From Library Journal
Simon (English and humanities, California Polytechnic State Univ.) here maintains that great literature and popular entertainment evoke "comparable experiences." Painstakingly detailing the structures and ideas shared by popular culture and great literature, he compares modern supermarket tabloid and gossip magazine tragedies to the great tragic literature; TV talk shows, sitcoms, and soap operas to the history of the theater; and Star Wars, Star Trek, and Vietnam War movies to The Faerie Queen, Gulliver's Travels, and Homer. Likewise, advertising, shopping malls, and Playboy, he suggests, fulfill historic needs in modern context. A controversial and optimistic view of both literature and popular works, Simon's argument is carefully thought out and surprisingly convincing. Recommended for literature and communication collections.AGene Shaw, NYPL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kurzbeschreibung
"Seinfeld" as a contemporary adaptation of Etherege's Restoration comedy of manners "The Man of Mode"? "Friends" as a reworking of Shakespeare's romantic comedy "Much Ado About Nothing"? "Star Wars" as an adaptation of Spenser's epic poem, "The Faerie Queene"? The popular culture that surrounds us in our daily lives bears a striking similarity to some of the great works of literature of the past. In television, movies, magazines, and advertisements we are exposed to many of the same stories as those critics who study the great books of Western literature, but we have simply been encouraged to look at those stories differently. This text examines the ways in which the great literature and cultural works of the past have been rewritten for today's consumer society, with supermarket tabloids such as "The National Enquirer" and celebrity gossip magazines like "People" serving as contemporary versions of the great dramatic tragedies of the past.
