Postmodernism and Popular Culture
A Cultural History

An intellectual adventure, this book engages with some of the most important academic debates of our time.

John Docker (Author)

9780521465984, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 December 1994

344 pages, 10 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.51 kg

In this provocative and timely book, John Docker takes his readers on an intellectual adventure. The journey includes an introductory guided tour of the history of modernism, consideration of the development of postmodernism, explanation of the difference between structuralism and poststructuralism and discussion of the debates and conflicts around each. Along the way readers will visit the architecture of Le Corbusier, take a ride on the Sydney monorail, watch Prisoner (Cell Block H) on TV, come into contact with Derrida, read some crime fiction and enter into the world of carnival. The book engages, in a stimulating and illuminating way, with some of the most important academic debates of our time. It combines polemical force with intellectual rigour, reclaiming popular culture from the forces opposed to it. John Docker's personal style and accessible prose will introduce postmodernism to many interested general readers and students intimidated by other dense, theoretical tracts. The breadth and intelligence of his cultural history will make the book essential reading for scholars, in a range of disciplines, around the world.

Preface
Introduction
Part I. Modernism in Conflict: 1. Architectural modernism
2. Literary modernism
3. Modernism versus popular literture
4. The Frankfurt School versus Walter Benjamin
5. Flowering of an orthodoxy
6. Myths of origin
1970s screen theory and literary history
Part II. Modernism and Postmodernism: 7. Architectural postmodernism: learning from Las Vegas
8. From Las Vegas to Sydney
9. Are we living in a Postmodern Age?
10. Mapping Frederic Jameson's grand narrative
11. From structuralism to postructuralism: Derrida
12. Cultural studies
Transitional moments from modernism to postmodernism
Part III. Carnival: 13. Bakhtin's carnival
14. Dilemmas of a world upside fown
15. Fools: carnival-theatre-Vaudeville-television
16. Fool, trickster, social explorer - the detective
17. Crime fiction as a changing genre
18. Melodrama, farce, soap opera
19. Melodrama in action: Prisoner or Cell Block H
Conclusion: Carnival and contemporary popular culture
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]