"Hop 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, as well as from their deep political commitment to a new kind of populist grassroots politics. Reworking traditional scholarly language, they search for new ways to write about our complex and compelling engagements with the politics and pleasures of popular culture. They essays cover a lively and wide 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 and cultural 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 rationalise 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.
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"Henry Jenkins, Tara McPherson, and Jane Shattuc have collected a diverse array of intriguing insights into popular culture--not with disdain or postmodern mumble, but with real interest and even respect. "Hop on Pop" looks at pop culture as the water we swim in, as a muscular change agent, as the mirror held up to human nature."--Brenda Laurel, author of "Utopian Entrepreneur"
About the Author
Henry Jenkins is Anne Fetter Friedlaender Professor of Humanities and Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of editor of several books including "Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture" and "The Children's Culture Reader."
Tara McPherson is Associate Professor of Cinema and Television at the University of Southern California and author of "Reconstructing Dixie: Race, Gender, and Nostalgia in the Imagined South."
Jane Shattuc is Associate Professor of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College. She is author of "The Talking Cure: Television Talk Shows" and "Women and Television, Tabloids, Tears: Fassbinder and Popular Culture."
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Henry Jenkins is brilliant.
13 Aug 2004
By L. Feinstein
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Why 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.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mind-Sharpening
13 May 2007
By Jokie X Wilson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Admittedly, I got this book because of Stephen Duncombe's essay on zine culture in which I am mentioned, but I did in fact read it from cover to cover and was fully absorbed throughout. The authors have taken on the difficult task of offering perspectives on what it all means to have a popular culture and to be a part of it. The danger, of course, lies in writing from such an academic perspective that the essays could become completely meaningless to anyone not an academic scholar. But, I am happy to say that the essays consistently maintain a level-headed, practical attitude and do not insist on meanings that could be seen as peculiar or irrelevant.
Instead, you get a comprehensive look at everything from pro-wrestling to talk shows, television sit-coms to zines, and much more. The writing is sensible and leaves it up to the reader to draw final conclusions. A general theme is to not take popular culture too seriously and to understand that as consumers, we have the power to shape it. Further, popular culture is not always what it seems and high-flying rhetoric is used by big business and politicians to manipulate consumers for profit. Of course, we know that, but the essays offer us clues as to the process and how we can be more aware of how we are being manipulated.
The book is a long read if you do so cover-to-cover. But the essays themselves read fast. Although some people may wish to read only some of them, I highly recommend the whole book as there are a lot of insights offered into the topics covered as well as bits and pieces of information that allow you to walk away feeling knowlegeable about the topics covered.
Instead, you get a comprehensive look at everything from pro-wrestling to talk shows, television sit-coms to zines, and much more. The writing is sensible and leaves it up to the reader to draw final conclusions. A general theme is to not take popular culture too seriously and to understand that as consumers, we have the power to shape it. Further, popular culture is not always what it seems and high-flying rhetoric is used by big business and politicians to manipulate consumers for profit. Of course, we know that, but the essays offer us clues as to the process and how we can be more aware of how we are being manipulated.
The book is a long read if you do so cover-to-cover. But the essays themselves read fast. Although some people may wish to read only some of them, I highly recommend the whole book as there are a lot of insights offered into the topics covered as well as bits and pieces of information that allow you to walk away feeling knowlegeable about the topics covered.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bought For Class
12 April 2012
By Doug R.
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this textbook for one of my classes. It was surprisingly well written and I enjoyed reading it. The author uses both personal stories and tons of information in each section.
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