Iconic events : media, politics, and power in retelling history / Patricia Leavy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leavy, Patricia, 1975-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Collective memory--United States.

Collective memory.

Psychic trauma--Social aspects--United States--Historiography.

Psychic trauma.

Psychic trauma--Social aspects.

Historiography.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 207 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : Lexington Books, [2007]

Summary:

Iconic Events: Media, Power, and Politics in Retelling History examines the processes of collective memory surrounding traumatic events that have been deemed iconic in American culture. Leavy investigates the social and market forces that have shaped the meanings and enduring significance of events that have captured the public's imagination, including the Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Columbine, and September 11. Iconic Events focuses on three interpretive phases that serve to mold public perception of these events: journalistic representations, political appropriations, and popular adaptations. With a vital, engaging approach, Leavy explores the processes by which traumatic events are made mythic in the public eye. Iconic Events is essential for collective memory scholars and undergraduate courses in Communications, American studies, history, and sociology, as well as the general reader.

Contents:

Iconic events : public imagination and social memory

Historical sketches of the events

The represented event : journalism's initial spin

The representational event : political appropriations

Iconic events in popular culture

The significance of iconic events.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-206).

ISBN:

9780739115190

0739115197

9780739115206

0739115200

OCLC:

85018718