Redeeming modernity : contradictions in media criticism / Joli Jensen.
"In this readable text on media and cultural criticism, the author argues that the media are understood as emblematic of modern society and as cultural stand-ins which also provide ways to address the nature and worth of contemporary life. The book traces the kinds of arguments put forward abou...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Newbury Park, Calif. :
Sage Publications,
[1990]
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| Series: | Communication and human values (Newbury Park, Calif.).
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "In this readable text on media and cultural criticism, the author argues that the media are understood as emblematic of modern society and as cultural stand-ins which also provide ways to address the nature and worth of contemporary life. The book traces the kinds of arguments put forward about media influence, examining the explicit and implicit logic operating in such claims, and looks at the ways in which evidence is used in research to reveal something about how the public understands and evaluates its common experience. Why are the media seen as profane elements which corrupt a purer sphere? Why do the most cheerful critics of the media find much to anguish over and the most optimistic researchers hedge their conclusions?; ; Joli Jensen begins with a close analysis of arguments by four critical voices - Dwight Macdonald, Daniel Boorstin, Stuart Ewen and Neil Postman - on the nature of media influence. These arguments are then placed within the context of modernity: the nature of the past, the characteristics of the present and the prospects for the future. She discusses the media in relation to culture, power and technology; media as news, entertainment and advertising; media as metaphor and as modern life. Redeeming Modernity closes with a section considering how debates on postmodernism redirect but do not resolve the basic contradictions in social and cultural thought."--Publisher description. |
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| Physical Description: | 221 pages ; 23 cm. Also issued online. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-206) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0803934769 9780803934764 0803934777 9780803934771 |