Popular stories and promised lands : fan cultures and symbolic pilgrimages / Roger C. Aden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Aden, Roger C., 1962-

Series:

Studies in rhetoric and communication

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Popular culture--United States--History--20th century.

Popular culture.

Escape (Psychology).

Fans (Persons).

Psychology.

Narration (Rhetoric)--Psychological aspects.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Narration (Rhetoric)--Social aspects.

United States.

History.

Mass media--Social aspects--United States.

Mass media.

Mass media--Social aspects.

Narration (Rhetoric)--Social aspects--United States.

Narration (Rhetoric)--Psychological aspects--United States.

Fans (Persons)--United States--Psychology.

Imaginary places in mass media.

Escape (Psychology)--United States.

Physical Description:

viii, 290 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, [1999]

Summary:

Popular Stories and Promised Lands enters a conversation about who we are, where we've been, and where we might be going by suggesting that possible answers to those questions can be found in the popular stories we encounter at the movies, on television, in popular magazines, and even on the funny pages.

As countless scholars and popular writers have noted, those of us living in the United States find ourselves at a cultural crossroads. We are increasingly aware that the stories that once permeated life in these United States, stories that tell us that social and economic progress comes from working hard, that everyone has an equal opportunity to experience such progress, do not resonate to the degree they once did. Because many Americans have traditionally defined themselves, others, and their unique sense of place through these stories, we find ourselves displaced socially, economically, politically, and/or culturally.

So, Roger Aden says, we go to places of our own making. Fans of the television series The X-Files return to the Funhouse each week for a dose of frightening fun. Fans of the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated play in the American Elysian Fields where democratic efforts at balancing work and play are valued. Fans of the movie Field of Dreams work as altruistic producers in an alternative garden spot.

Grounded in the author's own experiences and reinforced by the voices of approximately two hundred additional fans of the four popular stories, this book offers a compelling case for understanding the alleged wasteland of popular culture as a fertile site of individually and communally created sacred places.

Contents:

Introduction: I'm a Big Fan: Popular Stories, Habitus, and Places That Matter 1

Part 1 Theoretical Development

1. The Search for Promised Lands: Dominant Visions of Sacred Places in U.S. Culture 17

2. The Foundations of Symbolic Pilgrimage: Theoretical Conversations About Places That Matter 52

3. Symbolic Pilgrimages: Experiencing Popular Stories as Purposeful, Imaginary-Yet-Real Journeys 79

4. Exiled in Cubeville, Striving for Nerdvana: Dilbert as a Critique of Phony Meritocracy 115

5. Transforming the Panopticon Into the Funhouse: Negotiating Disorientation in The X-Files 149

6. Playing in a Perfect Place: Sports Illustrated and an American Elysian Field 186

7. Integrating Self and Community as a Means of Finding Homes: The Shift from Consumerism to Altruistic Producerism in Field of Dreams 219

Conclusion: The Return Home 250.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-283) and index.

ISBN:

0817309381

OCLC:

39147774