Fabricating the Absolute Fake: America in Contemporary Pop Culture (American Studies) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

The pageantry of Oprah Winfrey's talk show, the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola empire, Michael Jackson's turn from the King of Pop into an iconic global recluse: American "pop" culture-and the contemporary films, television programs, and cultural objects that determine it-dominates the rest of the world through its hegemonic presence. Does that make everyone a hybridized American or do these elements find mediation within the other cultures that consume them? Fabricating the Absolute Fake applies elements of postmodern theory-Jean Baudrillard's simulacra and Umberto Eco's "absolute fake", among others-to this globally mediated American pop culture in order to examine both the phenomena itself and its Netherlandish wake, as evidenced by diverse cultural icons like the Elvis-inspired crooner Lee Towers, the Moroccan-Dutch rapper Ali B, musical tributes to an assassinated politician, and the Dutch reality soap opera scene. A fascinating exploration of how global cultures struggle to create their own "America" within a post-September 11 media culture, Fabricating the Absolute Fake reflects on what it might mean to truly take part in American popular culture.

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