Full Description
With a Foreword by Dr. Fishwick's student--Tom Wolfe.This book redefines popular culture in the light of the revolutionary changes brought about by the information revolution and the digital divide. It explores the phenomenal growth and extension of popular culture in the last decade and ties in the vast changes brought about by technology and the Internet. In an era when American television and the Internet reach virtually every corner of the globe, Popular Culture in a New Age shows how the poorly understood and often underestimated area known as popular culture affects all of our lives.Beginning with an evaluation of the millennium celebrations and the enormous error of Y2K madness, Popular Culture in a New Age then moves on to the "New Gold Rush" brought about by technology and takes a hard look at its risks. The book examines a wide variety of pop culture phenomena such as carnivals, celebrities, and the road from nineteenth century humbuggery (P. T. Barnum's term) to today's hype.In Popular Culture in a New Age you'll learn about:
the three faces of popular culture: folk, fake, and pop--how they relate and how they differ
today's popular icons
the empire of Disney World
Marshall McLuhan, our era's most profound and shocking electronic thinker
African-American popular culture and style
Popular Culture in a New Age gives characterization to the postmodern world in a chapter on "postmodern pop," followed by the shift from civil religion to civil disobedience and the "myth of success." This insightful book will help you understand the way we eat, think, vote, and respond to our fast-changing world in the era of hype, spin doctors, chat rooms, and jargon.
Contents
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Millennium Merrymaking
What to Make of the Millennium
Popular Culture: The Beggar at the Gate of Our Public Schools
The New Gold Rush
Folk/Fake/Pop
Sacred Symbols
The Man and the Mouse
Carnivals--Old and New
The Celebrity Cult
From Humbuggery to Hype
Surprise Attacks
The Electric Shocker
Style
Black Popular Culture
The Most Popular War
Postmodern Pop
Faith Takes a New Face
The Most Popular Myth
Global Village--Utopia Revisited?
Some Final Thoughts
Notes
Further Reading
Index
Reference Notes Included
