Andrew Dix

Through a geographically expansive series of case studies, tracking film performers from the United States, the Americas, Europe and parts of the Pacific Rim, this book explores the varieties and meanings of contemporary Hollywood stardom as it has become increasingly deterritorialized. Each chapter assesses the economic significance of its chosen star, identifying his or her contribution to the extension and hegemony of what has been called ‘global Hollywood’. By detailed study of the stars’ selections of roles, modes of performance and fashioning of personas, the book also unpacks their multiple cultural or semiotic implications. In this way, Dix analyzes how contemporary transnational stars have not only advanced the global remit of Hollywood cinema but have played a major part in reconfiguring and even contesting Hollywood.

Now in its fifth edition, American Cultural Studies continues to offer a critical introduction to key concepts, topics and methods in the study of United States culture, exploring subjects that include the city, ethnicity and immigration, religion, youth, and gender and sexuality. The fifth edition has been comprehensively revised to take account of developments in American culture during the past decade. Arguments are supported by close readings of cultural materials that range from novels to paintings, films to political speeches, and TV shows to regional cuisines. Updated case studies introduce each chapter, with examples including Moonlight, The Great Gatsby, and the songs and videos of Lady Gaga. The book also offers a new chapter on class; extended discussion of gender and sexuality, including masculinities and trans culture; and increased coverage of sports in American culture, including baseball, wrestling, and American football. To further engage contemporary readers, this edition provides up-to-date further reading suggestions for each chapter and considers the place of American cultural studies in the current moment. Of particular interest to undergraduate readers, this book is panoramic in its coverage of the field and is a core text for studying American culture. Instructor and student resources for this book include an interactive timeline of cultural and historical events, additional discussion questions and activities for each topic, and suggestions for further reading and online resources for each chapter.

Now in its fifth edition, American Cultural Studies continues to offer a critical introduction to key concepts, topics and methods in the study of United States culture, exploring subjects that include the city, ethnicity and immigration, religion, youth, and gender and sexuality. The fifth edition has been comprehensively revised to take account of developments in American culture during the past decade. Arguments are supported by close readings of cultural materials that range from novels to paintings, films to political speeches, and TV shows to regional cuisines. Updated case studies introduce each chapter, with examples including Moonlight, The Great Gatsby, and the songs and videos of Lady Gaga. The book also offers a new chapter on class; extended discussion of gender and sexuality, including masculinities and trans culture; and increased coverage of sports in American culture, including baseball, wrestling, and American football. To further engage contemporary readers, this edition provides up-to-date further reading suggestions for each chapter and considers the place of American cultural studies in the current moment. Of particular interest to undergraduate readers, this book is panoramic in its coverage of the field and is a core text for studying American culture. Instructor and student resources for this book include an interactive timeline of cultural and historical events, additional discussion questions and activities for each topic, and suggestions for further reading and online resources for each chapter.

American Studies: The Basics is an accessible and concise introduction that aims to unpack what American studies does and why it matters. From Moby-Dick to baseball, Hollywood westerns to #BlackLivesMatter, and Disneyland to the U. S. Supreme Court, American studies engages with a myriad of topics in its efforts to understand what the French sociologist Jean Baudrillard called ‘social and cultural America.’ The book begins by considering how America was studied before American studies’ emergence as a recognized discipline in the mid-twentieth century. Successive chapters then explore the rise of American studies, its varied subjects, its distinctive methods of research, its geographical framing, and its politics. Throughout the book, explanatory examples are drawn from across American history and culture. Photographs are examined alongside novels, and historical monuments discussed next to films. The text offers an ideal way into an exciting academic subject of continuing growth and relevance. This book is a must read for those studying and with an interest in American studies.

American Studies: The Basics is an accessible and concise introduction that aims to unpack what American studies does and why it matters. From Moby-Dick to baseball, Hollywood westerns to #BlackLivesMatter, and Disneyland to the U. S. Supreme Court, American studies engages with a myriad of topics in its efforts to understand what the French sociologist Jean Baudrillard called ‘social and cultural America.’ The book begins by considering how America was studied before American studies’ emergence as a recognized discipline in the mid-twentieth century. Successive chapters then explore the rise of American studies, its varied subjects, its distinctive methods of research, its geographical framing, and its politics. Throughout the book, explanatory examples are drawn from across American history and culture. Photographs are examined alongside novels, and historical monuments discussed next to films. The text offers an ideal way into an exciting academic subject of continuing growth and relevance. This book is a must read for those studying and with an interest in American studies.

Beginning film studies offers the ideal introduction to this vibrant subject. Written accessibly and with verve, it ranges across the key topics and manifold approaches to film studies. Andrew Dix has thoroughly updated the first edition, and this new volume includes new case studies, overviews of recent developments in the discipline, and up-to-the-minute suggestions for further reading. The book begins by considering some of film's formal features - mise-en-scène, editing and sound - before moving outwards to narrative, genre, authorship, stardom and ideology. Later chapters on film industries and on film consumption - where and how we watch movies - assess the discipline's recent geographical 'turn'. The book references many film cultures, including Hollywood, Bollywood and contemporary Hong Kong. Case studies cover such topics as sound in The Great Gatsby and narrative in Inception. The superhero movie is studied; so too is Jennifer Lawrence. Beginning film studies is also interactive, with readers enabled throughout to reflect critically upon the field.

This title offers a critical introduction to the contemporary American novel focusing on contexts, key texts, and criticism. Adventurous, engaging and politically urgent, contemporary American novels have come to enjoy a particular prestige and, through university courses, film adaptations and cultural controversies, a global circulation. This book provides a critical introduction to novels produced in the United States between 1980 and the present. Compact yet wide-ranging, and written in vivid, accessible prose, it registers the diversity of contemporary American writing and carefully situates this work in historical contexts that include Reaganomics, the Clinton years and the post-9/11 'War on Terror'. Detailed attention is given throughout to how America's current novelists have responded to shifting gender politics, changes in the nation's racial configuration, the increasing dominance of a commodity culture and to adjustments in the United States' place in the world following the end of the Cold War and the increased pace of globalisation. Complete with timelines of historical and literary events, detailed lists of secondary sources both in print and on the web, and suggestions for students' own research projects, this is the ideal resource for anyone beginning study of this vibrant literature. "Texts and Contexts" is a series of clear, concise and accessible introductions to key literary fields and concepts. The series provides the literary, critical, historical context for texts and authors in a specific literary area in a way that introduces a range of work in the field and enables further independent study and reading.

This is a critical introduction to the contemporary American novel focusing on contexts, key texts and criticism. Adventurous, engaging and politically urgent, contemporary American novels have come to enjoy a particular prestige and, through university courses, film adaptations and cultural controversies, a global circulation. This book provides a critical introduction to novels produced in the United States between 1980 and the present. Compact yet wide-ranging, and written in vivid, accessible prose, it registers the diversity of contemporary American writing and carefully situates this work in historical contexts that include Reaganomics, the Clinton years and the post-9/11 'War on Terror'. Detailed attention is given throughout to how America's current novelists have responded to shifting gender politics, changes in the nation's racial configuration, the increasing dominance of a commodity culture and to adjustments in the United States's place in the world following the end of the Cold War and the increased pace of globalisation. Complete with timelines of historical and literary events, detailed lists of secondary sources both in print and on the web, and suggestions for students' own research projects, this is the ideal resource for anyone beginning study of this vibrant literature. "Texts and Contexts" is a series of clear, concise and accessible introductions to key literary fields and concepts. The series provides the literary, critical, historical context for texts and authors in a specific literary area in a way that introduces a range of work in the field and enables further independent study and reading.