Elvis After Elvis: The Posthumous Career of a Living Legend

by Rodman,Gilbert B.

• ISBN13: 9780415110037
• ISBN10: 0415110033
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1996-11-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Nearly twenty years after his death, Elvis Presley enjoys the sort of cultural prominence that would be the envy of even the most highly publicized living celebrities. His body may have failed him in 1977, but today his spirit, his image and myth do more than live on: they flourish and thrive. This phenomenon is noteworthy, not just because Elvis refuses to go away, but because he keeps showing up in places where he seemingly doesn't belong. Drawing on a range of theoretical positions from cultural studies,Elvis After Elvisoffers a series of explanations for the surprising potency and lingering presence of Elvis as a cultural icon. What is different about Elvis that allows him to enjoy a cultural ubiquity that other stars don't? What makes it possible for Elvis to be so readily appropriated in such diverse ways? And what is it about our time that makes Elvis' current manifestations so different from those that existed when he was alive?

Author Biography

Gilbert B. Rodman is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of South Florida.

Table of Contents

List of plates	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Elvis Studies	p. 1
When It Rains, It Really Pours	p. 1
Don't	p. 10
My Way	p. 18
Elvis Myths	p. 30
What'd I Say?	p. 30
King Creole	p. 43
U.S. Male	p. 56
Hound Dog	p. 71
Follow that Dream	p. 82
Elvis Space	p. 97
Baby, Let's Play House	p. 97
Stranger in My Own Hometown	p. 103
Promised Land	p. 111
Tryin' to Get to You	p. 122
Elvis Culture	p. 130
I Was the One	p. 130
Reconsider Baby	p. 132
I Forgot to Remember to Forget	p. 146
Rip It Up	p. 158
Too Much	p. 169
Notes	p. 181
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