Street smarts and critical theory : listening to the vernacular / Thomas McLaughlin.
Material type: TextSeries: Wisconsin project on American writersPublication details: Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, ©1996.Description: 1 online resource (viii, 182 pages)Content type:- text
- computer
- online resource
- 058511448X
- 9780585114484
- 9780299151737
- 0299151735
- American literature -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc
- Popular literature -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc
- Criticism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Literature -- Public opinion
- Criticism -- United States -- Public opinion
- Language and culture -- United States
- Popular culture -- United States
- Canon (Literature)
- Littérature américaine -- Histoire et critique -- Théorie, etc
- Paralittérature -- Histoire et critique -- Théorie, etc
- Critique -- États-Unis -- Histoire -- 20e siècle
- Littérature -- Opinion publique -- États-Unis
- Critique -- États-Unis -- Opinion publique
- Langage et culture -- États-Unis
- Culture populaire -- États-Unis
- Chefs-d'œuvre (Littérature)
- Littérature -- Opinion publique
- LITERARY CRITICISM
- General
- LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General
- Canon (Literature)
- Criticism
- Criticism -- Public opinion
- Language and culture
- Literature -- Public opinion
- Popular culture
- United States
- English
- Languages & Literatures
- American Literature
- 1900 - 1999
- 810.9 20
- PS25 .M4 1997eb
- digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Electronic-Books | OPJGU Sonepat- Campus | E-Books EBSCO | Available |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-177) and index.
Thomas McLaughlin argues that critical theory - raising serious, sustained questions about cultural practice and ideology - is practiced not only by an academic elite but also by savvy viewers of sitcoms and tv news, by Elvis fans and Trekkies, by labor organizers and school teachers, by the average person in the street.
Like academic theorists, who are trained in a tradition of philosophical and political skepticism that challenges all orthodoxies, the vernacular theorists McLaughlin identifies display a lively and healthy alertness to contradiction and propaganda. They are not passive victims of ideology but active questioners of the belief systems that have power over their lives. Their theoretical work arises from the circumstances they confront on the job, in the family, in popular culture. And their questioning of established institutions, McLaughlin contends, is essential and healthy, for it clarifies the purpose and strategies of institutions and justifies the existence of cultural practices. Street Smarts and Critical Theory leads us through eye-opening explorations of social activism in the Southern Christian anti-pornography movement, fan critiques in the 'zine scene, New Age narratives of healing and transformation, the methodical manipulations of the advertising profession, and vernacular theory in the whole-language movement. Emphasizing that theory is itself a pervasive cultural practice, McLaughlin calls on academic institutions to recognize and develop the theoretical strategies that students bring into the classroom.
Introduction -- theory outside the academy: street smarts and critical theory -- Cultural theory and social activism in the southern Christian antipornography movement -- Criticism in the zines: vernacular theory and popular culture -- Stories of the new age: narrative, healing, and transformation -- The cunning of the hand, the weakness of the heart: theoretical work in the advertising profession -- The teachers meet the experts: vernacular theory in the whole language movement -- Pedagogy and vernacular theory.
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