The Cambridge History of American Popular Culture
The Cambridge History of American Popular Culture
Editor:
Lauren Rabinovitz, University of Iowa
Lauren Rabinovitz, Paul C. Gutjahr, Lori A. Merish, Justin T. Clark, Kim Marra, Yuval Taylor, Jake Austen, Joy S. Kasson, David Monod, Daniel A. Nathan, Robert W. Rydell, Ross Melnick, Michele Hilmes, Michael Borshuk, Paula Rabinowitz, Amanda D. Lotz, Ari Katorza, Pamela A. Fox, Ryan Donovan, Sherril Dodds, Travis Vogan, Jon Lewis, Nicholas Holm, Eric Schaefer, Matthew J. Pustz, Emily J. H. Contois, M. Alison Kibler, Roger Stahl, Jaap Kooijman, Kinohi Nishikawa, Jonathan Branfman, Kent A. Ono, Angelica M. Lawson, Anthony Macías, Jennifer Reed
View all contributors
Published:
June 2026
Availability:
Not yet published - available from July 2026
Format:
Hardback
ISBN:
9781009522403
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The Cambridge History of American Popular Culture is a comprehensive treatment of American popular culture. It is organized around the major time frames for defining American history, as well as genres of popular culture and, pivotally, around historical instances where American popular culture has been a key transformative agent shaping American history, values, and society. This ambitious book by a team of scholarly experts from across the humanities offers unique historical breadth and depth of knowledge about the ongoing power of commercial entertainment. The Cambridge History of American Popular Culture is a fresh, original and authoritative treatment of the aesthetics, producers and artists involved in American popular culture, a phenomena that exerts tremendous cultural power both domestically and internationally.
- Argues for the cultural roles and importance of American popular culture across nations and disciplines
- Demonstrates how gender, sexuality, race, and nationality are the fundamentals for ongoing national conversations about identity and aspirations
- Contextualizes all examples, topics within historical and multi-cultural, cross-cultural frameworks
Product details
- Published: June 2026
- Format: Adobe eBook Reader
- ISBN: 9781009522397
- Length: 0 pages
- Availability: This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Introduction Lauren Rabinovitz
- Prologue, a brief history of popular culture studies Lauren Rabinovitz
- Part I. The Rise of Commercialized Leisure, From Industrialization to Mass Urbanization:
- 1. Popular literature in nineteenth-century America Paul C. Gutjahr
- 2. Sentimentalism and women's popular culture Lori A. Merish
- 3. The visual in nineteenth century American popular culture Justin T. Clark
- 4. Nineteenth century popular theatre and performance Kim Marra
- 5. Minstrel shows and blackface Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen
- 6. Wild west shows Joy S. Kasson
- 7. Burlesque and vaudeville David Monod
- 8. The rise of American sports Daniel A. Nathan
- 9. Amusement parks Lauren Rabinovitz
- 10. American world's fairs in the gilded age Robert W. Rydell
- Part II. The American Century, New Technologies, Media Consumers, and the Modern Sway of Popular Culture:
- 11. The global ascendancy of Hollywood cinema Ross Melnick
- 12. The culture of radio, Inventing soundwork, imagining the nation Michele Hilmes
- 13. Jazz and American popular culture Michael Borshuk
- 14. Pulp fiction and the paperback revolution Paula Rabinowitz
- 15. American world's fairs in the depression and atomic age Robert W. Rydell
- 16. Television, From the broadcast era to the digital age Amanda D. Lotz
- 17. Postwar rock music, race, liberalism, and mass bohemianism Ari Katorza
- 18. Country music Pamela A. Fox
- 19. The Broadway Musical Ryan Donovan
- 20. Popular dance Sherril Dodds
- 21. Sport in the age of mass media Travis Vogan
- 22. New Hollywood and post-classical cinema Jon Lewis
- 23. American comedy in the media Nicholas Holm
- 24. Pornography and the adult entertainment industry Eric Schaefer
- 25. Theme parks Lauren Rabinovitz
- 26. Comic book culture, fandom, and superheroes Matthew J. Pustz
- 27. Cooking as popular culture Emily J. H. Contois
- Part III. The Power of Popular Culture, Political and Social Intervention:
- 28. Immigrant identities and popular culture at the turn of the century M. Alison Kibler
- 29. Discordant music? Jews, African Americans, and the great American songbook Ari Katorza
- 30. Cold war celebrity, the red scare, and civil rights Lauren Rabinovitz
- 31. Hollywood and the pentagon, projecting state power through popular culture Roger Stahl
- 32. Americanization and global popular culture Jaap Kooijman
- 33. African Americans and popular culture Kinohi Nishikawa
- 34. Jewish identities and popular culture Jonathan Branfman
- 35. Asian Americans and popular culture Kent A. Ono
- 36. Native Americans, media sovereignty, and popular culture Angelica M. Lawson
- 37. Latino-Latina popular culture Anthony Macías
- 38. Queer culture in mass media Jennifer Reed
- 39. Epilogue, the enshrinement of popular culture in twenty-first century museums Lauren Rabinovitz, Editor
- For further reading
- Index.
- Show more
- Table of contents navigation
- Index navigation
- Latest accessibility assessment date: 2026-05-05
