Americans consider themselves practical, realistic people engaged in building a complex technological civilization. At the same time, however, we spend countless billions on activities that fly in the face of our supposed commitment to down-to-earth realism: our movies, television programs, and sports events seem to be the pastimes of a whimsical, fantasy-ridden people. American Dreamtime explores these conflicting images through an analysis of blockbuster movies, revealing the intimate ties our daily activity and thought have with a world of myth.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
In his innovative and original study of popular American films Drummond finds a virtual forest of symbols-not disembodied, language-based meanings but of pervasive images of machines and animals that are generative of the mythic ambiguities of American culture. -- Richard J. Parmentier, Brandeis University An important work in contemporary social theory. Presents well-constructed arguments that simply cannot be ignored. -- Paul Stoller, West Chester University In a radical challenge to both anthropology and the popular imagination, Drummond's marvelously irreverent wit probes the extraordinary fascination with both animal and machine through which popular entertainments grapple with the boundaries of human identity. -- Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University
Sprache
Verlagsort
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Dicke: 25 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-8226-3046-3 (9780822630463)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Lee Drummond is an independent scholar living in California. He directs the Center for Peripheral Studies.
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Primacy of Myth Chapter 3 A Theory of Culture as Semiospace Chapter 4 The Story of Bond Chapter 5 Metaphors Be with You: A Cultural Analysis of Star Wars Chapter 6 It and Other Beasts: Jaws and the New Totemism Chapter 7 Phone Home: E.T. as a Saga of the American Family Chapter 8 Conclusions. Index
