Thinking through Television
Thinking through Television
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This original and engaging book investigates American television viewing habits as a distinct cultural form. Based on an empirical study of the day-to-day use of television by working people, it develops a unique theoretical approach integrating cultural sociology, post modernism and the literature of media effects to explore the way in which people give meaning to their viewing practices. While recognising the power of television, it also emphasises the importance of the social and political factors which affect the lives of individual viewers, showing how the interaction between the two can result in a disengagement with corporately produced culture at the same time as an appropriation of the images themselves into people's lives.
- Fascinating empirical study of day-to-day use of television by ordinary people
- Unique interdisciplinary theoretical analysis
- Accessible and engaging
Reviews & endorsements
"...a must-read for anyone interested in issues of media, culture, and society, including the fields of sociology, anthropology, media and communication studies, American studies, cultural studies, journalism, and media education. The text is suitable for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses and should be required for any projects examining different approaches to media influence, audience interpretation, and contemporary culture." Journal of Communication
"Lembo artfully and skillfully makes his case... His findings affirm just how complicated television viewing actually is, and how nuanced analysts should be when studying it." Denise D. Bielby, Contemporary Sociology
Product details
November 2000Paperback
9780521585774
270 pages
229 × 152 × 14 mm
0.37kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Part I. Conceptions of Television Use:
- 1. Social theory
- 2. Social science
- 3. Cultural studies
- Part II. Reconceptualising Television Use:
- 4. Sociality and the problem of the subject
- 5. Components of a viewing culture
- Part III. Documenting the Viewing Culture:
- 6. Methodology and the turn to television
- 7. The practice of viewing
- 8. A typology of use
- Conclusion: the politics of television reconsidered.
