American Television: New Directions in History and Theory

by Nick Browne (Editor)

Overview

This work brings together writings on television published in Quarterly Review of Film and Video, from essays by Nick Browne and Beverle Houston to the latest historical and critical research. It considers television's economics, technologies, forms and audiences from a cultural perspective that links history, theory and criticism. The authors address several key issues: the formative period in American television history; the relation between television's political economy and its cultural forms; gender and melodrama; and new technologies such as video games and camcorders. Originally published in 1993.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415841368
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/09/2013
Series:	Routledge Library Editions: Television
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction Part 1: The Establishment of American Television: Industrial Organization and Social Meaning in the 1950s 1. The Rise of the Telefilm and the Network’s Hegemony Over the Motion Picture Industry 2. Failed Opportunities: The Integration of the US Motion Picture and Television Industries 3. The Meaning of Memory: Family, Class, and Ethnicity in Early Network Television Part 2: Cultural Theory and Network Television: Mapping Economy and Subjectivity 4. The Political Economy of the Television (Super) Text 5. Viewing Television: The Metapsychology of Endless Consumption 6. TV Through the Looking Glass Part 3: Television Formats and the Inscription of Gender 7. Speculations on the Relationship Between Soap Opera and Melodrama 8. The Return of the Unrepressed: Male Desire, Gender, and Genre 9. On Commuting Between Television Fiction and Real Life Part 4: Video Transformations: Gaming, Pictorialization, Surveillance 10. Performing Style: Industrial Strength Semiotics and the Basic Televisual Apparatus 11. Surveying the Surveilled: Video, Space and Subjectivity 12. Playing with Power on Saturday Morning Television and on Home Video Games

Editorial Reviews

This is cutting edge' historical and critical research. The field needs basic and defining scholarship, and this volume will make a significant contribution to that prior project. There is really nothing quite like this book, which both advances and consolidates knowledge about television.

Mide Budd

This is the most stimulating collection of articles on television that I have ever seen. It brings together classic historical work from major authors and new material that is wide-ranging, first-rate and conversant with current debates. With this book, we are lucky to have in easy reach so much that is so rich.

Clay Steinman