Television, Globalization and Cultural Identities / Edition 1

by Chris Barker, Open University Press

Overview

* Are cultural identities socially constructed?
* How are race, nation, sex and gender constructed and represented on television?
* What is the impact of globalization on television and cultural identities?

This introductory text examines issues of television and cultural identities in the context of globalization. It is a wide-ranging volume, exploring many of the central cultural issues in contemporary cultural studies, such as media, globalization, language, gender, ethnicity, cultural politics and identity - perhaps the topic of cultural studies over the past decade. At the core of the book are two critical arguments - that television is a proliferating resource for the construction of cultural identity, and that cultural identity is not a fixed essential 'thing' but a contingent social construction to which language is central.

The book will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on television and cultural identities in the fields of cultural studies, communications, media studies and sociology, with a wider appeal to those with an interest in the television industry. Key concepts are introduced and explained for those new to cultural studies, whilst debates are extended and enriched for those already familiar with them. The text is well structured, links the vocabularies of media studies and cultural studies, and is supported by original case study material.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780335199549
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing
Publication date:	01/01/1999
Series:	Issues in Cultural and Media Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	195
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Chris Barker is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. After being awarded a doctorate by the University of Leeds, centred on television drama, Chris Barker taught for a number of years in secondary schools, colleges and higher education institutions in the UK, including the University of Humberside and the University of Wolverhampton. His current interests are in language, identity and global media.

Table of Contents

Series editor's foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction television, globalization and cultural identities
Disturbing cultural identities
Global television and global culture
The construction and representation of race and nation
The construction and representation of sex and gender
Audiences, identity and television talk
Television and the cultural politics of identity
Television and cultural identities a summary
Glossary of key concepts
Bibliography
Index.

Editorial Reviews

"As an introduction to cultural studies, with very clear capsule reviews of complex interdisciplinary literatures, it will be a useful supporting text for many cultural geography courses.

As a clear introduction to key debates about identity and cultural politics this book is highly successful" - James Kneale

Cultural Geographies

Examines issues of television and cultural identities in the context of globalization, exploring issues of the global age such as media, globalization, language, gender, ethnicity, cultural politics, and identity. Presents the arguments that television is a proliferating resource for the construction of identities, and that cultural identity is not a fixed essential "thing" but a contingent social construction to which language is central. For use in courses in cultural studies, communication, media studies, and sociology. Barker is a lecturer in media and cultural studies at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Distributed by Taylor & Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews