Description
Book Synopsis“Cancel culture” has become one of the most charged concepts in contemporary culture and politics, but mainstream critiques from both the left and the right provide only snapshots of responses to the phenomenon. Takinga media and cultural studies perspective, this book traces the origins of cancel practices and discourses, and discusses their subsequent evolution within celebrity and fan cultures, consumer culture, and national politics in the U.S. and China. Moving beyond popular press accounts about the latest targets of cancelling or familiar free speech debates, this analysis identifies multiple lineages for both cancelling and criticisms about cancelling, underscoring the various configurations of power associated with “cancel culture” in particular cultural and political contexts.
Trade Review“This material provides an interesting yet complex genealogy of the different but overlapping areas of popular culture, digital activism and national politics. … what should we think about both progressive and conservative commentators in the US and elsewhere who have condemned the cancel culture? … . Are these essentially examples of the same thing? If not, what are the critical differences, and yet are there any underlying similarities between contextually different cancellations? … These questions, and other related problems … are answered in this book in an interesting and clear way.” (Jan Servaes, indepthnews.net, June 2, 2022)
“Eve Ng’s new book … examines the phenomenon of ‘cancel culture’ from a critical media studies perspective, as both cancel practices (what people and institutional actors do) and cancel discourses (commentary about cancelling). … Her analysis moves beyond popular press accounts about the latest targets of cancelling or familiar free speech debates, and underscores the different configurations of power associated with ‘cancel culture’ in specific cultural and political contexts.” (Louisa Hann, New Books network, newbooksnetwork.com, May 11, 2022)
Table of Contents1. Introduction.2.
Cancel Culture, Popular Media, and Fandom.3.
Cancel Culture, Black Cultural Practice, and Digital Activism.4.
Cancel Culture, U.S. Conservatism, and Nation.5.
Cancel Culture and Digital Nationalism in Mainland China.6. Conclusion
