Thinking Popular Culture: War, Terrorism and Writing

by Brabazon,Tara

• ISBN13: 9780754675297
• ISBN10: 0754675297
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-12-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book is about war and popular culture, and war in popular culture. Tara Brabazon summons, probes, questions and reclaims popular culture; challenging the assumptions of war, whiteness, Christianity, modernity and progress that have dominated our lives since September 11.While direct and violent action is justified in the name of a 'War on Terror,' a much more distinct, considered and careful war on ideas is necessary. Thinking Popular Culture is part of this project of persuasion, dialogue, argument and exchange. It offers new ways of thinking and writing, researching and understanding. Unsatisfied by the promises of Web 2.0 and bloggers, Second Life and pseudo-digitized democracy, this book defies those who close libraries and open search engines, and who undermine education while buying a bigger television and smaller mobile phone. The tissues of complicity that bind us into a system of inequality, ignorance and banality requires strong and defiant popular culture to challenge students, teachers and citizens to exceed expectations for writing, reading, watching and listening.Addressing modes of thinking, design, music and visual media, Thinking Popular Culture offers a journey through courageous, interventionist and thoughtful ideas, performers and cultures. It welcomes those who ask difficult questions of those in power. Addressing the lack of imagination and dissent that characterises this new century, it is essential reading for any scholar of cultural studies and popular culture, media and journalism, creative writing and terrorism studies.

Table of Contents

Introduction: interventions in/denial

Think: Google is white bread for the mind

Stop crying - start thinking

Putting the punch back into pop

Coalition of the guilty

The 8th deadly sin

When Paris became a celebrity, not a city

Free wiki (but what is the cost?)

It's only food, dude

Crazy frog capitalism

What are the young people wearing?

You've been Jaded

Design: The last punk

Mad about the boy (London)

Handbag nation

A game you play with your brain: philosophy football

Punking yoga

Kindle surprise

Sonic: 2 bars

As cool as the crickets

It's not easy being Johnny Cash

Play 'great leap forward', you bastard

Singing a city

Downloading democracy

I know I won't be leaving here with the Archduke

I'm with stupid

Vision: What have you ever done on the telly?

Pree-sen-na kul-cha

You've got to have a good haircut: Live Forever and an end of spin

I don't believe you

You're a liar

Bad wolf; 28.06.42.12

Life, death and disco

Winds of change

Conclusion: cut Elvis

Selected bibliography

Notes

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

This book about war and popular culture, and war in popular culture. Tara Brabazon summons, probes, questions and reclaims popular culture; challenging the assumptions of war, whiteness, Christianity, masculinity, modernity and progress that have dominated our lives since September 11.