"By involving the
readers visually with the information,
Sardar and Loon present an interesting cultural view of not only the
cultures they are presenting in the book, but their own cultural
background as well."
Introducing
Cultural Studies
Icon Books (UK), Totem Books
(USA). Republished 1999 Written
by Ziauddin Sardar,
Illustrated / designed by Borin Van Loon
Cultural Sudies signals a major academic revolution as
we move into
the
new millennium. But what exactly is it and how is it applied? It is a
discipline
which claims not to be a discipline - a radical critical approach for
understanding
racial, national, social and gender identities.
Introducing Cultural Studies provides an incisive tour through the
minefield
of this complex subject, charting its origins in Britain and its
migration
to the USA, Canada, france, Australia and Southern Asia, examining the
ideas
of its leading exponents and providing a flavour of its use around the
world.
Covering the ground from Gramcsi to Raymond Williams, postcolonial
discourse
to the politics of diaspora, feminism to queer theory, technoculture
and
the media to globalization, itserves as an insightful guide to the
essential
concepts of this fascinating area of study. It is essential reading for
all those concerned with the quickening pulse of old, new and emerging
cultures.
The pages contains lots of grids and frames to contain and provide
background
for visuals
and text - this made a lot of extra work, but I think it was worth it.
The
whole thing is held together by frequent appearances of a little
character
I invented whom we came to call 'Cultural Studies Woman'. Yes, she does
appear to be little rotund but I don't think she's pregnant, just
nicely
spherical.
The Permeable Self
Three illustrations
from IntroducingCultural Studies
were selected by the judges in
1999's Images
Exhibition and
book
(organized by the
Association of Illustrators) and toured the U.K....
The discipline of cultural studies must have a
new paradigm for the common analysis of canonical as well as
non-canonical texts. Z. Sardar and Borin Van Loon in their recent
book "Introducing Cultural Studies" have tried to show the
presence of this exciting field of study in academic work within
the arts, the humanities, the social sciences and even science
and technology. They take a fleeting, though rather interesting,
view of the contribution of Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggart,
Stuart Hall and E.P. Thompson to the whole enterprise of cultural
studies. Interestingly all these pioneers came from a
working-class background and tried to understand the role of
culture at a critical point in a deeply class-ridden English
society. Culture to them was more of a commodity that is
constructed with the sole purpose of struggle for cultural
domination, a war for legitimacy and social status waged by the
elites.
Shelley Wallia from 'Pop culture is king' on www.tribuneindia.com
Don't be put-off by the comic
book format. This beginner's
guide
is peppered with names and ideas essential for understanding cultural
studies.
"Cultural studies started as a dissenting intellectual tradition
outside
academia, dedicated to exposing power in all its cultural forms...it
has
now become...a part of the academic establishment".
(http://www.bridactive.org/booklist.html
(East Yorkshire College Library))
...Of course, one reason
cultural studies' history is
currently
being
pored over is that it now has a past to revisit. It is this history
that
is depicted and retold in Sardar
and Van Loon's "Cultural Studies
for Beginners". Unlike
Sedgwick's methodical alphabetical listing
of definitions, this is a text telling a story with a narrative. With
its
liberally illustrated form containing pictures a-plenty it also
radically
differs from Edgar and Sedgwick's straight text layout. Sardar
and
Van
Loon's effort is in factthe latest volume in the Icon
series,
which, itself paralleling the late 20th century popular culture fad of
the
graphic novel (i.e. comics for grown-ups), explains sometimes dense
academic
subjects in pictorial-strip style. From the outset the series, like the
Guardian's cult Biff cartoons, has had a vaguely cultural studies bent
with
previous titles on postmodernism, semiotics, Foucault, Baudrillard and
the
like. This particular title thus plugs a glaring and long-standing gap.
Fittingly enough, it is reviewed in Cultural Studies 12(4) by J.
Macgregor
Wise.
It seems we have come a long way from early manifestations of the
subject
which drew together critics including E. P. Thompson (1959), Raymond
Williams
(1958) and, most trenchantly, Richard Hoggart (1958; 1995) in a
negative
cultural consensus against a backdrop of Britain's declining status as
a
world power, where the end of its empire and a general fear of the
deluge
of lowbrow US trash are all seen as threatening to erode Britain's
cultural
identity. All of the above are pictured, although Orwell's (1937) fear
of
the insidiousness of mass culture and its attendant hidden agenda of
class
oppression and subjugation is absent; as is, even more oddly, the
similarly
oriented pre-war Frankfurt school critique (e.g. Adorno and Horkheimer,
1979) of the supposed manipulative powers and negative homogenising
effects
of popular culture. Lots of what Sardar
and Van Loon seem to be
communicating
to us is the axiomatic truth that many of these arguments are cyclical.
Thus whilst Hoggart's (1958) attacks on the 'levelling down' process
through
which working class purity was under threat from mass culture may now
appear
quaint in form (e.g. railing against 'canned and packeted provision'
and
the 'juke box boys' as the 'rich full life' gives way to 'the
immediate,
the present, the cheerful'), parts of the analysis have been repeated
with
regularity since, although the targets have of course shifted: violent
videos,
McDonalds, Sony Playstation and the Internet being modern substitutes.
As
David Morley points out, cultural studies is attacked because much of
what
it says is common sense, but, importantly, in some ways it is the
inexorable
rise of cultural studies that has made this so. (from 'Culture Shock'
by
Rupa Huq) (http://culturemachine.tees.ac.uk/Reviews/rev7.htm)
This is a great, short
introduction to Cultural Studies
in comic
book form (along the lines of Freud for Beginners) written by a fairly
heavy-hitter
in the field. An impressive overview. Some professors have had trouble
ordering
it locally, but it can be ordered from amazon.com for only $8.76.
(http://www.sou.edu/English/IDTC/Issues/CultStud/cultstud.htm (Southern
Oregon University))
You know, I love this series.
I have the book on Mathematics and
the book on Chaos. You can read them in one sitting, they're in comic
book
format, and they give the basic info you don't seem to get in
university.
I don't know why that is. Maybe because you spend all your time reading
the original texts. And because survey courses, which give you an
overview
of the field, have died out for various reasons... (Caterina Fake from
caterina.net)
... The discipline of cultural
studies must have a new paradigm
for
the common analysis of canonical as well as non-canonical texts. Ziauddin
Sardar and Borin Van Loon in
their recent book "Introducing
Cultural Studies" have tried to
show the presence of this exciting
field of study in academic work within the arts, the humanities, the
social
sciences and even science and technology. They take a fleeting, though
rather
interesting, view of the contribution of Raymond Williams, Richard
Hoggart,
Stuart Hall and E.P. Thompson to the whole enterprise of cultural
studies.
Interestingly, all these pioneers came from a working- class background
and tried to understand the role of culture at a critical point in a
deeply
class-ridden English society. Culture to them was more of a commodity
that
is constucted with the sole purpose of class struggle for cultural
domination,
a war for legitimacy and social status waged by the elites...
(Shelley Walia in the on-line edition of 'The Hindu', India's national
newspaper)
(http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/07/15/stories/1315017v.htm)
Cultural Studies is now a hot
field of study, but actually
what
is
it about? What is culture? What is Cultural Studies? This book tells
where
cultural studies originates and how it spreads all over the world. This
book also serves as a guide to the essential concepts that are covered
in
Cultural Studies that gives a clear basic concept on the subject.
(http://zerosbook.org)
LIGHT ESSAY OF CULTURAL STUDIES.
Ziauddin Sardar's "Introduction
to Cultural Studies" is nothing more than the title indicates. This
lenghty essay merely presents basic concepts that are prevalent in a
postmodern
discourse between societal values, power relations, and the value
placed
on cultural "norms" given in various communities. Sardar presents
the history of Cultural Studies as a discipline, which begins in a
social
context, but the analysis of which, takes place by various
sociologists,
philosophers (primarily Freud, Nietzche, and Hegel), and literary
minds.
Overall, the essay is enlightening as an introduction, a good preface
to
the discourse(s) one finds in most disciplines today. Rating: 4 . [No
mention of the illustrations, then...]
(http://www.anybook4less.com/detail/1840460768.html)
Recommended Text. We
won't be making direct reference to this
book
in the course, but I recommend it as an accessible introduction to key
theories
in comic-book format. (http://www.ucfv.bc.ca/scms/MACS_courses.htm)
Culture is unto itself a topic of
vague proportions and definitions. Dictionaries define culture
as “the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human
beings and transmitted from one generation to another” (culture);
the ways people live vary and thus what one views as an element of
culture may not be as culturally relevant to someone else living in a
similar cultural environment. Introducing Cultural Studies, by Ziauddin
Sardar and Borin Van Loon attempts to explain some of the broader views
of culture (with heavy British flavor) and explain the theories and
science behind cultural study by immersing the reader in a book of
cultural images and ideas.
The element of cultural diversity was an area I found to be quite
interesting. The sections provided an interesting insight to a
multitude of cultural backgrounds that I might have otherwise not been
apt to study or read about. While Introducing Cultural Studies
primarily focuses on European nations, it was interesting to see how
those cultural diversities translate to my American way of thinking. I
believe sometimes, as Americans, we are often rutted into a particular
way of thought and a particular style of learning; often overlooking
the methods and process and progress of nations other than ourselves.
Sardar and Loon’s approach helped bring a new element of progress
to the learning process, a process that would not necessarily be used
in a traditional American-style book. Through something as simple as
the book’s stylized content, I learned that even methods of
learning can take on cultural aspects; something that I find to be very
important given my future as an educator in today’s global
society.
Being an Art Education Major, I found the illustrations of Introducing
Cultural Studies to be an interesting insight to cultural aspects that
would otherwise not be portrayed in a standard text-driven book or
essay. By involving the readers visually with the information, Sardar
and Loon present an interesting cultural view of not only the cultures
they are presenting in the book, but their own cultural background as
well. Art is often looked at as a keystone element of a culture’s
background and identity; offering a way for generations to come to look
back at not only the artist’s view of a culture but the entire
culture as a whole, as the culture surrounding the artist influences
the very views the artist is trying to portray. In this way, art
carries a unique weight in representing a culture’s identity in
terms of passing information down to the generations to follow us.
Whether it is a painting, a hip-hop song, a movie, or anything in
between, art helps define a culture as much as the individuals who
create it.
Reading Introducing Cultural Studies reinforced by views on the
importance of cultural studies and how culture impacts nearly
everything we do and the ways in which we present our culture to other
people. And as our culture speeds toward the global culture of tomorrow
due to our ever changing and constantly shrinking global landscape, it
was refreshing to see a take on explaining cultural studies by using
culture itself instead of the cookie-cutter textbook soup we are
force-fed in today’s modern classroom environment. One can only
hope we are able to preserve some of our unique culture before it is
lost in the jungle we call “cultural progress.”
Justin Brunick / Dan Workman / Amanda Reeder.
IDEA: Introduction to Arts & Identity. 29 September 2007
[http://switchboxstudios.com/reaction.aspx]
Introducing
Cultural Studies
