In this tenth edition of his award-winning introduction, John Storey presents a clear and critical survey of competing theories of, and various approaches to, popular culture. Its breadth and theoretical unity, exemplified through popular culture, means that it can be flexibly and relevantly applied across a number of disciplines.
Retaining the accessible approach of previous editions and using appropriate examples from the texts and practices of popular culture, this new edition remains a key introduction to the area.
New to this edition:
- updated throughout with contemporary examples of popular culture
- a chapter called 'Culture and nature', which includes sections on culture in nature, the Anthropocene, the Capitalocene, and popular culture and climate change
- updated student resources at routledgelearning.com/culturaltheoryandpopularculture
This new edition remains essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of cultural studies, media studies, communication studies, the sociology of culture, popular culture and other related subjects.
Preface Acknowledgements Publisher’s acknowledgements 1. What is popular culture? 2. The ‘culture and civilization’ tradition 3. Culturalism into cultural studies 4. Marxisms 5. Psychoanalysis 6. Structuralism and post-structuralism 7. Class and class struggle 8. Gender and sexuality 9. ‘Race’, racism and representation 10. Postmodernism 11. The materiality of popular culture 12. The politics of the popular 13. Culture and nature Bibliography Index
Biography
John Storey is Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sunderland, UK. He has published widely on cultural theory, popular culture, consumption and utopianism. He is the author of numerous books, including Theories of Consumption (Routledge, 2017), Radical Utopianism and Cultural Studies: On Refusing to be Realistic (Routledge, 2019), Consuming Utopia: Cultural Studies and the Politics of Reading (Routledge, 2022) and Consumption (Routledge, 2023). He is also editor of The Making of English Popular Culture (Routledge, 2016) and Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader (Routledge, 2019).
Praise for the previous editions:
'This classic text explains how we can use cultural theory to understand the kaleidoscope of popular culture that surrounds us and shapes our lives. It is an outstandingly clear, beautifully written and authoritative book – and its breadth and depth will spark connections for old and new readers alike.'
Professor Jo Littler, City, University of London, UK
'Since its first publication in 1993 this has been my go-to introduction to cultural theory and popular culture. In part, this is because Storey writes with admirable clarity and concision but also because it is broad-ranging and full of useful and insightful examples that help students see how theory works in practice. Other reasons for choosing this as a course book are that it is constantly updated to take account of developments in cultural studies and that it is linked to a reader in which students can explore some of the texts that are discussed and illustrated in this book.'
Dr David Walton, Universidad de Murcia, Spain
