Showing posts with label popular culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label popular culture. Show all posts

Short Cuts: A Guide to Oaths, Ring Tones, Ransom Notes, Famous Last Words, and Other Forms of Minimalist Communication Review

Short Cuts: A Guide to Oaths, Ring Tones, Ransom Notes, Famous Last Words, and Other Forms of Minimalist Communication
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Short Cuts: A Guide to Oaths, Ring Tones, Ransom Notes, Famous Last Words, and Other Forms of Minimalist Communication ReviewSome readers may be searching for the ideal prescriptive usage manual for the short forms in which we do our daily linguistic business; this is not that sort of book. What it does do is tell us how people actually DO use the icon, the bank holdup note, skywriting, texting, and other miniature communication forms, with plenty of entertaining back-story on how these came to be (some of them, for all the apparent modernity of the short take as message, dating all the way back to the Romans and even beyond). Like the authors' previous offerings, this is a book that can be nibbled at for a mental bedtime snack or, for the truly ravenous logophile, devoured at one sitting (well, two or three anyway; there is a thundering lot of information in here.) Ideal for the reader who always wanted to know why newspaper headlines sometimes make unwitting gaffes ("Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim") or what (and why) the term is for a deliberately spurious dictionary entry inserted by the editors to foil lexicographic plagiarism by the competition (a "mountweazel"). An immensely entertaining book. (Warning: In spots it is also quite funny and may make you laugh out loud, so you probably shouldn't browse it in the library's reading room or the Amtrak train's Quiet Car, just to be on thesafe side.)Short Cuts: A Guide to Oaths, Ring Tones, Ransom Notes, Famous Last Words, and Other Forms of Minimalist Communication OverviewOur everyday lives are inevitably touched--and immeasurably enriched--by an extraordinary variety of miniature forms of verbal communication, from classified ads to street signs, and from yesterday's graffito to tomorrow's headline. Celebrating our long history of compact speech, Short Cuts offers a well-researched and vibrantly written account of this unsung corner of the linguistic world, inspiring a new appreciation of the wondrously varied forms of our briefest exchanges.Alexander Humez, Nicholas Humez, and Rob Flynn shed light here on an ever-growing field of minimalist genres, ranging from the bank robbery note to the billboard, from the curse hurled from a car window (or the Senate floor) to the suicide note, and from the ghost-word to the ring tone. The book is divided into ten thematic sections, as varied as "In the Dictionary" (discussing such topics as Sniglets, Mountweazels, and the Wiktionary), "In and Out of Trouble" (error messages, weasel words, the pre-nup), and "On the Lam" (ransom notes, wanted posters, portraits parlés). The authors look at the comic strip's maladicta balloon and the dinner-interrupter's robocalls, the advice column and the obit, and the many ways your personal appearance tells us who you are, from the message on your gimme cap to the tattoo with your S.O.'s name on your ankle. Uncovering the elegance, the humor, and the unspoken implications in these fleeting communications, this book provides a satisfying thoroughness and an abundance of connections that unravel how the oath became the swearword and the calling card salver turned into the Facebook wall. For readers who love language and enjoy rummaging through the cultural baggage that comes with it, Short Cuts gathers an engaging sampler of the most delightful and cogent--and above all brief--forms of contemporary English.

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Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up Review

Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up
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Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up ReviewI read this book over the course of several flights while traveling and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a cartoonist who likes cupcakes and wearing superhero t-shirts, there should be no surprise why the book peaked my interest. But I was delighted to find that the book was neither an unstructured permission slip for irresponsible behavior, nor a "Harrumphing Codger" treatise on abolishing all forms of fun from life. Rather, it was a well-organized, even-handed, thoughtful and interesting approach on the phenomenon itself. I enjoyed the historical research, and although sometimes overly thourough, offered a lot of interesting background for the rest of the book. I also enjoyed the profiles of the people throughout the book. At times I found myself mentally cheering them on, while with others, I tended to react to with frustration (and sometimes even disgust). So ultimately, the book connected with me on an emotional level, and it made me think. Something all good books do.Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up Overview

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Rhetoric in Popular Culture Review

Rhetoric in Popular Culture
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Rhetoric in Popular Culture ReviewBarry Brummett's "Rhetoric in Popular Culture" seeks to bring the traditions of rhetorical criticism and critical studies together. Brummett applies the growing and cutting-edge methods of critical studies to the study of rhetoric, because he sees critical studies AS rhetorical criticism. This is a premise with which I whole-heartedly agree, which is not surprising given my interest in rhetoric and social theory. Part I consists of four chapters dealing with theoretical and methodological concerns. The extended case study is on the film version of "The Wizard of Oz," in which Brummett looks at how five critical methods (Marxist, feminist/psychoanalytic, dramatistic/narrative, media-centered, and culture-centered) would render different interpretations of Dorothy's trip over the rainbow. Part II provides three critical studies: "Paradoxes of Personalization: Race Relations in Milwaukee," "Twin Peeks: Using Theory in Two Analyses of Visual Pleasures" (by Brummett and Margaret Carlisle Duncan) and "Afrocentrism and 'DO THE RIGHT THING'" (by Detine L. Bowers).
Fortunately in this Postmodern world history is dead and most students are not aware of the rhetorical tradition that would disdain critical studies, not to mention popular culture. Consequently, Brummett does not have to convince students of the rightness of his cause, they are simply going to want to understand what he is talking about. Part I of this book is the stronger section, because Brummett's strength is in laying out his approach. Chapter 3, in which he looks at the key notion of "text," is the best one in the book. How you feel about Part II will come down to how relevant the specific case studies are to your students. Certainly "Do the Right Thing," despite its cultural importance once upon a time, would be considered "dated" by most students, although we might think it has again become relevant because of recent events. But Part I is basically two-thirds of the book, so I do not really think that this becomes a major consideration in deciding whether or not to use this book in class. Ultimately, the key consideration is going to be the sort of assignments you have the cherubs do off of the theories laid out in Part I. Brummet's point is that students should be empowered to "find the rhetoric in rap music, the motivations in heavy metal, and the arguments in argyle socks." That pretty much covers it all.Rhetoric in Popular Culture OverviewRhetoric in Popular Culture, Third Edition provides students with a solid background in the central issues in interpreting pop culture. Author Barry Brummett helps readers use techniques of rhetorical criticism to analyze texts from popular culture including print ads, music videos, TV advertisements, Internet user groups, movies, and television shows. Part I covers rhetoric as a concept, the history of rhetoric, and a method for doing rhetorical criticism. Part II includes critical essays and case studies that show students how the critical methods discussed in Part I can be used to study the rhetoric of extended texts.

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Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture Review

Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture
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Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture ReviewWhy more people don't know his name is beyond me. Maybe its because of his haircut?
In all seriousness, reading the man's work is like waking up and realizing that you've been dreaming. He lifts the veil off the world we live in, the media stream that we swim in, and he illuminates its basic nature better than anyone I have ever read. He also has the great advantage of not being a "fogey", in other words he's not mystified by popular culture, he UNDERSTANDS it. He KNOWS why we like certain videogames and movies and doesn't berate the world for it, rather he simply looks at the underpinnings of those desires. Great stuff. Read all his works - and then visit VIDEOTOPIA because Professor Jenkins references it and it's cool.Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture OverviewHop on Pop showcases the work of a new generation of scholars—from fields such as media studies, literature, cinema, and cultural studies—whose writing has been informed by their ongoing involvement with popular culture and who draw insight from their lived experiences as critics, fans, and consumers. Proceeding from their deep political commitment to a new kind of populist grassroots politics, these writerschallenge old modes of studying the everyday. As they rework traditional scholarly language, they search for new ways to write about our complex and compelling engagements with the politics and pleasures of popular culture and sketch a new and lively vocabulary for the field of cultural studies.The essays cover a wide and colorful array of subjects including pro wrestling, the computer games Myst and Doom, soap operas, baseball card collecting, the Tour de France, karaoke, lesbian desire in the Wizard of Oz, Internet fandom for the series Babylon 5, and the stress-management industry. Broader themes examined include the origins of popular culture, the aesthetics and politics of performance, and the social andcultural processes by which objects and practices are deemed tasteful or tasteless. The commitment that binds the contributors is to an emergent perspective in cultural studies, one that engages with popular culture as the culture that "sticks to the skin," that becomes so much a part of us that it becomes increasingly difficult to examine it from a distance. By refusing to deny or rationalize their own often contradictory identifications with popular culture, the contributors ensure that the volume as a whole reflects the immediacy and vibrancy of its objects of study.Hop on Pop will appeal to those engaged in the study of popular culture, American studies, cultural studies, cinema and visual studies, as well as to the general educated reader.Contributors.John Bloom, Gerry Bloustein, Aniko Bodroghkozy, Diane Brooks, Peter Chvany, Elana Crane, Alexander Doty, Rob Drew, Stephen Duncombe, Nick Evans, Eric Freedman, Joy Fuqua, Tony Grajeda, Katherine Green, John Hartley, Heather Hendershot, Henry Jenkins, Eithne Johnson, Louis Kaplan, Maria Koundoura, Sharon Mazer, Anna McCarthy, Tara McPherson, Angela Ndalianis, Edward O'Neill, Catherine Palmer, Roberta Pearson, Elayne Rapping, Eric Schaefer, Jane Shattuc, Greg Smith, Ellen Strain, Matthew Tinkhom, William Uricchio, Amy Villarego, Robyn Warhol, Charles Weigl, Alan Wexelblat, Pamela Robertson Wojcik, Nabeel Zuberi

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Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines: The Many Lives and Outrageous Times of George and Alfred Lawson Review

Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines: The Many Lives and Outrageous Times of George and Alfred Lawson
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Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines: The Many Lives and Outrageous Times of George and Alfred Lawson ReviewThis fascinating book tells the story of two very strange lives that intertwined so many of the popular culture and scientific trends of their times. It's so meticulously researched that you feel as though you are following the Lawson brothers around with a notebook and video camera! They are the kind of intense characters that if you met them, you would either be completely converted or would run from them. The book is a great read -- whether you are a baseball or aviation fan, enjoy learning about alternative religions and cults, or just like to read about people who didn't follow the beaten path.Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines: The Many Lives and Outrageous Times of George and Alfred Lawson OverviewIt's hard to imagine a wilder pair of brothers than Alfred and George Lawson. Best known as early promoters of professional baseball, they were intense rivals whose shared narcissism led them from one grand scheme to another, both in and away from the game, generating headlines as they went. Alfred had a long career as a player, manager, and minor league organizer before gaining notoriety as a utopian novelist, philosopher, economic reformer, cult leader, and early aviation promoter. George was a soldier, vaudeville troupe manager, performing hypnotist, medical quack, evangelist, and anti-KKK crusader who sought to break baseball's color line by founding integrated leagues.

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Listening In: Radio And The American Imagination Review

Listening In: Radio And The American Imagination
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Listening In: Radio And The American Imagination ReviewPlease take note that Susan J. Douglas' (Times Books, 1999) is no mere history of radio. It was triggered by a request from the Sloan Foundation that was preparing a series of books on technology and American culture; and the emphasis is not on the details but on the general effect radio has on us from its beginnings. And take another note. This is too enjoyable a read to be considered a textbook.
My favorite chapter was the one called "Radio Comedy and Linguistic Slapstick." Here only a few comics are used as examples to support her several theses, one of which is the emasculation of the American male by the use of such high-pitched speakers as Jack Benny and Joe Penner. Of course there is lots of room for argument, but she does let the facts speak for themselves (pun intended).
The other chapters are "The Zen of Listening," "The Ethereal World," "Exploratory Listening in the 1920s," "Tuning In to Jazz" "The Invention of the Audience," "World War II and the Invention of Broadcast Journalism," "Playing Fields of the Mind," "The Kids Take Over: Transistors, DJs, and Rock 'n' Roll," "The FM Revolution," "Talk Talk," "Why Ham Radio Matters," and "Conclusion: Is Listening Dead?"
Which of us has not been affected in many of the ways Ms. Douglas points out in this book? Therefore, which of us can afford to miss being shown how radio has helped make us what we are? And I do hope she produces a similar book about television.Listening In: Radio And The American Imagination Overview

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