"Pulp" brings together in one volume chapters on the bestseller, detective fiction, popular romance, science fiction and horror. It combines a lucid and accessible account of the cultural theories that have informed the study of popular fiction with detailed readings of particularly Jackie Collins, Jilly Cooper, Colin Dexter, William Gibson, Stephen King, Iain Banks, Terry McMillan and Walter Mosley. Scott McCracken argues that popular fiction serves a vital function in the late twentieth century: it provides us with the means to construct a workable sense of self in the face of the disorientating pressures of modernity.

At the turn of the last century the public culture of Europe's cities underwent a transformation that changed both gender relations and European fiction. Masculinities, Modernist Fiction and the Urban Public Sphere charts the changing representations of masculinity in modernist fiction in the context of the four most influential cities - London, Dublin, Paris and Prague.It explores the rise of new masculinities in response to the New Woman at the end of the nineteenth century; how eating and drinking in the city were developed; and discusses the importance of teashops, cafes and restaurants to the emergence of a new literary culture at the turn of the century. Authors discussed include George Gissing, Dorothy Richardson, James Joyce and Franz Kafka. It combines urban cultural history, gender studies and critical theory to produce a startling account of the encounters that took place in the new spaces of the city and the literary forms to which they gave rise. It will be of interest to all those interested in modernist fiction, but equally to cultural historians and those working in gender and urban studies.

The Arcades Project, Walter Benjamin's unfinished masterpiece, is a brilliant but maddening book. Benjamin's Arcades: an unGuided Tour looks for the method behind the madness, carefully reconstructing the intellectual and political context of the work and unpacking its numerous analogies, metaphors and conceptual gambits. Written by three literary scholars and one historian, this text is both a reading companion and a vigorous interpretation of one of the most important humanistic texts of the twentieth century. Benjamin's Arcades is composed of 16 entries and a specially designed 'convoluted' index. Some of the entries confront Benjamin with a different reading of his own historical sources (Blanqui, Marx, Giedion), others look intensively at key themes, obsessions, and images (the gambler, commodity fetishism, the Angel of History, magic). Throughout there is discussion of the relationship of Benjamin's work to current and past debate on topics such as modernity, Judaism, fascism, and psychoanalysis. Benjamin's Arcades opens up Benjamin's texts to a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives and will be an essential text for those seeking to better understand this extraordinary work. -- .

At the turn of the last century the public culture of Europe's cities underwent a transformation that changed both gender relations and European fiction. Masculinities, modernist fiction and the urban public sphere charts the changing representations of masculinity in modernist fiction in the context of the four most influential cities -- London, Dublin, Paris and Prague. It explores the rise of new masculinities in response to the New Woman at the end of the nineteenth century; how eating and drinking in the city were developed; and discusses the importance of teashops, cafes and restaurants to the emergence of a new literary culture at the turn of the century. Authors discussed include George Gissing, Dorothy Richardson, James Joyce and Franz Kafka. It combines urban cultural history, gender studies and critical theory to produce a startling account of the encounters that took place in the new spaces of the city and the literary forms to which they gave rise. It will be of interest to all those interested in modernist fiction, but equally to cultural historians and those working in gender and urban studies. -- .

The end-of-century experience is generating intense interest among contemporary critics. This collection of essays scrutinizes ways in which current conflicts of race, class and gender have their origins in the cultural politics of the last fin de siècle. The construction of masculinities, feminism and empire, Yeats and Ireland, the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, socialism, psychoanalysis, and the relationship between nascent modernism and postmodernism are all addressed in this radical collaborative venture.

Popular commercial fiction emerged in the nineteenth century, with serialised novels and sensational penny dreadfuls. Today it remains a multi-million dollar industry giving pleasure to many, but it is also a field of growing interest for scholars and students of literature. This Companion covers the major developments in the history of popular fiction, with specially commissioned chapters on pulp fiction, bestsellers, and comics and graphic narratives. The volume also examines the public and personal everyday contexts within which popular texts are read, highlighting the ways in which such narratives have circulated across a variety of constantly changing media, including theatre, television, cinema and new computer-based digital forms. Case studies from key genres - crime fiction, romance and Gothic horror - as well as a full chronology and guide to further reading make this collection indispensable to all those interested in this complex and vibrant cultural field.

Popular commercial fiction emerged in the nineteenth century, with serialised novels and sensational penny dreadfuls. Today it remains a multi-million dollar industry giving pleasure to many, but it is also a field of growing interest for scholars and students of literature. This Companion covers the major developments in the history of popular fiction, with specially commissioned chapters on pulp fiction, bestsellers, and comics and graphic narratives. The volume also examines the public and personal everyday contexts within which popular texts are read, highlighting the ways in which such narratives have circulated across a variety of constantly changing media, including theatre, television, cinema and new computer-based digital forms. Case studies from key genres - crime fiction, romance and Gothic horror - as well as a full chronology and guide to further reading make this collection indispensable to all those interested in this complex and vibrant cultural field.

A rapidly changing world - in part driven by huge transformations in technology and mobility - means we all encounter shifting cultures, and new cultural and social interactions daily. Powerful forces such as consumption and globalization exert an enormous influence on all walks and levels of life across both space and time. Cultural Studies remains at the vanguard of consideration of these issues. This completely revised second edition of Introducing Cultural Studies gives a systematic overview of the concepts, theories, debates and latest research in the field. Reinforcing the interdisciplinary nature of Cultural Studies, it first considers cultural theory before branching out to examine different dimensions of culture in detail. Key features: * Collaboratively authored by an interdisciplinary team * Closely cross-referenced between chapters and sections to ensure an integrated presentation of ideas * Figures, diagrams, cartoons and photographs help convey ideas and stimulate * Key Influence, Defining Concepts, and Extract boxes focus in on major thinkers, ideas and works * Examines culture along the dividing lines of class, race and gender * Weblinks and Further Reading sections encourage and support further investigation Changes for this edition: * Brand new chapter addresses how culture is researched and knowledge in cultural studies is produced * Brand new chapter on the Postmodernisation of Everyday Life * Includes hot topics such as globalization, youth subcultures, 'virtual' cultures, body modification, new media, technologically-assisted social networking and many more This text will be core reading for undergraduates and postgraduates in a variety of disciplines - including Cultural Studies, Communication and Media Studies, English, Geography, Sociology, and Social Studies - looking for a clear and comprehensible introduction to the field.