Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture: Theories and Methods - John Storey [Amazon US][FR][DE][UK]
I am using "Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture" as the primary textbook in an "Introduction to Popular Culture" class. Now, on the one hand it is clear John Storey's book is not written at an introductory level, which would have been a reason for me not to select it for my class. But this volume has two strengths that overcome that particular liability. The first is that Storey looks at six types of cultural texts: Television, Fiction, Films, Magazines & Newspapers, Popular Music, and Consumption (a.k.a. shopping). That pretty much covers everything you would want to look at in an introduction pop culture class so that students can get excited (relatively speaking) about analyzing their favorite television show or CD. The second strength is that each chapter focuses on two or three key concepts/theories. For example, with television Storey looks at Hall's notions of encoding/decoding television discourse, how television represents the ideology of mass culture, and how there are competing economies of television. So even if the writing level is for the advances student (quality), students being introduced to cultural studies are being presented with only a few concepts to absorb (quantity). Even if he is writing chapters rather than providing essays, each chapter does offer a specific case study (e.g., James Bond novels) that will facilitate student comprehension of the concepts, which they, in turn, should be able to apply in their own papers. Storey does have another volume that is specifically "An Introduction to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture," but it is structured by theories (culturalism, structuralism, Marxism, etc.). Ideally I would like to be working with a book from Storey that had the structure of the book I am using with the writing style of the other, but clearly you have a choice here as to which way you can go given both your preferences and the level of your course. Storey does a nice job of explicating these concepts without rendering personal judgments, which I think is important when you are trying to get students to actually use such analytical tools. Final note: Storey's "Cultural Theory & Popular Culture: A Reader" is intended as a companion volume for his "Introduction" text and not this one. -- Lawrance M. Bernabo for amazon.com
Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction (2000) - John Storey
[Amazon.com][FR][DE][UK]
In this third edition of his successful introduction to cultural theory and popular culture, John Storey has extensively revised the text throughout. As before, the book presents a clear and critical survey of competing theoriesof and various approaches to popular culture. In addition to the theories and approaches discussed in the the first two editions, there is a new section issues involved in the on Queer Theory. Four earlier sections have been extended, with new material on Reading Romance, Reading Womenıs Magazines, Feminism as Social Practice, Menıs Studies and Masculinities. Illustrations have been added. Retaining the accessible approach of the the first two editions, and using relevant and appropriate examples from the texts and practices of popular culture, this new edition is bound to remain a favourite with students and lecturers alike. --amazon.com
Inventing Popular Culture: From Folklore to Globalization (2003) - John Storey
[Amazon.com][FR][DE][UK]
Synopsis
Inventing Popular Culture is a lively and accessible history of the idea of popular culture by one of the leading experts in the field. Written from the critical perspective of cultural studies, the book traces the invention and reinvention of the concept of popular culture from the eighteenth-century "discovery" of folk culture to contemporary accounts of the cultural impact of globalization. Inventing Popular Culture argues that the idea of popular culture is an invention of intellectuals. The book does not present an analysis of particular texts and activities which have been, or could be defined as, popular culture: instead it explores the changing intellectual ways of constructing texts and activities as popular culture and how these intellectual discourses articulate questions of culture and power. Examining the relationship between the concept of popular culture and key issues in cultural analyses such as hegemony, postmodernism, identity, questions of value, consumerism, and everyday life, Inventing Popular Culture presents an engaging assessment of one of the most debated concepts of recent times. --via Amazon.com
