Living Room Wars: Rethinking Media Audiences for a Postmodern World

Book Description

Living Room Wars brings together Ien Ang's recent writings on media audiences to ask what it means to live in a world saturated by media. Ang suggests that we cannot understand media audiences without deconstructing the category of "audience" itself as an institutional and discursive construct.

Living Room Wars highlights the inherent contradictions of a `politics of pleasure' of television consumption: Ang moves beyond the traditional focus on textual meanings to explore the structural and historical representations of television audiences as an integral part of modern culture. Her wide-ranging and illuminating discussion takes in the battle between television and its audiences; the politics of empirical audience research; new technologies and the tactics of television consumption; ethnography and radical contextualism in audience studies; television and fiction and women's fantasy; feminist desire and female pleasure in media consumption; and the transnational media system.

Customer Reviews:

Living Room Wars. Rethinking media audiences for a postmoder.......2000-05-23

Written within the tradition of cultural and media studies, this book offers a wonderful resource for those interested in critical approaches to ethnographic sudies on audiences. The four chapters that constitute the first section present an in depth critical discussion of the assumptions of previous theories, research, and measuring methods used by traditional academic and commercial analysis of audiences. They situate the debate about audiences in the realm of the consumption of TV as a domestic experience and point out the limitation of those traditions which decontextualized the audience from their consumption environment. The second section provides strong evidence of how women negotiate cultural and personal meanings when watching TV. One of the articles, for example, deconstructs the traditional premise that portrays them as passive and alienated viewers of soap operas. This section intends to offer a solid theoretical basis to understand how gender is related to media consumption by giving actual examples of ethnographic interpretive research. The last section situates media reception in the complex landscapes of globalization systems. It emphasizes how local audiences "localize" global media by re-interpreting those "global" media in their local experiences, challenging the thesis of global cultural homogeneization hold by some traditions in sociology and media studies. Finally, I want to point out that the value of this book is not only the relevance of the topics that are addressed, but the solid academic base that supports their main thesis. Moreover, among the virtues of it, I can name the clarity of the language, the well organized exposition of complex ideas and, of course, the passion of the discussion that will definitely involve even those readers with no previous expertise in media or cultural studies literature. This book can definitely have a place with important advances in media and cultural studies such as David Morley's Television, Audiences and CulturalStudies or Shaun Moores' Interpreting audiences.

Television, Audiences and Cultural Studies

Average customer rating:

Television, Audiences and Cultural Studies
Dave Morley
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General Broadcasting | Radio | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Living Room Wars: Rethinking Media Audiences for a Postmodern World
Desperately Seeking the Audience
The Audience and Its Landscapes (Cultural Studies Series)
The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media
Watching Dallas: Soap Opera and the Melodramatic Imagination

ASIN: 0415054451

Book Description

A multi-faceted exploration of audience research, in which Morley draws on a rich body of empirical work to examine the emergence, development and future of audience research.

Regarding Frank Capra: Audience, Celebrity, and American Film Studies, 1930-1960

Average customer rating:

Regarding Frank Capra: Audience, Celebrity, and American Film Studies, 1930-1960
Eric Smoodin , and Eric Smoodin
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Museum Movies: The Museum of Modern Art and the Birth of Art Cinema
The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960
Cupboards of Curiosity: Women, Recollection, and Film History
Frank Capra: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series)
Sessue Hayakawa: Silent Cinema and Transnational Stardom (A John Hope Franklin Center Book)

ASIN: 0822333945

Book Description

In this innovative historical examination of the American movie audience, Eric Smoodin focuses on reactions to the films of Frank Capra. Best known for his Hollywood features—including It Happened One Night, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington—Capra also directed educational films, military films, and documentaries. Based on his analysis of the reception of a broad range of Capra’s films, Smoodin considers the preferences and attitudes toward Hollywood of the people who watched movies during the “Golden Age” of studio production, from 1930 to 1960.

Drawing on archival sources including fan letters, exhibitor reports, military and prison records, government and corporate documents, and trade journals, Smoodin explains how the venues where Capra’s films were seen and the strategies used to promote the films affected audience response and how, in turn, audience response shaped film production. He analyzes issues of foreign censorship and government intervention in the making of The Bitter Tea of General Yen; the response of high school students to It Happened One Night; fan engagement with the overtly political discourse of Meet John Doe and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; San Quentin prisoners’ reaction to a special screening of It’s a Wonderful Life; and at&t’s involvement in Capra’s later documentary work for the Bell Science Series. He also looks at the reception of Capra’s series Why We Fight, used by the American military to train recruits and re-educate German prisoners of war. Illuminating the role of the famous director and his films in American culture, Regarding Frank Capra signals new directions for significant research on film reception and promotion.

The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media

Average customer rating:

ALMOST completely adoring 'The Adoring Audience'

The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media
Lisa A. Lewis
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Applied Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture and Identity (The Hampton Press Communication Series)
Fan Cultures (Sussex Studies in Culture and Communication)
Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture (Studies in Culture and Communication)
Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Media Consumers in a Digital Age
Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet

ASIN: 0415078210

Book Description

With stories of hysterical teenagers and obsessive fans killing for their heroes, fans and fandom get a bad press. The Adoring Audience looks deeper into fan culture, particularly as it relates to identity,

Customer Reviews:

ALMOST completely adoring 'The Adoring Audience'.......2000-07-03

'The Adoring Audience' is a collection of essays by academics,journalists and other writers about fans, 'fandom' and fan behaviour. All articles shed light in one way or another on the phenomenon of fandom from a number of different persepctives: John Fiske writes about 'The Cultural Economy of Fandom'; Cheryl Cline looks at female rock 'n' roll fans; Lisa Lewis examines fan stories on film; and Joli Jensen alerts us to the dangers of dismissing ardent fans as 'pathological.' Both Elvis fans and 'Beatlemania' come under the microscope too. The articles are presented without apology or explanation or with any idea that there should be a cohesion of position across the entire volume (unless of course it is that 'fandom' is interesting!). As a result, a chapter which clearly 'pathologises' fans follows on from an article which states that it is unhelpful to do precisely that. There are many contradictions in the ideas in this book. I liked that. It really made you examine the arguments put forward more rigorously. I think I am only rating it a four star book because I don't really feel it is the 'last word' on this subject. It was a great place to start to think about fans and fandom, but at the end of it I did not feel as though the experience of being a fan and the taboos associated with fandom in society had been emptied of charge and meaning and mystery. I think perhaps my favourite chapter was Fred and Judy Vermorel's 'A Glimpse of the Fan Factory' - a collection of extracts from fan letters to celebrities like Kate Bush and David Bowie, excerpts from radio and television shows too - in which fans unguardedly write and speak their minds about their fan objects. Although some of the writers are clearly deeply disturbed and 'unusual' - and some bizarrely unselfconscious and naive - some of these letters have a curious beauty and power which is difficult to describe . . . little pieces of people's hearts and lives, sent out to the adored they will never meet. Amazing reading.

Screen Traffic: Movies, Multiplexes, and Global Culture

Average customer rating:

Screen Traffic: Movies, Multiplexes, and Global Culture
Charles R. Acland , and Charles R. Acland
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Sports & Entertainment | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Exhibition, the Film Reader (In Focus--Routledge Film Readers)
The Place of the Audience: Cultural Geographies of Film Consumption (BFI Modern Classics)
Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the United States (Wisconsin Studies in Film)
Global Hollywood 2
Hollywood Abroad: Audiences and Cultural Exchange

ASIN: 0822331632

Book Description

In Screen Traffic, Charles R. Acland examines how, since the mid-1980s, the U.S. commercial movie business has altered conceptions of moviegoing both within the industry and among audiences. He shows how studios, in their increasing reliance on revenues from international audiences and from the ancillary markets of television, videotape, DVD, and pay-per-view, have cultivated an understanding of their commodities as mutating global products. Consequently, the cultural practice of moviegoing has changed significantly, as has the place of the cinema in relation to other sites of leisure.

Integrating film and cultural theory with close analysis of promotional materials, entertainment news, trade publications, and economic reports, Acland presents an array of evidence for the new understanding of movies and moviegoing that has developed within popular culture and the entertainment industry. In particular, he dissects a key development: the rise of the megaplex, characterized by large auditoriums, plentiful screens, and consumer activities other than film viewing. He traces its genesis from the re-entry of studios into the movie exhibition business in 1986 through 1998, when reports of the economic destabilization of exhibition began to surface, just as the rise of so-called e-cinema signaled another wave of change. Documenting the current tendency toward an accelerated cinema culture, one that appears to arrive simultaneously for everyone, everywhere, Screen Traffic unearths and critiques the corporate and cultural forces contributing to the “felt internationalism” of our global era.

Television and New Media Audiences (Oxford Television Studies)

Average customer rating:

Serious stuff about TV

Television and New Media Audiences (Oxford Television Studies)
Ellen Seiter
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Living Room Wars: Rethinking Media Audiences for a Postmodern World
The Television Studies Reader

ASIN: 0198711417

Book Description

Why is talk about television forbidden at certain schools? Why does a mother feel guilty about watching Star Trek in front of her four-year-old child? Why would retired men turn to daytime soap operas for entertainment? Cliches about television mask the complexity of our relationship to media technologies. Through case studies, the author explains what audience research tells us about the uses of technologies in the domestic sphere and the classroom, the relationship between gender and genre, and the varied interpretation of media technologies and media forms. Television and New Media Audiences reviews the most important research on television audiences and recommends the use of ethnographic, longitudinal methods for the study of media consumption and computer use at home as well as in the workplace. The book discusses reactions of audiences to many internationally known television programmes including The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Street Fighter, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, X-Men, Sesame Street, Dallas, Star Trek, The Cosby Show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, National Geographic, etc.

Customer Reviews:

Serious stuff about TV.......2001-01-29

An exceptonally thoughtful analysis of television and how it influences opinions and attitudes. As you read this book, you'll get some insight into the ways you are being subtly manipulated every day. Lots to think about!

Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Star Trek and Doctor Who (Popular Fiction)

Average customer rating:

Insightful but overly academic

Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Star Trek and Doctor Who (Popular Fiction)
John Tulloch
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Social Psychology & Interactions | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Doctor Who | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0415061415

Book Description

Science Fiction Audiences examines the astounding popularity of two television "institutions" of our time--the science fiction series Doctor Who and Star Trek. Both of theses programs have survived cancellation and acquired a following that continues to grow. The book is based on years of research including interviews with fans and followers of these two television series. In that period fans and followers have changed, and ways of studying them as "audiences" have changed as well, but the programs endure intact--Star Trek, for example, is approaching its fourth television incarnation.

John Tulloch and Henry Jenkins dive into the rich fan culture surrounding the two series, exploring such issues as queer identity, fan meanings, teenage love of science fiction and genre expectations. The authors further question how these series operate on other levels, for example, by portraying particular American and British profiles, by promoting certain ideologies, orsimply by providing a very consistent form of entertainment.

Science Fiction Audiences encompasses the perspectives of vast population of fans and followers throughout Britain, Australia, and the USA. This book is intended both for fans and followers of the series, who will continue their debates in these pages, and for those involved in media and cultural studies, who will examine a historically changing range of audience theory operating over the time period this study covers. Overall, Science Fiction Audiences offers a synthesis of text, context and audience study.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful but overly academic.......2000-08-25

An academic, though interesting look at the opinions of various viewers in regards to the world's two most famous sci-fi television shows, Doctor Who and Star Trek. The Doctor Who section explores viewer reactions to (if I'm not mistaken) the Jon Pertwee story "The Monster of Peladon", an odd choice as it is not generally considered one of the more popular Doctor Who adventures. The story was chosen for analysis as it features strong social and political commentary, including the subjects of worker's rights, unionization, and women's liberation. As the book is a scholarly look at the average science-fiction viewer, it tends to be somewhat dry and difficult to follow at times. Overall an interesting oddity, though probably not for the average reader.

Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception

Average customer rating:

Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception
Janet Staiger
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Media Reception Studies
Interpreting Films
The Place of the Audience: Cultural Geographies of Film Consumption (BFI Modern Classics)
Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the United States (Wisconsin Studies in Film)
The Fifties: Transforming the Screen, 1950-1959 (History of the American Cinema)

ASIN: 081478139X
Release Date: 2000-07-01

Book Description

"One of the best contemporary American film scholars over the past decade. Janet Staiger points towards new directions which the study of cinema must consider in the coming years."
--Henry Jenkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Film and television have never been more prevalent or watched than they are now, yet we still have little understanding of how people process and make use of what they see. And though we acknowledge the enormous role the media plays in our culture, we have only a vague sense of how it actually influences our attitudes and desires.

In Perverse Spectators, Janet Staiger argues that studying the interpretive methods of spectators within their historical contexts is both possible and necessary to understand the role media plays in culture and in our personal lives. This analytical approach is applied to topics such as depictions of violence, the role of ratings codes, the horror and suspense genre, historical accuracy in film, and sexual identities, and then demonstrated through works like JFK, The Silence of the Lambs, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Psycho, and A Clockwork Orange. Each chapter shows a different approach to reconstructing audience responses to films, consistently and ingeniously finding traces of what would otherwise appear to be unrecoverable information.

Using vivid examples, charting key concepts, and offering useful syntheses of long-standing debates, Perverse Spectators constitutes a compelling case for a reconsideration of the assumptions about film reception which underlie contemporary scholarship in media studies.

Book Description

This book offers a major reconceptualization of the term "audience, " one which involves a landscape, including the landscape of a given audience -- situated and territorializing features of any way of seeing and defining the world. It acknowledges, in the face of conventional "discourse analysis, " the contextual features of discourse, to produce complex and textured understanding of the concept of audience. The book will speak to students of rhetoric, mass communication, cultural studies, anthropology, an sociology alike.

Inside Family Viewing: Ethnographic Research on Television's Audiences (Comedia)

Average customer rating:

Inside Family Viewing: Ethnographic Research on Television's Audiences (Comedia)
James Lull
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Communications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books