{"product_id":"trash-culture-9780520924420","title":"Trash Culture","description":"\u003ci\u003eSeinfeld\u003c\/i\u003e as a contemporary adaptation of Etherege's Restoration comedy of manners \u003ci\u003eThe Man of Mode\u003c\/i\u003e? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriends\u003c\/i\u003e as a reworking of Shakespeare's romantic comedy \u003ci\u003eMuch Ado About Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e as an adaptation of Spenser's epic poem, \u003ci\u003eThe Faerie Queene\u003c\/i\u003e? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe popular culture that surrounds us in our daily lives bears a striking similarity to some of the great works of literature of the past. In television, movies, magazines, and advertisements we are exposed to many of the same stories as those critics who study the great books of Western literature, but we have simply been encouraged to look at those stories differently.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eTrash Culture\u003c\/i\u003e, Richard K. Simon examines the ways in which the great literature and cultural work of the past has been rewritten for today's consumer society, with supermarket tabloids such as \u003ci\u003eThe National Enquirer\u003c\/i\u003e and celebrity gossip magazines like \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e serving as contemporary versions of the great dramatic tragedies of the past. Today's advertising repeats the tale of the Golden Age, but inverts the value system of a classic utopia; the shopping mall combines bits and pieces of the great garden styles of Western history, and now adds consumer goods; \u003ci\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/i\u003e magazine revises Castiglione's Renaissance courtesy book, \u003ci\u003eThe Book of the Courtier\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eCosmopolitan\u003c\/i\u003e magazine revises the women's coming-of-age novels of Jane Austen, Gustave Flaubert, and Edith Wharton.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTrash Culture\u003c\/i\u003e concludes that the great books are alive and well, but simply hidden from the critics. It argues for the linking of high and low for the study and appreciation of each form of literature, and the importance of teaching popular culture alongside books of the great tradition in order to understand the critical context in which the books appear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMany titles in the Voices Revived program are also newly available as ebooks, offered at a discounted price to support wider access to scholarly work.","brand":"Richard Keller Simon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48200787558651,"sku":"9780520924420","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_5f62aeab-51f6-47d0-937c-5a5c94ed806e.jpg?v=1779506749","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/trash-culture-9780520924420","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}