If fashion is an expression of individuality, why do we all dress alike? Can modernity be described as the experience of 'feeling modern' and, if so, what part does fashion play? Answering these intriguing questions and many more, this pioneering book shows how the concepts of fashion and modernity are intimately linked. It argues that capitalism and identity construction as social processes both have symbiotic relationships with the fashion system. Technology, the body, nationality and gender are informed and shaped by modernity, and vice versa. Drawing on key modernist texts as well as fashion theory and practice, this book seeks broadly to cover the history of fashion and modernity, a topic that has been surprisingly overlooked. Tackling themes including court masques in seventeenth-century London, Paris couturiers and forensic laboratories in twentieth-century Washington, the authors show how fashion throughout history has been a cornerstone in the construction of a modern self.

A comprehensive study of domestic buildings in London from about 1200 to the Great Fire in 1666. John Schofield describes houses and such related buildings as almshouses, taverns, inns, shops and livery company halls, drawing on evidence from surviving buildings, archaeological excavations, documents, panoramas, drawn surveys and plans, contemporary descriptions, and later engravings and photographs. Schofield presents an overview of the topography of the medieval city, reconstructing its streets, defences, many religious houses and fine civic buildings. He then provides details about the mediaeval and Tudor London house: its plan, individual rooms and spaces and their functions, the roofs, floors and windows, the materials of construction and decoration, and the internal fittings and furniture. Throughout the text he discusses what this evidence tells us about the special restrictions or pleasures of living in the capital; how certain innovations of plan and construction first occurred in London before spreading to other towns; and how notions of privacy developed.

Stories of twins are told with astonishing frequency in contemporary culture. Films and novels from recent decades repeatedly tell of the stranglehold of brotherly love, the evil twin who steals her sister's lover, the homicidal mutant twin, the reunion of twins separated at birth, warring twins, and confusion between look-alikes. Twins in Contemporary Literature and Culture asks why we keep telling twin tales and how these have been transformed in recent retellings to reflect the preoccupations of the times.

This timely collection of accessible essays interrogate queer television at the start of the twenty-first century. The complex political, cultural and economic milieu requires new terms and conceptual frameworks to study television and media through a queer lens. Gathering a range of well-known scholars the book takes on the relationship between sexual identity, desire, and television, breaking new ground in a context where existing critical vocabularies and research paradigms no longer hold sway in the ways they used to. The anthology sets out to confound conventional categories used to organize queer television scholarship, like "programming," "industry," "audience," "genre," and "activism." Instead, the anthology mobilizes three new terms - resonance, narrative affordance, and representational repair - creating new queer tools for studying digital television in the contemporary age. This collection is suitable for scholars and students studying queer media studies, television studies, gender studies and sexuality studies.

* GORGEOUSLY ILLUSTRATED: Each of the 40 cards in this oracle deck is vibrantly illustrated with original artwork; let The Snake Charmer (of VMAs fame) inspire you to face your fears, or the The Ringleader (of the "Circus" video) lead you to call the shots-these and many more Britney oracles in this one-of-a-kind set celebrate the superstar in her greatest moments from her music videos, stage performances, and more * DELUXE SET: This set includes 40 full-color illustrated cards (3 x 5 inches), shrink wrapped in an interior travel case; an 88-page, full-color illustrated paperback book (3 x 5 inches); and a keepsake magnetic closure box; cards and travel case are embedded in an interior tray * FULLY ILLUSTRATED ORACLE GUIDEBOOK: This set includes a full-color illustrated companion book to the card deck, providing the back story of each oracle and a dose of inspiration * PERFECT GIFT: This joyful, beautiful oracle deck and book set is an ideal gift for the most fabulous people in your life, for birthdays, Mother's Day, graduation, or any occasion at all * OFFICIALLY LICENSED: Set is officially licensed with Britney Brands, Inc A note on packaging: In order to help honor our planet and reduce waste, we have only shrink wrapped the interior cards, rather than the keepsake box. Please feel confident that your product is not defective or used.

Mediation at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin offers a novel approach to the memorial and its study through the focus on performances. Based on extensive ethnographic research, and drawing on dramaturgic theory, memory studies and theories of the public sphere, the book offers a fresh theorization of memorial experience by analyzing interaction between guides, memorial workers and visitors. Moving away from models of postmemory and post trauma approaches, the book recognizes the precariousness and variation of memory work done at the memorial through the ways visitors engages with the act of remembrance rather than with its object, namely the history of Jewish persecution and the Holocaust. This engagement explores how visitors present and perform their 'moral career' at the site, whose codes have been shaped by knowledge about and visits in this and other sites of Holocaust remembrance.

Finalist for the 2013 National Jewish Book Award, American Jewish Studies For centuries, Jews were one of the few European cultures without any official public theatrical tradition. Yet in the modern era, Jews were among the most important creators of popular theater and film-especially in America. Why? In Theatrical Liberalism, Andrea Most illustrates how American Jews used the theatre and other media to navigate their encounters with modern culture, politics, religion, and identity, negotiating a position for themselves within and alongside Protestant American liberalism by reimagining key aspects of traditional Judaism as theatrical. Discussing works as diverse as the Hebrew Bible, The Jazz Singer, and Death of a Salesman-among many others-Most situates American popular culture in the multiple religious traditions that informed the worldviews of its practitioners. Offering a comprehensive history of the role of Judaism in the creation of American entertainment, Theatrical Liberalism re-examines the distinction between the secular and the religious in both Jewish and American contexts, providing a new way of understanding Jewish liberalism and its place in a pluralist society. With extensive scholarship and compelling evidence, Theatrical Liberalism shows how the Jewish worldview that permeates American culture has reached far beyond the Jews who created it.

This book explores, from a sociological perspective, the relationship between acting as symbolic work and the commercialization of popular culture. Particular attention is paid to the social conditions that gave rise to stardom in the theatre and cinema, and how shifts in the marketing of stars have impacted upon contemporary celebrity culture.

While analyzing Damon Runyon’s work in terms of historical contexts, popular culture, and of the changing function of the media, Schwarz argues that Runyon was an indispensible figure in creating enduring images of New York City culture, which spurred an interest in the demi-monde and underworld exposed in The Godfather films and The Sopranos. In lively and exuberant chapters that include a panoramic view of New York City between the World Wars--and its colorful nightlife--Schwarz examines virtually every facet of Runyon’s career from sports writer, daily columnist, trial reporter, and Hollywood figure to the author of the still widely read short stories that were the source of the Broadway hit Guys and Dolls. As part of his discussion of Runyon’s art and artistry of Runyon’s fiction, he skillfully examines the special language of the Broadway stories known as “Runyonese” and explains how “Runyonese” has become an adjective describing flamboyant behavior.

Colorful paper dolls that sold everything from coffee to cathartics, from tea to thread, from cocoa to corsets. These dolls were the playthings of generations of children from the 1890s to the First World War. These wonderful examples of advertising art include fanciful characters from the imagination of artists like Palmer Cox. Dolls dressed in the national costumes of the many immigrants to the United States had a special appeal to everyone. Dolls depicting characters from favorite nursery rhymes and folk tales were issued by many advertisers; these dolls filled the playtime hours of many. Dolls appealing to our patriotism take on the form of Uncle Sam, soldiers, and sailors. Dolls also appeared as Americans at work and play. Human characteristics were even ascribed to animals of all kinds to give children an opportunity to dress them up in colorful costumes. It is difficult to find a segment of society not represented by a paper doll! Whether you're a collector or someone simply interested in the charm and culture of turn-of-the-century America, this book is sure to make a good addition to your library.

Gives a fresh and contemporary take on the ways in which contemporary US sexual politics plays out on its biggest stage with analyses of Promises, Promises, Newsies, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Color Purple, and Frozen. Written accessibly and clearly for all levels of student and scholar in musical theatre as well as interdisciplinary areas of queer, gender, and cultural studies. The most up to date study available of Broadway's cultural politics.

Although much scholarly and critical attention has been paid to the relationship between rhetoric and environmental issues, media and environmental issues, and politics and environmental issues, no book has yet focused on the relationship between popular culture and environmental issues. This collection of essays provides a rigorous and multifaceted rhetorical and critical perspective on the ways in which the language and imagery of nature is incorporated strategically into various popular culture texts--ranging from greeting cards to advertisements to supermarket tabloids. As a distinguished group of scholars reveals, our notions about the environment and environmentalism are both reflected in and shaped by our popular culture in fascinating ways never previously examined in an academic context.

The consumptive vision of nature presented in these texts represents a wholly American view, one promoting leisure and comfort, and nature as the place to experience them. This good life attitude toward the environment often serves to commodify it, to render it little more than space in which to pursue conventional notions of the American dream. As such, the volume represents a bold and striking vision both of popular culture and of popular notions of an environment that can be either protected or just simply consumed.

This is the most complete and compelling account of idols and celebrity in Japanese media culture to date. Engaging with the study of media, gender and celebrity, and sensitive to history and the contemporary scene, these interdisciplinary essays cover male and female idols, production and consumption, industrial structures and fan movements.

With more than 100 inventive lists, charts, and timelines, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists offers fans a creative way of looking at and celebrating the iconic and beloved early 2000s sitcom. Revisit some of your favorite moments, pairings, cameos, and geeky references (or test your super-fan knowledge) with these fun groupings exploring the variables of life in apartment 4A. Lists include: - Timelines of all the characters, their romantic partnerships, vows, and weddings - Analysis of Sheldon's Public Restroom Kit - All of Penny's Relationship Advice - Pictorial Records for Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Howard, Raj, Amy, and Bernadette - Record of all of the guests (cameos) in the apartment - Diagram of The Universe of All Women - Everything that's in Bernadette's Grab Bag - A break-down of all of Sheldon's geeky shirts and their references And more! Illustrated with full-color photographs and visuals from the show throughout, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists is an officially licensed, must-have collector's item for the ultimate fan. THE BIG BANG THEORY and all related characters and elements (c) & (TM) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s22)

Reacting against the accelerating pace of modern life and too-much-information technology, young urban dwellers are carving out a new space, one brilliantly surveyed in "United States of Americana". Here we find barbers who instruct men to unplug the Norelco and try their (shaky) hand at shaving with a straight razor; manufacturers of high-end leather goods that outsource to the Amish rather than to India; DJs who rely on wax cylinders instead of digital files; restaurants where wild boar appears on the bill of fare (and the walls); and, work wear that once saved the lives of turn-of-the-century Alaskan miners, now reinterpreted for the runways of Paris and Milan. This isn't mere nostalgia, but a conscious celebration of community and sustainability. "United States of Americana" is the first comprehensive guide to the sounds, sights, tastes, and colorful characters that populate this new old-fashioned world, with topics including: the rise and evolution of alt-country music and the Americana genre (Fleet Foxes, Wilco, the Decemberists, and T-Bone Burnett) and the legends of country, blues, gospel and folk (Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams, Leadbelly); American work wear and heritage clothing and footwear like Red Wing Boots, Pendleton, Filson, and Carhartt; prohibition and pre-prohibition era cocktails (Old Fashioned, Gin Fizz, Sidecar) and the speakeasy renaissance; nose-to-tail butchering and raising backyard chickens; straight razor shaving and old-fashioned barber shops; burlesque and circuses; the resurgence of the vinyl LP; home canning, pickling and preserving; and, the D.I.Y. handmade crafts movement (knitting, needlepoint, soap making).

**THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER** a comic about dinosaurs navigating the complexities of life, together including exclusive, never-seen-before, bonus comics a wistful, honest and highly relatable account of modern life. dinosaur therapy is a book of cartoons for grown-ups from the very successful web comic @dinosandcomics. in each comic, dinosaur characters grapple with questions around the meaning of life and mental health, trying to make sense of the world and cope with their own place in it.

Humor is pervasive in contemporary culture, and is generally celebrated as a public good. Yet there are times when it is felt to produce intolerance, misunderstanding or even hatred. This book brings together, for the first time, contributions that consider the ethics as well as the aesthetics of humor. The book focuses on the abuses and limits of humor, some of which excite considerable social tension and controversy. "Beyond a Joke" is an exciting intervention, full of challenging questions and issues.

The rise in popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture, known as the Korean Wave, began and has been promoted as an official policy of the Korean government to revive the country's economy. As such, popular culture products such as K-pop and K-drama are tailored to appeal to the widest possible audience beyond national and regional boundaries. This study of the appeal of Korean popular culture examines cultural production and consumption, hybrid culture, the West versus. Asia, global race consciousness, and changing views of masculinity and femininity, among other topics.

This book identifies and examines three years of Beyonce's career as a pop mega star using critical race, feminist, and performance studies methodologies. This book explores how the careful choreography of Beyonce's image, voice, and public persona, coupled with her intelligent use of audio and visual mediums, makes her one of the most influential entertainers of the 21st century. Keleta-Mae proposes that 2013 to 2016 was a pivotal period in Beyonce's career and looks at three artistic projects that she created during that time: her self-titled debut visual album Beyonce, her video and live performance of 'Formation', and her second visual album Lemonade. By examining the progression of Beyonce's career during this period, and the impact it had politically, culturally, and socially, the author demonstrates how Beyonce brought 21st Century feminism into the mainstream through layered explorations of female blackness. Ideal for scholars and students of performance in the social and political spheres, and of course fans of Beyonce herself, this book examines the mega superstar's transition into a creator of art that engages with Black culture and Black life with increased thoughtfulness.