The New Empire Has Risen: ‘New Kings of the World’
Author Fatima Bhutto profiles the new arbiters of mass culture: Bollywood, Dizi, and K-pop, in her engaging cultural studies/travelogue, New Kings of the World.
cultural studies
Abjection Incorporated: Mediating the Politics of Pleasure and Violence (By the Book)
Escaping abjection's usual confines of psychoanalysis and aesthetic modernism, the contributors to Abjection Incorporated examine a range of media, including literature, photography, film, television, talking dolls, comics, and manga. Enjoy this generous excerpt, courtesy of Duke University Press.
‘The Poetry of Pop’, Stretches the Definition of Pop Generously
Adam Bradley's The Poetry of Pop works for what it obviously wants to be, a primer on American popular music.
Delicious Lips, Delicious Text: Kathryn Bond Stockton’s ‘Making Out’
Kathryn Bond Stockton's Making Out will linger.
‘Garage’: A Visually and Intellectually Rich Study of a Seemingly Blank Space
Olivia Erlanger and Luis Ortega Govela's Garage challenges the beguiling, energizing, and yet limiting power of the garage in America as a symbol of escape and reinvention.
Everybody Wears Streetwear, So Everybody Should Read About It in ‘This Is Not Fashion’
Beyond utility and good looks, perhaps the most essential feature of streetwear is that it always says something. It's in this area of ideology that King ADZ and Wilma Stone excel.
Though Rich in Subject Matter, ‘Veil’ Has Trouble Finding a Narrative
There's so much to say about the challenges, frustrations, and offenses facing women who veil, that Veil has difficulty sorting it all out in a meaningful way.
