‘The Media Swirl’ and the Glitter in Your Eyes
In this excerpt from The Media Swirl, Carol Vernallis peers through the glitter of the stunning party scene in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby and exams its sparkling layers of meaning.
cultural studies
The New Empire Has Risen: ‘New Kings of the World’
Author Fatima Bhutto profiles the new arbiters of mass culture: Bollywood, Dizi, and K-pop, in her engaging cultural studies/travelogue, New Kings of the World.
Abjection Incorporated: Mediating the Politics of Pleasure and Violence (By the Book)
Escaping abjection's usual confines of psychoanalysis and aesthetic modernism, the contributors to Abjection Incorporated examine a range of media, including literature, photography, film, television, talking dolls, comics, and manga. Enjoy this generous excerpt, courtesy of Duke University Press.
‘The Poetry of Pop’ Stretches the Definition of Pop Generously
Adam Bradley’s The Poetry of Pop is academic, literary, and breezy – it works well for what it obviously wants to be, a primer on American popular music.
Delicious Lips, Delicious Text: Kathryn Bond Stockton’s ‘Making Out’
Kathryn Bond Stockton's Making Out will linger.
‘Garage’: A Visually and Intellectually Rich Study of a Seemingly Blank Space
Olivia Erlanger and Luis Ortega Govela's Garage challenges the beguiling, energizing, and yet limiting power of the garage in America as a symbol of escape and reinvention.
Though Rich in Subject Matter, ‘Veil’ Has Trouble Finding a Narrative
There's so much to say about the challenges, frustrations, and offenses facing women who veil, that Veil has difficulty sorting it all out in a meaningful way.