John Hartley

How does television function within society? Why have both its programmes and its audiences been so widely denigrated? Taking inspiration from Richard Hoggarts classic study The Uses of Literacy, John Hartleys new book is a lucid defence of the place of television in our lives, and of the usefulness of television studies. Hartley re-conceptualizes television as a transmodern medium, capable of reuniting government, education and media, and of creating a new kind of cultural teaching which facilitates communication across social and geographical boundaries. He provides a historical framework for the development of both television and television studies, his focus ranging from an analysis of the early documentary Housing Problems, to the much-overlooked cultural impact of the refrigerator.

How does television function within society? Why have both its programmes and its audiences been so widely denigrated? Taking inspiration from Richard Hoggarts classic study The Uses of Literacy, John Hartleys new book is a lucid defence of the place of television in our lives, and of the usefulness of television studies. Hartley re-conceptualizes television as a transmodern medium, capable of reuniting government, education and media, and of creating a new kind of cultural teaching which facilitates communication across social and geographical boundaries. He provides a historical framework for the development of both television and television studies, his focus ranging from an analysis of the early documentary Housing Problems, to the much-overlooked cultural impact of the refrigerator.

This work provides theoretical analysis and historical detail to reconceptualize the significance of modern journalism from the point of view of its greatest creation - popular readerships. It traces the links between journalism, politics and popular culture, showing how liberty, fraternity and equality are unthinkable without suburbia, sexualization and kissing. The book also provides a critique of academic and professional discourses on popular journalism, and provides new bridges between contemporary journalism and contemporary theory. The work is illustrated from the popular media new and old.

The Politics of Pictures is a history of looking, from Aristotle to TV audiences, from the invention of photography to the meaning of picnics, from Leviathan to synchronised swimming, Dr Johnson to the sexualization of war. John Hartley's wide-ranging and sometimes bizarre journey of discovery looks for the public in the realm of media, where citizens are now literally represented on screen and page. The book investigates popular media reality by showing how pictures and texts are powerful political forces in their own right, using a variety of primary texts to explore the way publics have been created, and exploring the political uses of media audiences. The unconventional approach is designed to show how popular reality looks to itself, and how its peculiar forms and connections actually challenge some venerable political and philosophical truths.

The Politics of Pictures is a history of looking, from Aristotle to TV audiences, from the invention of photography to the meaning of picnics, from Leviathan to synchronised swimming, Dr Johnson to the sexualization of war. John Hartley's wide-ranging and sometimes bizarre journey of discovery looks for the public in the realm of media, where citizens are now literally represented on screen and page. The book investigates popular media reality by showing how pictures and texts are powerful political forces in their own right, using a variety of primary texts to explore the way publics have been created, and exploring the political uses of media audiences. The unconventional approach is designed to show how popular reality looks to itself, and how its peculiar forms and connections actually challenge some venerable political and philosophical truths.

Now under new editors, Cultural Studies explores popular culture in a uniquely exciting and rewarding way. Encouraging experimentation, intervention and dialogue, Cultural Studies is both politically and theoretically rewarding.

Teleology brings together John Hartley's work on television. The book draws on current critical theory in cultural studies to develop a wide-ranging and thought-provoking view of television broadcasting in Britain, Australia and the USA. Neighbours, Hancock's Half Hour, Dallas, Monty Python, Miami Vice, Beverly Hillbillies and Bonanza are among the examples of TV art that are discussed in Hartley's exploration of cultural politics. He takes in TV truth and propaganda; populism in the news; mythologies of the audience; TV drama as a `photopoetic' genre in the tradition of Shakespeare; Kylie Minogue, Madonna and gardening shows.

Teleology brings together John Hartley's work on television. The book draws on current critical theory in cultural studies to develop a wide-ranging and thought-provoking view of television broadcasting in Britain, Australia and the USA. Neighbours, Hancock's Half Hour, Dallas, Monty Python, Miami Vice, Beverly Hillbillies and Bonanza are among the examples of TV art that are discussed in Hartley's exploration of cultural politics. He takes in TV truth and propaganda; populism in the news; mythologies of the audience; TV drama as a `photopoetic' genre in the tradition of Shakespeare; Kylie Minogue, Madonna and gardening shows.

News depends for its effect on a culturally shared language, and this book concentrates on ways we can decode its messages without simply reproducing their underlying assumptions.