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Trauma and the Mediated Self: Contemporary Life Writing Across Media examines twenty-first century representations of trauma in life writing across several media, including printed-word memoir, graphic memoir, autodocumentary, and autobiographical video games. Through careful analysis, Loredana Bercuci uncovers the medium-specific demands for the representation of trauma in life writing in the context of the contemporary memoir boom. She broadly argues that for a trauma representation to be considered successful, each medium adapts its own means to adhere to a certain definition of trauma and in this manner a particular piece of life writing is accepted as a successful and reliable representation of trauma. The representation of trauma in these autobiographical media has created a new trauma aesthetics that is defined by a cautious (re)engagement with the real.
This volume demonstrates that television comedies are conduits through which we might resist normative ways of thinking about cultural crises. By drawing on Gramscian notion of crisis and the understanding that crises are overlapping, interconnected, and mutually constitutive, the essays in this collection demonstrate that situation comedies do more than make us laugh; they also help us understand the complexities of our social world’s moments of crisis. Each chapter takes up the televisual representation of a modern cultural crisis in a contemporary sitcom and is grounded in the extensive body of literature that suggests that levity is a powerful mechanism to make sense of and cope with these difficult cultural experiences. Divided into thematic sections that highlight crises of institutions and systems, identity and representation, and speculation and futurism, this book will interest scholars of media and cultural studies, political economy, communication studies, and humor studies.
This Handbook encapsulates the intellectual history of mass media ethics over the past twenty-five years. Chapters serve as a summary of existing research and thinking in the field, as well as setting agenda items for future research. Key features include: up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of media ethics, one of the hottest topics in the media community 'one-stop shopping' for historical and current research in media ethics experienced, top-tier editors, advisory board, and contributors. It will be an essential reference on media ethics theory and research for scholars, graduate students, and researchers in media, mass communication, and journalism.
Controversies in Media Ethics offers students, instructors and professionals multiple perspectives on media ethics issues presenting vast "gray areas" and few, if any, easy answers. This third edition includes a wide range of subjects, and demonstrates a willingness to tackle the problems raised by new technologies, new media, new politics and new economics. The core of the text is formed by 14 chapters, each of which deals with a particular problem or likelihood of ethical dilemma, presented as different points of view on the topic in question, as argued by two or more contributing authors. The 15th chapter is a collection of "mini-chapters," allowing students to discern first-hand how to d...
Of all the job titles listed in the opening and closing screen credits, producer is certainly the most amorphous. There are businessmen (and women)-producers, writer-director- and movie-star-producers; producers who work for the studio; executive producers whose reputation and industry clout alone gets a project financed (though their day-to-day participation in the project may be negligible). The job title, regardless of the actual work involved, warrants a great deal of prestige in the film business; it is the credited producers, after all, who collect the Oscar for Best Picture. But what producers do and what they don’t or won’t do varies from project to project. Producing is the firs...
In 2020-21, the classic HBO show The Sopranos (1999-2007) saw a rapid increase in viewership and was proclaimed to be one of the “hottest shows of lockdown” by outlets like The Guardian and GQ. This resurgent popularity of The Sopranos raises important analytical questions for media scholars—how do audiences understand a complex text like The Sopranos in a radically different televisual and cultural context? Did they adapt the show to fit the particularities of the present moment or was it simply a nostalgic escape from the bleak conditions of the pandemic? Perhaps most importantly though, did the distinct televisual environment of the 2020s bring with it markedly new ways for audience...
The social relations, societal structures and existential conundrums in the world of Harry Potter novels reflect our own. When the authoritarianism of Hogwarts falls upon Harry, it is an echo of disciplinary practices in real-world high schools. The economic inequities of the wizarding world mirror those of modern societies. The art, literature and mass media of wizard society reveal our deep-rooted fears. Harry's world is our world. This collection presents new essays by contributors across a range of disciplines, bringing fresh perspectives on one of the most influential texts in modern history.
This book challenges the predominant framing of US television as a writer’s or producer’s medium by suggesting that television directors are a vital component of TV artistry. Looking beyond a perspective that favors the narrative and economic aspects of television but undervalues the medium’s formal elements, the book explores how directors use the visual and aural to contribute layers of meaning that add to the thematic development of television texts. Starting from the belief that television aesthetics partially reveal the ways in which directors (and their collaborators) contribute to the overall thematic development of a program, the author offers five case studies that map out the...
This edited volume explores the democratic dangers posed by a political press that emphasizes electoral competition, strategy, entertainment, and what Jay Rosen calls “savviness”—praising candidates for being politically smart rather than being honest—in its coverage of a political landscape dominated by a looming authoritarian threat. Contributors document how the American and global political press have failed to fulfill their role in elections and demonstrate how authoritarians have used and will continue to use their power in setting policy before going on to suggest and develop solutions to these problems. These proposed solutions include the adoption of democracy-focused framing, solutions journalism, and solidarity journalism, all of which emphasize the needs and issues of democratic communities over candidates’ political strategy. The book’s recommendations contribute to a reorientation of journalism toward democracy and truth rather than performative detachment and forced balance. Scholars of journalism, mass media, communication, and political science will find this collection to be of particular use.
It would be difficult to find a more interesting topic than the relationship between the news media and politics, especially given that Americans are now living in the "Twitter presidency" of Donald Trump. Academic research in the area of media and politics is rapidly breaking new ground to keep pace with prolific media developments and societal changes. This innovative, up-to-date text moves beyond rudimentary concepts and definitions to consider exciting research as well as practical applications that address monumental changes in media systems in the US and the world. This carefully crafted volume explores key questions posed by academics and practitioners alike, exposing students to rigo...