Description

Book Synopsis


Trade Review

Bauman is a master of his craft. A Most Valuable Medium enables us to benefit from his vast accumulated knowledge and insights as he explores the early world of phonographic recordings of spoken genres, from street-corner sales pitches to country store tall tales. His is a decidedly important contribution to understanding the rise of broadcasting, which has been widely assumed to begin with the advent of radio in 1920. It is also a major contribution to our understanding of the discourse processes of decontextualization and circulation that are central to the constitution and maintenance of modern public spheres.

-- Greg Urban, University of Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Note on Transcription
Listen to the Records
1. Introduction: "A Most Valuable Medium"
2. "Come in Here and Hear Them Speak!": Campaign Speeches and Political Publics, with Patrick Feaster
3. "Accordin' to the Gospel of Etymology": Aural Blackface and New African American Poetics
4. "We Always Enjoy a Good Story": From Monologue to Audio Theater
5. "Talking Machine Story Teller": Cal Stewart and the Remediation of Storytelling
6. "Somebody Stole My Tune!": Charles Ross Taggart and Country Communicability
7. "I Don't See No Mans": Bridging the Schizophonic Gap
Discography, by Patrick Feaster
References
Index

A Most Valuable Medium

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    A Paperback by Richard Bauman, Patrick Feaster

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      Book details

      Publisher Indiana University Press
      Published 14 March 2023
      ISBN-13 9780253065186
      978-0253065186
      ISBN-10 0253065186
      Also in:
      Acoustic and sound engineering

      Description

      Book Synopsis


      Trade Review

      Bauman is a master of his craft. A Most Valuable Medium enables us to benefit from his vast accumulated knowledge and insights as he explores the early world of phonographic recordings of spoken genres, from street-corner sales pitches to country store tall tales. His is a decidedly important contribution to understanding the rise of broadcasting, which has been widely assumed to begin with the advent of radio in 1920. It is also a major contribution to our understanding of the discourse processes of decontextualization and circulation that are central to the constitution and maintenance of modern public spheres.

      -- Greg Urban, University of Pennsylvania

      Table of Contents

      Acknowledgments
      Note on Transcription
      Listen to the Records
      1. Introduction: "A Most Valuable Medium"
      2. "Come in Here and Hear Them Speak!": Campaign Speeches and Political Publics, with Patrick Feaster
      3. "Accordin' to the Gospel of Etymology": Aural Blackface and New African American Poetics
      4. "We Always Enjoy a Good Story": From Monologue to Audio Theater
      5. "Talking Machine Story Teller": Cal Stewart and the Remediation of Storytelling
      6. "Somebody Stole My Tune!": Charles Ross Taggart and Country Communicability
      7. "I Don't See No Mans": Bridging the Schizophonic Gap
      Discography, by Patrick Feaster
      References
      Index

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