In the 150 years since the birth of the petroleum industry oil has
saturated our culture, fueling our cars and wars, our economy and
policies. But just as thoroughly, culture saturates oil. So what
exactly "is" "oil culture"? This book pursues an answer through
petrocapitalism's history in literature, film, fine art, wartime
propaganda, and museum displays. Investigating cultural discourses
that have taken shape around oil, these essays compose the first
sustained attempt to understand how petroleum has suffused the
Western imagination.
The contributors to this volume examine the oil culture nexus,
beginning with the whale oil culture it replaced and analyzing
literature and films such as "Giant, Sundown," Bernardo
Bertolucci's "La Via del Petrolio," and Ben Okri's "What the
Tapster Saw"; corporate art, museum installations, and contemporary
photography; and in apocalyptic visions of environmental disaster
and science fiction. By considering oil as both a natural resource
and a trope, the authors show how oil's dominance is part of
culture rather than an economic or physical necessity. "Oil
Culture" sees beyond oil capitalism to alternative modes of energy
production and consumption.
Contributors: Georgiana Banita, U of Bamberg; Frederick Buell,
Queens College; Gerry Canavan, Marquette U; Melanie Doherty,
Wesleyan College; Sarah Frohardt-Lane, Northern Illinois U; Matthew
T. Huber, Syracuse U; Dolly Jorgensen, Umea U; Stephanie LeMenager,
U of Oregon; Hanna Musiol, Northeastern U; Chad H. Parker, U of
Louisiana at Lafayette; Ruth Salvaggio, U of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill; Heidi Scott, Florida International U; Imre Szeman, U of
Alberta; Michael Watts, U of California, Berkeley; Jennifer Wenzel,
U of Michigan; Sheena Wilson, U of Alberta; Rochelle Raineri Zuck,
U of Minnesota Duluth; Catherine Zuromskis, U of New Mexico.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!