Although not considered a formal area of study, scholarship on the uses, content, and effects of entertaining media has been central to communication studies and related fields for more than a century. The serious study of entertainment seems paradoxical, as we presume entertainment to be the “lighter side” of our daily lives. Yet as revealed in this volume, entertainment media serve as cultural artifacts that shape our understandings of various peoples and publics in ways that invite deeper, immersive, and increasingly interactive engagement.

On this backdrop, Entertainment Media and Communication serves as a reference guide for canonical and foundational research into media entertainment and a collection of emerging and updated theories and models core to the study of media entertainment in the 21st century. Across more than forty chapters and with a diverse and inclusive list of authors, this volume provides a broad-yet-nuanced view into entertainment media and communication scholarship. The contributors explore its foundations, define and extend key concepts and theories through myriad lenses, discuss unique considerations of digital media, and divine future paths for scholarly inquiry.