Entertaining the Citizen: When Politics and Popular Culture Converge (Critical Media Studies)

by Liesbet van Zoonen

Can politics be combined with entertainment? Can political involvement and participation be fun? Politics and popular culture are converging all the time, whether it’s in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s election as governor of California or in political television dramas and movies like The West Wing and Dave . This book encourages readers to think about how links between entertainment and politics have the potential to rejuvenate citizenship, endorse civic values, and sustain civic commitment. Instead of discarding the popular as irrelevant or dangerous to the democratic process, Liesbet van Zoonen shows us the possibilities for increasing political knowledge and participation through the arenas of politics and popular music, political “soaps,” political television dramas, and politicians as celebrities. A first-rate starting point for debate, Entertaining the Citizen will stimulate and entertain students and general readers alike.

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[O Mundo é Bué Cenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito interessante. Lida com o cruzamento entre entretenimento e política de uma forma abonatória, algo que não é usual em livros deste tipo. Avança a teoria imteressante de que existem muitos pressupostos errados nos críticos do entretenimento na política, como a noção de representatividade, e demonstra como a política faz parte de um eixo social complexo onde estão outras facetas como a música, a soap opera, etc. Neste sentido, o cidadão é cidadão em todas as suas vertentes, n se podendo tirar a política desse complexo.