Millions of people read weekly supermarket tabloids. Yet little serious effort has been made to understand why so many Americans make a valued place for these papers in their lives. Instead, the tabloids are dismissed as the epitome of trash--sensational, gossipy, stereotyped, ephemeral. Libraries shun them. As the papers are trashed by critics, so by extension are their largely working-class readers, who are viewed as unworthy of consideration. This book, the first full-length analysis of the tabloids within their ...
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Millions of people read weekly supermarket tabloids. Yet little serious effort has been made to understand why so many Americans make a valued place for these papers in their lives. Instead, the tabloids are dismissed as the epitome of trash--sensational, gossipy, stereotyped, ephemeral. Libraries shun them. As the papers are trashed by critics, so by extension are their largely working-class readers, who are viewed as unworthy of consideration. This book, the first full-length analysis of the tabloids within their historical and cultural contexts, examines the interplay among tabloid writer, text, and audience. Drawing on anthropology, communications, folklore, and literary theory, Elizabeth Bird argues that tabloids are successful because they build on and feed existing narrative traditions, much as folklore does. Men and women, to judge from letters and interviews, read the tabloids from different perspectives. And while people buy the papers for various reasons, readers tend to be alienated from some aspects of the dominant culture. The tabloids are popular precisely for the reasons they are despised: formulaic yet titillating, they celebrate excess and ordinariness at the same time. After beckoning readers into a world where life is dangerous and exciting, the tabloids soothe them with assurances that, be it ever so humble, there is no place like home. Thus, while readers are active, playful consumers, we cannot assume that the papers offer a real opportunity to resist cultural subordination.
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Add this copy of For Enquiring Minds: A Cultural Study of Supermarket to cart. $64.95, very good condition, Sold by David Segal rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brooklyn, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by University of Tennessee Press.
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Very good in very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 234 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Ships w signature confirmation. 1992 hc 1st ed. Lite dampstain ripple on abt 30 pgs, tiny stain on bottom edge, small fold on back flap, else text clean, binding tight.
Add this copy of For Enquiring Minds: a Cultural Study of Supermarket to cart. $75.00, like new condition, Sold by Brentwood Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Kinnelon, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by University Of Tennessee Press.
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LIKE NEW. Book and jacket are like new. This is a gray cloth hardcover published in 1992 by the Univ of Tennessee Press. Perfect condition. **We provide professional service and individual attention to your order, daily shipments, and sturdy packaging. FREE TRACKING ON ALL SHIPMENTS WITHIN USA.
Add this copy of For Enquiring Minds: a Cultural Study of Supermarket to cart. $76.96, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Univ Tennessee Press.
Add this copy of For Enquiring Minds: a Cultural Study of Supermarket to cart. $115.50, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Univ Tennessee Press.
