Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction

307 Pages·2015·4.923 MB·English

by  Storey, John

Cultural Theory and Popular Culture
In this seventh edition of his award-winning Cultural Theory and Popular Culture:
An Introduction, John Storey has extensively revised the text throughout. As before,
the book presents a clear and critical survey of competing theories of and various
approaches to popular culture. Its breadth and theoretical unity, exemplified through
popular culture, means that it can be flexibly and relevantly applied across a number
of disciplines. Retaining the accessible approach of previous editions, and using appro-
priate examples from the texts and practices of popular culture, this new edition features:
■ Improved and expanded content throughout
■ A new section on ‘The contextuality of meaning’ that explores how context impacts
meaning
■ A brand new chapter on ‘The materiality of popular culture’ that examines popular
culture as material culture
■ Extensive updates to the companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/storey,
which includes practice questions, extension activities and interactive quizzes, links
to relevant websites and further reading, and a glossary of key terms.
The new edition remains essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students
of cultural studies, media studies, communication studies, the sociology of culture,
popular culture and other related subjects.
John Storey is Professor of Cultural Studies and Associate Director of the Centre for
Research in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sunderland, UK. He has
published widely in cultural studies, including ten books. The most recent is From
Popular Culture to Everyday Life (2014). He is also on editorial/advisory boards in
Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the
USA, and has been a Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Dresden, the
University of Henan, the University of Vienna and the University of Wuhan.
Praise for previous editions
‘. . . a thorough and comprehensive text, covering the historical development of
popular culture as a subject in its own right, independent of other academic
traditions.’
Edwina Griffith, University of Sussex
‘. . . an invaluable resource for students and scholars of popular culture both for its
wide range of cultural theories covered and for the clarity and precision of its
writing.’
Monika Seidl, University of Vienna
‘Clearly clarified, strictly structured, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An
Introduction is an ideal foundation for any student new to and interested in
cultural studies.’
Delin Xu, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
‘A welcome and characteristically astute updating of one of the classic, and most
influential, textbooks in cultural studies.’
Graeme Turner, University of Queensland, Australia
‘Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction is an excellent choice for first
year students . . . Storey breaks down the theories without dumbing down the
primary texts.’
Gloria Monaghan, Wentworth Institute of Technology, USA
Cultural Theory and Popular Culture
An Introduction
Seventh edition
John Storey
First published by Pearson Education Limited 1997
Second edition published 1998
Third edition published 2000
Fourth edition published 2006
Fifth edition published 2009
Sixth edition published 2012
This seventh edition published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1997, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015 John Storey
The right of John Storey to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Storey, John, 1950-
Cultural theory and popular culture : an introduction / John Storey. -- Seventh edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Popular culture--Philosophy. 2. Culture--Philosophy. 3. Culture--History. I. Title.
CB19.S743 2015
303.49--dc23
2015001815
ISBN: 978-1-138-81101-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-81103-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74414-8 (ebk)
Typeset in 9.5/12.5pt Giovanni
by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong
Additional materials are available on the companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/storey
for Charlie
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Contents
Preface/Acknowledgements xi
Publisher’s acknowledgements xv
1 What is popular culture? 1
Culture 1
Ideology 2
Popular culture 5
Popular culture as other 13
The contextuality of meaning 14
Notes 16
Further reading 16
2 The ‘culture and civilization’ tradition 18
Matthew Arnold 19
Leavisism 23
Mass culture in America: the post-war debate 29
The culture of other people 34
Notes 36
Further reading 36
3 Culturalism 38
Richard Hoggart: The Uses of Literacy 39
Raymond Williams: ‘The analysis of culture’ 45
E.P. Thompson: The Making of the English Working Class 50
Stuart Hall and Paddy Whannel: The Popular Arts 52
The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies 58
Notes 59
Further reading 59
4 Marxisms 61
Classical Marxism 61
The English Marxism of William Morris 64
The Frankfurt School 66
Althusserianism 74
Hegemony 83
viii Contents
Post-Marxism and cultural studies 86
Notes 93
Further reading 93
5 Psychoanalysis 95
Freudian psychoanalysis 95
Lacanian psychoanalysis 105
Cine-psychoanalysis 109
Slavoj yizek and Lacanian fantasy 111
Notes 113
Further reading 114
6 Structuralism and post-structuralism 116
Ferdinand de Saussure 116
Claude Lévi-Strauss, Will Wright and the American Western 119
Roland Barthes: Mythologies 123
Post-structuralism 131
Jacques Derrida 131
Discourse and power: Michel Foucault 133
The panoptic machine 135
Notes 138
Further reading 138
7 Gender and sexuality 140
Feminisms 140
Women at the cinema 141
Reading romance 145
Watching Dallas 152
Reading women’s magazines 158
Post-feminism 163
Men’s studies and masculinities 166
Queer theory 167
Notes 172
Further reading 173
8 ‘Race’, racism and representation 175
‘Race’ and racism 175
The ideology of racism: its historical emergence 177
Orientalism 180
Whiteness 187
Anti-racism and cultural studies 188
Notes 189
Further reading 190
Contents ix
9 Postmodernism 192
The postmodern condition 192
Postmodernism in the 1960s 193
Jean-François Lyotard 195
Jean Baudrillard 197
Fredric Jameson 202
Postmodern pop music 208
Postmodern television 209
Postmodernism and the pluralism of value 212
The global postmodern 215
Convergence culture 221
Afterword 222
Notes 222
Further reading 223
10 The materiality of popular culture 225
Materiality 225
Materiality as actor 226
Meaning and materiality 228
Materiality without meaning 232
Material objects in a global world 235
Notes 237
Further reading 237
11 The politics of the popular 239
The cultural field 241
The economic field 252
Post-Marxist cultural studies: hegemony revisited 258
The ideology of mass culture 259
Notes 261
Further reading 262
Bibliography 264
Index 277