{"product_id":"the-myth-of-popular-culture-isbn-9781405199346","title":"The Myth of Popular Culture","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Myth of Popular Culture\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this fascinating examination of popular culture, esteemed cultural critic Perry Meisel shatters conventionally held notions about the division between “high” and “low” culture with the provocative theory that popular culture has sustained dialectical rhythms. Meisel’s deft critical analysis of three enduring cultural traditions — the American novel, Hollywood, and British and American rock music — leads us to question the very concept of the division between “high” and “low” culture.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeisel begins his engaging discussion by refuting philosopher Theodor Adorno’s assertion that “high” culture is “dialectical” and “pop” is not, showing that popular culture does indeed have a conversation both with its sources and with cultural authority as a whole. In the final section, Meisel turns his attention to Bob Dylan, a figure who, more than any other, shows what it means to synthesize and revise all traditions — music, poetry, iconography — and transform them completely.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrilliantly conceived and clearly articulated, \u003ci\u003eThe Myth of Popular Culture from Dante to Dylan\u003c\/i\u003e redefines the way in which we think about all forms of artistic expression.  Preface: The Resistance to Pop  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I \"The Battle of the Brows\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1. A History of High and Low\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Highbrow,\" \"Lowbrow,\" \"Middlebrow\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Folk\" and \"Soul\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDante’s Republic\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"General Converse\": Johnson and the Long Eighteenth Century\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Similitude in Dissimilitude\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKeats and Mediocrity\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCulture and Anarchy in the UK\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"The Battle of the Brows\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Kitsch\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Myth of Popular Culture\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2. Pop Culture in the Spectator\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePoems of the People\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCanons and \"Camp\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBase and Superstructure, Soma and Psyche\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3. Pop and Postmodernism\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Social Self\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAndy Warhol\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Hey, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II Dialectics of Pop\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4. The Death of Kings: American Fiction from Cooper to Chandler\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Paleface\" and \"Redskin,\" Cowboy and Dandy\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePathfinding: Cooper and Mark Twain\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLabor, Leisure, Love: Melville, James, Hemingway\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTransatlantic: Raymond Chandler\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5. Knock on Any Door: Three Histories of Hollywood \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eArs Gratia Artis\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBenjamin, Bazin, Eisenstein\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDialectics of Directing: Hawks, Welles, Scorsese\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDialectics of Acting: Barrymore, Bogart, Brando\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBlonde on Blonde: Harlow and Monroe\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHang ’Em High: Welles, Lewis, Eastwood\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6. The Blues Misreading of Gospel: A History of Rock and Roll\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA Scandal in Bohemia\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJazz Myth, Jazz Reality\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSoul Synthesis\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePlugging In\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBuddy Holly and the British Invasion\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Body English\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart III The World of Bob Dylan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7. Dylan and the Critics\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFalling\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Limits of Typology\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDylan as Poet\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8. Words and Music\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFractions\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Slippin’ and Slidin’\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDylan and Deferred Action\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9. Dylan Himself\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Death of the Author\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Grand Tour and the Middle Passage\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHortatory\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10. The Three Icons: Sinatra, Presley, Dylan\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIconography and Gender\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Fedora as Phallus\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eElvis as Bobbysoxer\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"My Darling Young One\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWorks Cited\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePerry Meisel\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of English at New York University. His books include \u003ci\u003eThe Myth of the Modern\u003c\/i\u003e (1987), \u003ci\u003eThe Cowboy and the Dandy\u003c\/i\u003e (1999), and \u003ci\u003eThe Literary Freud\u003c\/i\u003e (2007). He has also written widely for publications that include \u003ci\u003eThe Village Voice, The New York Times, Partisan Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eOctober.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eIn this fascinating examination of popular culture, esteemed cultural critic Perry Meisel shatters conventionally held notions about the division between “high” and “low” culture with the provocative theory that popular culture has sustained dialectical rhythms. Meisel’s deft critical analysis of three enduring cultural traditions — the American novel, Hollywood, and British and American rock music — leads us to question the very concept of the division between “high” and “low” culture. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeisel begins his engaging discussion by refuting philosopher Theodor Adorno’s assertion that “high” culture is “dialectical” and “pop” is not, showing that popular culture does indeed have a conversation both with its sources and with cultural authority as a whole. In the final section, Meisel turns his attention to Bob Dylan, a figure who, more than any other, shows what it means to synthesize and revise all traditions — music, poetry, iconography — and transform them completely.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrilliantly conceived and clearly articulated, \u003ci\u003eThe Myth of Popular Culture from Dante to Dylan\u003c\/i\u003e redefines the way in which we think about all forms of artistic expression.    “Perry Meisel’s study of popular culture is a surprising enhancement of received opinion and common wisdom on that vexed subject. Moving from Shakespeare through Freud on to Bobby Dylan would seem something of a descent, yet Meisel provides a perspective that has its own descriptive justice. Even if I am not wholly persuaded that Dylan’s ultimate importance is as sublime as Meisel ventures it to be, I am given much here to intrigue me.”\u003cbr\u003e —Harold Bloom  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Perry Meisel has written a boundary-smashing critique of the myth that popular culture is distinct from and inferior to the fine arts.”\u003cbr\u003e —Richard Goldstein, Hunter College of the City University of New York\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"... stunning in its originality, breadth, erudition, and in its understanding of the transatlantic evolution of popular culture.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Josephine G. Hendin, New York University\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47990291988709,"sku":"NP9781405199346","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781405199346.jpg?v=1761787230","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-myth-of-popular-culture-isbn-9781405199346","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}