard, especially for those who were once the helpers. This year, leave cookies and empathy under the tree for Santa and all those who are realizing that ‘It's ok to get old, it’s ok to get help.’” —Biz Ellis, host of One Bad Mother podcast “Listen, we all know Santa ain’t what he used to be. But then again, neither are any of us, right? He’s a bit of a disaster, but he’s still our Santa. This book made me laugh. Buy it. You’ll love it.” —Mike Sacks, Passing on the Right and Stinker Lets Loose!“Forty years. I’ve been portraying Santa Claus for forty years, and in all that time, no one story has resonated with me more than Santa Doesn’t Need Your Help. Though I laughed out loud while reading it, I found I was teary by the end by how poignant and honest it was. Move over ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. I’ve got a new classic to recite.” —Glen Heroy, Professional Santa Claus

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Book SynopsisMartine Delvaux produces a provocative analysis of the many gendered assumptions that underlie modern culture. She draws on the works of Barthes, Foucault, de Beauvoir, Woolf, and more to argue that serial girls are not just the ubiquitous symbols of patriarchal domination but also offer the possibility of liberation.

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Book SynopsisFor David Cameron and 'Big Society' Tories, folk culture means organic food, nu-folk pop music, and pastoral myths of Englishness. Meanwhile, postmodern liberal culture teaches us that talking about a singular 'folk' is reductive at best, neo-fascist at worst. But what is being held in check by this consensus against the possibility of a unified, oppositional, populist identity taking root in modern Britain? Folk Opposition explores a renewed contemporary divide between rulers and ruled, between a powerful elite and a disempowered populace. Using a series of examples, from folk music to football supporters' trusts, from Raoul Moat to Ridley Scott, it argues that anti-establishment populism remains a powerful force in British culture, asserting that the left must recapture this cultural territory from the far right and begin to rebuild democratic representation from the bottom up.Trade ReviewThere is a better future and Alex Niven draws inspiration from the past to show us how to get there. David Cameron's wrong, we're not all in this together. But most of us could be. (Kevin Maguire, New Statesman / Daily Mirror) (A fascinating and knowledgeable writer who accurately dissects the cultural tensions and uncertainties that define his generation and mine. (Robin Carmody, Sea Songs)

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Book SynopsisFirst paperback edition of the acclaimed Hardback.Trade Review`The blackest of black humour... the best of humanity.' `Pellucid prose.' Dominic Lawson, Daily Mail; `A razor-sharp expose of our broken society... Both funny and a badly needed corrective to conventional wisdom... hugely readable ... gripping real-life stories... tells a deep truth about the sort of society we have become. A future historian, a century hence, will learn more about 21st Century Britain from this book than from any official document. So will you. Please read it.' Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday; `Nobody has observed the... fallacies of modern England with a clearer eye, or a more intelligent quill. It would be nice to know that the BBC had heard of him because we could expect to hear him deliver next year's Reith Lectures.' Sunday Telegraph; `Dalrymple is... [o]ne of the most interesting men of our times... There is nothing in his tale to celebrate, yet in the telling he deserves the commendation of anybody who values human civilization.' The Times

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Book SynopsisThe Oscar-nominated Precious star and Empire actress delivers a much-awaited memoir which is wise, complex, smart and funny.This Is Just My Face is the whirlwind tour of Gabourey Sidibe’s life so far. In it, we meet her polygamous father, her gifted mother who fed the family by busking on the subway, and the psychic who told her she’d one day be ‘famous like Oprah’. Gabby shows us round the Harlem studio apartment where she grew up, relives the debilitating depression that hit her at college, and reminisces about her first ever job as a phone sex ‘talker’ (less creepy than you’d think). With exhilaratingly honest (and often hilarious) dispatches on friendship, depression, celebrity, haters, fashion, race, and weight, This Is Just My Face will resonate with anyone who has ever felt different - and with anyone who has ever felt inspired to make a dream come true.'Frank, funny, and insanely charming' Lena Dunham'A read that lives up to the unforgettable attitude of its name' Glamour'You’re the BOMB, girl!' President Barack ObamaTrade ReviewHere, Gabourey Sidibe cements her status as gives-zero-effs queen of Hollywood AND perceptive best friend in your head. Frank, funny, and insanely charming…we are blessed by her honesty, passion and wit * Lena Dunham *A read that lives up to the unforgettable attitude of its name...This is Just My Face will make you fall in love with this funny, talented, gorgeous, bad bitch of a woman * Glamour *Gabourey Sidibe's memoir isn't your average celebrity memoir. It's good. Really good. And not just because it's revealing (although that it is), but because it's well-written... Observant and funny, but not indulgent or try-hard * Cosmopolitan *A book you will want to give your daughter * The New York Times *"I just wrote the truth, and it made me feel better." That is the theme of this unique and universal book by a young woman who is both a total surprise and an instant classic. Gabby combines New York and Senegal, the streets and the heights, bravery and self-doubt, laughing and seriousness. Her truth helps us to find ours—and what could be a bigger gift than that? * Gloria Steinem *Sidibe’s hilarious Twitter account is no fluke – the Empire actress’ memoir about growing up in New York City and finding unexpected fame in Hollywood is sharp, witty, and wonderfully substantive * Entertainment Weekly *Gabourey Sidibe’s delightful memoir This Is Just My Face: Try Not To Stare offers a memorable look into what happens when a black girl’s dreams come true, from the inside out. From her unique childhood as the daughter of a subway singer mother and polygamous father to struggling with depression to getting the role of Precious, Sidibe is fearless, incredibly funny and gorgeously open. What she offers of herself in these pages is a gift * Roxane Gay *A mix of complexity, intelligence and humor, Gabby's book promises to be as big a success as her acting * People *To know Gabby is to love Gabby. To read her book is to love her even more. It is bold, brave, on-your-front-foot writing. Her story inspires you to step up and own your life with a compassion and confidence so potent that it will break down any door * Laura Linney *A funny, smart memoir * Nylon *You’re the BOMB, girl! * President Barack Obama *

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Book SynopsisThis is a quirky, amusing, information-packed book for all lovers of sleep. It's a celebration of nature's greatest free gift, the perfect companion for the bedside table. It's the book to curl up with before falling asleep.It looks at the history, culture, folklore, language and science of sleep. Did you know that the siesta was once a British tradition? Why do we say 'sleep like a top'? Does counting sheep work? What are the very best sleeps? Who invented pyjamas? If dogs sleep so much, why are they always yawning? What are the best films about sleep? Do today's children have less sleep than Edwardian children? Does booze help or hinder sleep?Not only is sleep a great natural pleasure, it's also essential to good health. The book examines how a lack of sleep is increasingly seen as a health risk.Sleep is also the place of dreams and nightmares. Why are so many dreams the same and what are the archetypal recurring dreams? What is the origin of the word 'nightmare'? And what do Bugs Bunny, the surrealists and Freud have to do with dreaming?Sleep is there to be enjoyed. It's not worth getting into bed for anything else.Trade ReviewA sweet and diverting book on all things sleep. Part trivia, part history and part practical advice, the gorgeous packaging makes this a perfect gift. * Emma Giacon, Bookseller's Choice *

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Book SynopsisAn encapsulation of the musician and activist?s career and legacy.From lead singer and guitarist of the Wailers, to his international solo success in the 1970s, Bob Marley is largely credited with the popularization of Reggae music in the UK and Europe. Having died in 1981, Marley?s legacy is clearly evident within society today, as evidenced by the widespread success of the film, One Love (2024). With this influx of Gen Z fans, as well as lifelong followers, this book celebrates the career of the 1978 United Nations Peace Medal winner with facts on his background, discography and live shows which have gone down in history.

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Book SynopsisTake courage, empowerment and advice from 45 rebel muses with this inspirational deck. Meet 45 rebel women, artists, thinkers, politicians, writers and musicians from across the globe. Their weapons: power, art, science, literature and music. Most of them were stigmatized or misunderstood, but in the end – who wants to be normal? These women broke the mould and blazed a trail, and now you can too. These stylishly illustrated cards allow you to channel Frida Kahlo, Marilyn Monroe, Nina Simone and other muses from around the world – they will give you their messages on four different areas: life, work, love and learning. Marie Curie life advice? It is time to see what happens when you stop listening to others. Nina Simone's tip on work: If it doesn't open, it wasn't your door. Love according to Lady Di? Beware: the prince of your dreams can steal them. Frida Kahlo on learning: Don't stumble twice over the same stone. The accompanying booklet contains mini biographies of each woman, along with an important quote. There are also three different suggested card layouts to gain insight and inspiration.

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Book SynopsisHere lies entombed the renowned King Arthur in the island of Avalon. – Inscription found at Glastonbury in the late 12th century King Arthur most probably never existed and – even if he did – we know precious little about him, and yet he is one of the most famous Britons, while Excalibur and Camelot are perhaps the world’s best known sword and castle. So, what’s the truth behind King Arthur? How did the legends take hold? And why have they endured for so long? Long before the Marvel Universe there was the universe of Arthurian romance, and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table examines the fact and the fiction behind Arthur, Lancelot, Merlin, Guinevere, Galahad, among others, as well as the quest for the Holy Grail. Beginning in the 12th century, the book explores what factual basis there is for the tales and how the characters, stories and motifs developed through histories, epic poems and prose tellings. The book also charts the revived interest in Arthurian romance in the 19th century and considers how the tales still hold the popular imagination today. Illustrated with more than 180 colour and black-and-white artworks and photographs and maps, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is an expertly written account of where literature, mythology and history meet.Table of ContentsMyth and Legend Chapter One The Real King Arthur Chapter Two The Early Legends Chapter Three The Romances Chapter Four The Grail Quest Chapter Five Le Morte d’Arthur Chapter Six Arthurian Romance Today Index

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Book SynopsisIconomy: Towards a Political Economy of Images argues that imagery of all kinds has become a definitive force in the shaping of contemporary life. While immersed in public politics and private imaginaries, such imagery also operates according to its own logic, potentialities, and limitations. This book explores viral imagery—the iconopolitics—of the pandemic, U.S. Presidents Trump and Biden, Black Lives Matter, as well as the rise of a “black aesthetic” in white artworlds. Having arrived at the term “iconomy” in the years just prior to 9/11, and tracking its growing relevance since then, Smith argues that its study does not require a discipline serving nation states and globalizing capitalism but, instead, a deconstructive interdiscipline that contributes to the politics of planetary world-making. Trade Review“A well documented and welcome history of the genesis of a new concept: iconomy.” – Peter Szendy, David Herlihy University Professor of Comparative Literature and the Humanities, Brown University, and author of The Supermarket of Images.“Charting the image economy’s historical and current coordinates with model perspicuity, Smith reveals timely political insights.” – T. J. Demos, Patricia and Rowland Rebele Endowed Chair in Art History, UC Santa Cruz, and author of Beyond the World’s End: Arts of Living at the Crossing. “Unparalleled historian and theoretician of the visual articulations of contemporaneity, Terry Smith provides an erudite and highly useful conceptual framework and historical background for understanding and criticizing the economies that images inescapably form part of in today's cultures. Iconomy is a must-read for anyone who wants to engage critically with contemporary regimes of imagery.” – Jacob Lund, Associate Professor, Aesthetics and Culture, Aarhus University, author of The Changing Constitution of the Present.“Iconomy gathers forceful evidence that images are indeed capital today. In Post-Fordist societies, as Terry Smith makes clear in this important book, the exposure value of images inaugurates a new political economy we are still struggling to understand : an eye-conomy” – Professor Emmanuel Alloa, University of Freiburg, Faculty of Philosophy, Fribourg.Smith's Iconomy is unabashedly about the present: it tracks the author's shifting perception about the political role of circulating images in contemporary society over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the Donald Trump presidency, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Part 1, comprising six brief, roughly chronological chapters, delves into the history, theory, and politics of the image as a form of social currency, surveying ideas proffered by thinkers such as Plato; the iconodules and iconoclasts of Byzantium; and Marx, Benjamin, and Debord. Weighing the value of an amorphous definition of iconomy—a coinage created by theoreticians and marketers alike in recent decades—Smith (Univ. of Pittsburgh) acknowledges that the term is indicative of the essential unknowability and immeasurability of the digital world. The eight chapters in part 2 depart from a genealogy of the image to address the power of digital and video images in the contemporary world. In grappling with the role of image regimes in the wake of the pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, the January 6th Capitol riots, and "Trumpmania," Smith shifts toward an activist methodology. Though new media concepts such as AI, memes, and NFTs are not discussed in depth, the book's juxtaposition of aesthetic theory with critical perspectives on contemporaneity is refreshing —A. Susik, Willamette University.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction: Epidemic Images; Part I A Brief History of Iconomy, 1. A Strange Image: Seeing the Dreaming, 2. Iconoclash in Byzantium, 3. Commodities and Chains, 4. The Image in the Era of Its Technical Reproducibility, 5. Spectacle: Architecture and Occlusion, 6. Iconomy: What’s in a Name?; Part II  Iconoclash, 7. The Spike-Crowned Virus, 8. Trumpmania, 9. Incident at Powderhorn, May 25, 2020, 10. Videodeath 1991 and 2020: King vs Floyd, 11. The Contest of the Images, 12. Image War, Civil War? January 6, 2021, 13. White Artworlds/Black Aesthetics, 14. The Trial: Aggressive Non-violence; Part III  Toward Political Iconomy, 15. Iconomic Value: An Accounting; Index

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Book SynopsisThis is the first book to apply the concept of ‘contents tourism’ in a global context and to establish an international and interdisciplinary framework for contents tourism research. The term ‘contents tourism’ gained official recognition in Japan when it was defined by the Japanese government in 2005, and it has been characterised as ‘travel behaviour motivated fully or partially by narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements of popular culture forms including film, television dramas, manga, anime, novels and computer games’. The book builds on previous research from Japan and explores three main themes of contents tourism: ‘the Contentsization of Literary Worlds’, ‘Tourist Behaviours at “Sacred Sites” of Contents Tourism’ and ‘Contents Tourism as Pilgrimage’ and draws together these key themes to propose a set of policy implications for achieving successful and sustainable contents tourism in the 21st century.Trade ReviewIn this volume, an international group of scholars rewrites the old canon of ‘contents tourism’ with impressive cultural sensitivity. Across several chapters exploring aspects of Japanese popular culture’s adherence to performance and visuality, native phenomena are examined as instances of transnational hybridisation and global cultural connectivity. An essential read for students of international popular culture, tourism and the moving image. * Rodanthi Tzanelli, University of Leeds, UK *This book reconceptualises the largely compartmentalised views of media-tourism relationships, such as film and literary tourism, advancing and encapsulating them within the socialising frame of contents tourism. The authors provide engaging insights into the formation, curation and (re)crafting of media-related narratives, variously bonding communities, media, tourists and places across the different contexts. These insights provoke new interpretations and considerations, which will benefit anyone studying contents tourism (or any tourism-media relationship). * Glen Croy, Monash University, Australia *This important book expands the concept of contents tourism, which has so far been limited mainly to the Japanese context, and shows its transnational and transmedial potential. Case studies from different cultural contexts, which refer to enthusiasm for literature, theatre, folklore or anime, illustrate the variety of paths the imagination can take – and how imaginary journeys become real tourism. * Elisabeth Scherer, University of Düsseldorf, Germany *Contents tourism is among the very few productive new ideas that has emerged in tourism studies in the past several decades. The authors in this important volume capture the dynamics of the emotional and symbolic connection of tourists to the places they visit. The chapters prove the promise of contents tourism beyond studies of the mise en scene of Japanese anime where it originated. * Dean MacCannell, Emeritus Professor, University of California, Davis, USA *This book further contributes to academia as it clarifies the term ‘contents tourism’, broadens this term from the Japanese context to a global context, links literature and tourism from a ‘contentsization’ point of view, and focuses on mediarelated narratives in tourism. From a qualitative-research point of view, the authors have contributed to this growing field of contents tourism by building their argumentation on different qualitative methods, as the following analysis illustrates. -- Zafer Öter, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Turkey * Journal of Qualitative Research in Tourism, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2021 *This book contributes greatly to our understanding of the role of popular culture and its contents for the contemporary global tourism landscape [and] provides a fresh perspective that will hopefully decrease the fragmentation of existing related research while making especially Japanese research in this area more accessible to English-speaking academia. -- Ina Reichenberger, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand * Journal of Tourism Futures, Vol. 7 No. 1, 2021 *This collection of essays examines the phenomenon of "contents tourism" within a global context [...] In all cases, content is the unifying element of analysis rather than the platform. This interesting construct utilizes the content itself as the focus/motivator of tourism rather than the individual modality of presentation (e.g., film, theater). This is a readable, interesting, and informative study. -- S. A. Schulman, CUNY Baruch College, USA * CHOICE, Vol. 58 No. 4, Dec 2020 *Table of ContentsForeword. Sue Beeton Introduction. Takayoshi Yamamura: Contents Tourism Beyond Anime Tourism Chapter 1. Philip Seaton: The Contents Tourism of Jane Austen’s American Fans Chapter 2. Maree Thyne & Gretchen Larsen: Conceptualising Contents Brandscapes: The Brontë Brand Chapter 3. Aleksandra Jaworowicz-Zimny: The Witcher Novels and Games-inspired Tourism in Poland Chapter 4. Takayoshi Yamamura: Traveling Heidi: International Contents Tourism Induced by Japanese Anime Chapter 5. Catherine Butler: The Cotswolds and Children’s Literature in Japanese Fantasy: The Case of Castle Combe Chapter 6. Shinobu Myoki: Yōkai Tourism in Japan and Taiwan Chapter 7. Kyungjae Jang: Contents Tourism and Religious Imagination Chapter 8. Akiko Sugawa-Shimada: The 2.5-Dimensional Theatre as a Communication Site: Non-site-specific Theatre Tourism Chapter 9. Ranny Rastati: Indonesian Cosplay Tourism Chapter 10. Sueun Kim: Outbound Tourism Motivated by Domestic Films: Contentsized Koreanness in Thai movies and Tourism to Korea Chapter 11. Christopher Hood: Contents Tourism in Plane Sight Chapter 12. Stefanie Benjamin: Breaking Benjamin: A Woman’s Pilgrimage to New Mexico Chapter 13. Sue Beeton: From Banjo to Basho: Poets, Contents and Tourism Conclusions. Philip Seaton: Sustainable Contents Tourism in the 21st Century

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Book SynopsisThis volume considers world-making as the intersection of the fan pilgrimage experience and the responses of destinations. It critically examines the emerging field of popular culture tourism and its close connection with fan studies and placemaking. The chapters illustrate how different destinations capitalise on expressive cultural practices to attract fan tourists, the processes involved in their tourismification, and the outcomes for both visitors and local communities. The book establishes a common ground for the comprehensive and critical study of popular culture tourism development and fandom. It integrates theory and practice and provides evidence-based recommendations for popular culture destinations. It is a useful resource for researchers in tourism management, fandom, pop culture and media studies, as well as for those working in the tourism industry.Trade ReviewThe entanglements between popular culture and tourism are increasingly shaping places and leisure mobility patterns. The editors of this book have curated a compelling collection of emergent spatial imaginaries and rekindled placemaking practices to showcase tourism transformations in the Anthropocene. Solidly grounded in interdisciplinary domains, this volume will be of interest to both tourism and place marketers, as well as consumer culture scholars at large. * Szilvia Gyimóthy, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark *This arresting book examines the expressive practices of popular culture that craft tourism realities. The editors’ compelling perspective guides critical exploration of what popular-culture fans desire and how communities respond to intended and unintended tourism changes. The expert authors critically interrogate contested tourism world-making emerging from various popular culture expressions, including musicians, manga, film, and Indigenous responses to colonial invasion. A must-read for anyone researching popular culture–tourism relationships. * Glen Croy, Monash University, Australia *This engaging book offers a wide-ranging approach to the diverse and rich interrelations between popular culture and tourism, both online and onsite, varying from battlefield tourism, scholarly-virtual pilgrimage and fan travel vlogs to baseball tourism. I particularly liked how the authors address the important role and perspective of fans in all these cultural practices. * Stijn Reijnders, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands *Table of ContentsContributors Prologue Chapter 1. Vassilios Ziakas, Christine Lundberg and Maria Lexhagen: Introduction to Popular Culture Destinations: Contexts, Perspectives and Insights Part 1: Fandoms and Popular Culture Tourism Placemaking Chapter 2. Warwick Frost and Jennifer Frost: Commemorating Rock Stars: Exploring Fan Interactions at AC/DC and Chrissie Amphlett Lanes, Melbourne, Australia Chapter 3. Timo Thelen and Sangkyun Kim: The Emergence of Fan Pilgrimage Sites – Unintended and Intended Part 2: Heritage and Pilgrimage Journeys of Fans Chapter 4. Michael Fagence: 'Walking Battlefield Sites': An Experience of Secular Pilgrimage Chapter 5. Tatiana Chekalina, Maria Lexhagen, Christopher Hoffman and Gustav Grönskog: Gloomy or Exciting: Image, Engagement and Violent TV Drama in a Heritage Destination Setting Chapter 6. O. Hugo Benavides: Heritage and Pilgrimage Journeys in Hawaii: Where the Secular and Sacred Intersect Part 3: Digitalisation in Popular Culture Destinations Chapter 7. Lincoln Geraghty: Wish It Were Here: Fan Travel Vlogs as Virtual Spaces of Popular Culture Tourism Chapter 8. Kelly Palmer and Glen Thomas: @Bluey_Locations: The Brisbane Local as Bluey Tourist Chapter 9. Wen (Stella) Tian, Christine Lundberg and Alkmini Gkritzali: Millennials' Responses to Popular Culture-Induced Visual and Verbal Cues: An Eye-Tracking Investigation Part 4: Popular Culture Tourism Spaces and Imaginaries of the World Chapter 10. Nicholas Wise: (Re)Celebrating Baseball’s Rural Nostalgia: Placemaking and Touristification in the Cornfields of Iowa Chapter 11. Rodanthi Tzanelli: Climate Disaster Films and Scholarly-Virtual Pilgrimage to Viable Planetary Futures Epilogue Chapter 12. Vassilios Ziakas, Christine Lundberg and Maria Lexhagen: Conclusions for Popular Culture Tourism Research: Progress and Problematics Index

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Book SynopsisIn recent years research into creative labour and cultural work has usually addressed the politics of production in these fields, but the sociotechnical and aesthetic dimensions of collaborative creative work have been somewhat overlooked. This book aims to address this gap. Through case studies that range from TV showrunning to independent publishing, from the film industry to social media platforms such as Tumblr and Wattpad, this collection develops a critical understanding of the integral role collaboration plays in contemporary media and culture. It draws attention to diverse kinds of creative collaboration afforded via the intermediation of digital platforms and networked publics. It considers how these are incorporated into emergent market paradigms and investigates the complicated forms of subjectivity that develop as a consequence. But it also acknowledges historical continuities, not least in terms of the continued exploitation of support personnel' and of resulting artistic conflicts but also of alternative models that resist the precarious nature of contemporary cultural work. Finally, this volume attempts to situate creative collaboration in broader social and economic contexts, where the experience and outcomes of such work have proved more problematic than the rich potential of their promise would lead us to expect. The Editors: James Graham is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries, Middlesex University, London. Alessandro Gandini is Lecturer in Digital Media Management and Innovation in the Department of Digital Humanities, Kings College, London.

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