Different cultures and the specific culture manifested within them
are intrinsically linked to addiction in a complex fashion which
has a long history. For important thinkers, such as Nietzsche,
addiction actually embodies human culture, rendering addiction and
culture inseparable. This is clearly seen within the Western
world's addiction to the consumption of material goods and the
damage that results. Utopia has often become dystopia. Not only is
an understanding of addiction key to understanding culture but to
an understanding of the very act thinking itself and the way of
being in the world. Addiction raises key philosophical questions,
such as: do people really have a choice in their behavior, and what
governs them; is it free will or predetermination? Is it biology or
environment is it the external world or the internal that drives
addiction, or a complex combination of both? In a contemporary
context the media frenzy around celebrity addiction continually
fuels public debate in this area, and this book deepens the
understanding of addiction within this contentious context. This
book addresses a key concern over how addiction became the norm,
and it seeks to understand its dominance comprehensively. How did
it come to pass that not being an addict was a transgressive act
and way of being? While there has been a great deal of debate about
addiction utilizing the discourse of individual and often competing
disciplines such as biology and psychology, little attention has
been paid to the cultural aspects of addiction. The innovative
approach taken by this book is to offer insights into this complex
area through a contemporary methodology that covers diverse
interrelated areas. Drawing on different disciplines, offering
deeper insights, from the analysis of music lyrics to empirical
social science and anthropological work in AA groups in Mexico and
the portrayal of the "addiction' to therapy in film and television,
amongst other areas, this book addresses the need for a more
comprehensive approach. Academic analysis is also given to the
discourse on celebrity culture and addiction. A contemporary fusion
of the humanities and the social sciences is the best way forward
to tackle this subject and move the debate on. The focus of this
study is an innovative interdisciplinary and intercultural approach
to addiction, from the social sciences to the humanities, including
cultural studies, film and media studies, and literary studies.
Areas that have been overlooked, such as lost women's writings, are
examined, in addition to comics, popular film and television, and
the work of AA groups. This edited collection is the first study to
provide such a comprehensive analysis of the cultures of addiction.
Traversing cultures across the globe, including Asia, Central
America, as well as Europe and America, this book opens up the
debate in addiction studies and cultural studies. The important
insights the book delivers helps to answer questions such as: In
what way can Deleuze further the understanding of addiction through
the analysis of rock lyrics? How does anthropology improve the
understanding of AA groups? How can cultural studies deepen
knowledge on the "addiction" to therapy? These are just some of the
vast array of areas this book covers. Other areas include the
condemnation of "addiction" to comic reading through an historical
examination, violence in popular culture, and lost women's writing
on addiction. No other book has such depth and contemporary
breadth. Cultures of Addiction is an important book for those
taking cultural studies courses across a range of interrelated
disciplines, including English and literary studies, history,
American studies, and film and media studies. This will be
invaluable to library collections in these fields and beyond in the
social sciences, and specifically in addiction studies and
psychology.
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