Republic of Signs: Liberal Theory and American Popular Culture

by Anne Norton

Norton examines the enactment of liberal ideas in popular culture; in the possessions of ordinary people and the habits of everyday life. She sees liberalism as the common sense of the American a set of conventions unconsciously adhered to, a set of principles silently taken for granted.

The author ranges over a wide expanse of popular activities (e.g. wrestling, roller derby, lotteries, shopping sprees, and dining out), as well as conventional political topics (e.g., the Constitution, presidency, news media, and centrality of law). Yet the argument is pointed and probling, never shallow or superficial. Fred and Wilma Flintstone are as vital to the republic as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

"In discussions that range from the Constitution and the presidency to money and shopping, voting, lotteries, and survey research, Norton discerns and imaginatively invents possibilities that exceed recognized actualities and already approved opportunities."—Richard E. Flathman, American Political Science Review

"[S]timulating and stylish exploration of political theory, language, culture, and shopping at the mall . . . popular culture at its best, informed by history and theory, serious in purpose, yet witty and modest in tone."—Bernard Mergen, American Studies International

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Republic of Signs: Liberal Theory and American Popular Culture

Norton examines the enactment of liberal ideas in popular culture; in the possessions of ordinary people and the habits of everyday life.

The author ranges over a wide expanse of popular activities
(wrestling - roller derby - lottery tickets - shopping sprees - dining out)

as well as conventional political topics
(the Constitution - the Presidency - the news - the centrality of law)

Yet the argument is pointed and probling, never shallow or superficial

////////

okay I'll talk about roller derby and wrestling
and I'll say fuck you I'm NOT superficial in talking about the concept of liberalism

yeah sure, Honey

///////

The Journal of Politics

Norton presents a 'state of the art' cultural analysis, drawing upon many of the usual suspects - Foucault, Derrida, and Lacan, among others.

//////

basically a dump truck full of horse turds

//////

The Journal of American History

There are three critical moves in Professor Norton's analysis.

First she attacks the presumption of the neutrality of language: in language the private and public self, citizen and consumer, in constituted.

Second, she plays on the dual and ambitious meaning of "representation": the self represented in language; the citizen represented in the signs, practices, and persons of politics.

Third, in common with much post-structuralism, she felts the distinctive aspect of American politics in its "furious hyperreality", its peculiar penchant for simulacra.

////////

I'm furiously Hyper-tired of her trolloping into Bizzaro-World