Brazilian
Telenovelas and the Myth of Racial Democracy, by
Samantha Noguiera Joyce (Lexington Books, 2012). “Examines what happens when a telenovela directly addresses
matters of race and racism in contemporary Brazil. This investigation provides
a traditional textual analysis of Duas Caras (2007-2008), a watershed telenovela
for two main reasons: It was the first of its kind to present audiences with an
Afro-Brazilian as the main hero, openly addressing race matters through plot
and dialogue. Additionally, for the first time in the history of Brazilian
television, the author of Duas Caras kept a web blog where he discussed the public's reactions
to the storylines, media discussions pertaining to the characters and plot, and
directly engaged with fans and critics of the program.”—publisher’s description
Daisy
Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater and the Ad that Changed
American Politics, by Robert Mann (Louisiana State University,
2011). "[A]n enterprising book meticulously reconstructing the genesis and
impact of this very brief, very devastating piece of film." --Frank Rich, New York Magazine
The
Digital Condition: Class and Culture in the Information Network, by
Randolf Menzel and Julia Fishcher (MIT Press, 2011). How global class
inequalities are reflected in and help form digital culture.
Drop
Dead Gorgeous: Representations of Corpses in American TV Shows, by
Tine Weber (University of Chicago, 2012). The representation of corpses and
parts of corpses on TV shows such as CSI
Las Vegas, Bones, NCIS, Six Feet under, and Dexter.
The
Gospel of Sustainability: Media, Market and Lohas, by
Monica M. Emerich (University of Illinois, 2011). From
organic produce and clothing to socially conscious investing and eco-tourism,
the lifestyles of health and sustainability, or LOHAS, movement encompasses
diverse products and practices intended to contribute to a more sustainable
lifestyle for people and the planet….first book to qualitatively study the
LOHAS marketplace and the development of a discourse of sustainability of the
self and the social and natural worlds.” –publisher’s description
Hollywood
‘s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet, by
Peter Decherney (Columbia University, 2012). “There
was a time when mentioning copyright drew yawns across faculty lounges and
barstools, but no longer. This crucial component of our cultural infrastructure
is now the topic of the day. Peter Decherney's sure-handed, able history of
Hollywood and copyright gives us a rich perspective on the industry's past,
present, and possible future.” --Toby Miller, University of California,
Riverside
Hooked: Drug War Films in Britain, Canada, and the U.S., by Anthony Walsh (Routledge, 2012). “Drug prohibition emerged
at the same time as the discovery of film, and their histories intersect in
interesting ways. This book examines the ideological assumptions embedded in
the narrative and imagery of one hundred fictional drug films produced in
Britain, Canada, and the U.S. from 1912 to 2006”
–publisher’s description
How
We Think: Digital Media and Contemporary Technologies¸ by N.
Katherine Hayles (University of Chicago, 2012). “Comprehensive
account of how humanities scholars and students apprehend their work
differently in the context of the digital turn. The perfect fusion of N.
Katherine Hayles’s characteristically lucid technical explanations and
virtuosic literary analyses, this book navigates the divide between the
traditional and digital humanities and shows us how they might in fact
intellectually stimulate and support each other. A discipline supposedly in
crisis has never seemed so vibrant.”—Rita Raley, University of California,
Santa Barbara
Inter/vention:
Free Play in the Age of Electracy, by Jan Rune Holmevik (MIT
Press, 2012). “"A unique consideration of the
play of new cultural and narrative forms, new media, and the interrelationship
between artistic and other knowledge structures and emergent networked global
cultures…glints with convertible, reversible, interchangeable attractions,
grounding both gameworlds and electronic textuality firmly in the richest
tradition of the humanities."--Michael Joyce, Professor of English and Media Studies, Vassar
College
Is There a Home in
Cyberspace? The Internet in Migrant’s Everyday Life and the Emergence of Global
Communities, by Heike Monika Greschke (Routledge, 2012). “How is global
togetherness possible? How does the availability of the Internet alter
migrants' everyday lives and senses of belonging? This book introduces an
'alien people' inhabiting a specific common virtual space in the World Wide
Web, while the members of this space - most of them ethnic Paraguayans - are
physically located in many different parts of the world….The concentration on a
single case facilitates an in-depth understanding of contemporary migration
practices, cultural meanings of digital media and senses of belonging.”
–publisher’s description
Liberation
Technology: The Social Media and the Struggle for Democracy,
edited by Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner. (John Hopkins University, 2012). “Liberation Technology brings
together cutting-edge scholarship from scholars and practitioners at the
forefront of this burgeoning field of study. An introductory section defines
the debate with a foundational piece on liberation technology and is then
followed by essays discussing the popular dichotomy of "liberation"
versus "control" with regard to the Internet and the sociopolitical
dimensions of such controls. Additional chapters delve into the cases of
individual countries: China, Egypt, Iran, and Tunisia.” –publisher’s
description
The
Long History of New Media: Technology, Historiography, and Contextualizing
Newness, edited by David W. Park, Nicholas W.
Jankowski, and Steve Jones (Peter Lang, 2011). “Chapters by eminent scholars
address the connection between historical consideration and new media. Some
assess the historical descriptions of the development of new media; others
hinge on the issue of newness as it relates to existing practices in media
history. Remaining essays address the shifting patterns of storage at work in
media inscription, as they relate to the practice of history, and to the past
and contemporary cultural formations. Together they offer a ground-breaking
assessment of the long history of new media, clearly recognizing that the new
media of today will be the traditional media of tomorrow, and that an emphasis
on the history of the future sheds light on what this newness can be said to
represent.” –publisher’s description
Media,
Sound and Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean,
edited by Alejandra Bronfman and Andrew Grant Wood (University of Pittsburgh,
2010).” “This superb volume brings to light a myriad
exciting discoveries: from Brazilian popular music to Bolivian carnival,
Alejandra Bronfman and Andrew Grant Wood have assembled a fascinating
collection of essays about the intersection of music, sound, radio, and popular
culture in Latin America. Never before has Latin America resounded so clearly
in a critical anthology.” —Rubén Gallo, Princeton University
Mediating
Mental Health: Contexts, Debates and Analysis, by
Michael Birch (Ashgate Publishers, 2011). “Looks
across fictional and factual genres in film, television and radio examining
media constructions of mental health identity. It also questions the opinions
of journalists, mental healthcare professionals and people with conditions with
regard to mediated mental health meanings.” –publisher’s description
Murder,
the Media, and the Politics of Public Feeling: Remembering Matthew Shepard and
James Byrd, Jr. (Indiana University, 2011). The media’s role in
the public reaction to the murders that led to new hate crime legislation.
Muslims
and the New Media: Historical and Contemporary Debates, by
Goran Larsson (Ashgate Publishers, 2011). “Eexplores how the introduction of the latest information and
communication technologies are mirroring changes and developments within
society, as well as the Middle East's relationship to the West.”--publisher’s
description
Noise
Channels: Glitch and Error in Digital Culture, by
Peter Krapp (University of Minnesota, 2011).
"With a jam-packed intellectual
bandwidth, Noise Channels reconfigures how we think about digital
culture. Distortion reveals system characteristics: Peter Krapp uses this
classic insight to illuminate the vibrant aesthetic and practical offspring of
the computer. Marx knew it, Freud knew it, and so do Krapp’s fractious gang of
characters. Rarely have the secret affinities among continental high theorists,
engineering visionaries, and avant-garde artists been revealed so
freshly." —John Durham Peters, University of Iowa
Oversharing: Presentations of Self in the Internet Age, by Ben Agger (Routledge, 2012). “Text messaging, Facebooking,
tweeting, camming, blogging, online dating, and internet porn are vehicles of
this oversharing, which blurs the boundary between public and private life.
This book examines these ‘presentations of self’, acknowledging that we are now
much more public about what used to be private.” –publisher’s description
Persuasion
and Power: The Art of Strategic Communication, by
James P. Farwell (Georgetown University, 2012). “Using historical examples,
Farwell illustrates how its principles have made a critical difference
throughout history in the outcomes of crises, conflicts, politics, and
diplomacy across different cultures and societies.” –publisher’s description
Politics
and the Twitter Revolution: How Tweets Influence the Relationship Between
Political Leaders and the Public, by John H. Parmalee and
Shannon L. Bichard. (Lexington Books, 2012). How Twitter has been used in Senate
and gubernatorial campaigns; includes interview and survey data.
Super
Black: American Popular Culture and Black Superheroes, by
Adilifu Nama (University of Texas, 2011). “Examines
seminal black comic book superheroes such as Black Panther, Black Lightning,
Storm, Luke Cage, Blade, the Falcon, Nubia, and others, some of whom also
appear on the small and large screens, as well as how the imaginary black
superhero has come to life in the image of President Barack Obama.”
–publisher’s description
Theories
of Communication, edited by Eric McLuhan (Peter Lang, 2011). “The
realization of a project begun in the 1970s with Marshall McLuhan and now
brought to completion by his son, Eric McLuhan. This collection of short
essays assembles theories of communication from a diverse range of famous
people – from Thomas Aquinas and Francis Bacon to Wyndham Lewis and Ezra
Pound – and ends with an essay on Marshall McLuhan’s own theory of
communication. While the majority of the essays have been previously
published, all are seminal pieces in the field. Their presence together in
one volume is a significant contribution to the overall task of
understanding culture and communication in our time, and will appeal to
both scholars and students interested in the work of Marshall McLuhan.” –publisher’s
description
Transnational
Protests and the Media, edited by Simon Cottle and Libby Lester
(Peter Lang, 2011). “With contributions from leading theorists and researchers,
this cutting-edge collection discusses protests focusing on war and peace,
economy and trade, ecology and climate change, as well as political struggles for
civil and human rights, including the Arab uprisings. At its core is a desire
to better understand activists' innovative uses of media and communications
within a rapidly changing media environment, and how this is altering relations
of communication power around the globe.” –publisher’s description
TV
Cops: The Contemporary American Television Police Drama, by Jonathan Nichols-Pethnick (Routledge,
2012). Raises a “number of questions that
deserve serious critical attention: Under what circumstances have stories about
the police proliferated in popular culture? What function do these stories
serve for both the television industry and its audiences? Why have these
stories become so commercially viable for the television industry in
particular? How do stories about the police help us understand current social
and political debates about crime, about the communities we live in, and about
our identities as citizens?” –publisher’s description
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