Comedy and Cultural Critique in American Film

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by Ryan Bishop

Type: Studies
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Keywords: comedy, United States, theory
Publishing date: 2013
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 192 pages
6 ¼ x 9 ½ inches (16 x 24 cm)

ISBN

978-0-7486-4307-3

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Book Presentation:
Analyses the growth of the American comedy film in relation to world events and cultural trends

This book uses large scale social and cultural trends and major world events to analyse the American comedy film. This is a historical and conceptual study discussing the comedy narrative, comic traditions, and role of visual culture.

Grounded in the theoretical writing of Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio, Friedrich Kittler and Jacques Derrida, Bishop brings a new perspective to comedy in film suggesting that it is central to staging cultural criticism. He discusses themes such as repetition, automation, material systems of information media, the level of address in a communicative act, and the shifting role of the image.

Key features

• Close analysis of two films to illustrate key points in each chapter
• Relevant both to film and cultural studies
• Chronological treatment

About the Author:
Ryan Bishop is Professor of Global Art and Politics at Winchester School of Art and Co-Director of the Winchester Centre for Global Futures in Art Design & Media at the University of Southampton. He co-edits Cultural Politics (Duke UP) with John Armitage and Doug Kellner, and he edits the book series Theory Now for Polity Press. His research areas include critical theory, art, media, literary studies, technology, urbanism and militarisation of daily life.

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press

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