Fabricating the Absolute Fake: America in Contemporary Pop CultureThe pageantry of Oprah Winfrey’s daytime talk show, the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola empire, Michael Jackson’s turn from the King of Pop into an iconic global recluse: American “pop” culture—and the contemporary films, television programs, and cultural objects that determine it—dominates the rest of the world through its hegemonic presence. Does that make everyone a hybridized American or do these elements find mediation within the other cultures that consume them? Fabricating the Absolute Fake applies elements of postmodern theory—Jean Baudrillard’s hyperreality and Umberto Eco’s “absolute fake”, among others—to this globally mediated American pop culture in order to examine both the phenomena itself and its appropriation in the Netherlands, as evidenced by diverse cultural icons like the Elvis-inspired crooner Lee Towers, the Moroccan-Dutch white rapper Ali B, musical tributes to an assassinated politician, and the Dutch reality soap opera scene. A fascinating exploration of how global cultures struggle to create their own “America” within a post–September 11 media culture, Fabricating the Absolute Fake reflects on what it might mean to truly take part in American popular culture. “A brilliant, thoroughly enjoyable work of cultural critique. . . . Jaap Kooijman takes seemingly exhausted concepts like “Americanization” and turns them on their head.”—Anne McCarthy, New York University |
From inside the book
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Page 5
... Dutch Pop Culture as Karaoke Americanism Chapter five The Dutch Dream: Americanization, Pop Culture, and National Identity Conclusion Let's Make Things Better Notes Bibliography Index 7 9 21 41 67 93 119 141 147 163 171 Acknowledgments ...
... Dutch Pop Culture as Karaoke Americanism Chapter five The Dutch Dream: Americanization, Pop Culture, and National Identity Conclusion Let's Make Things Better Notes Bibliography Index 7 9 21 41 67 93 119 141 147 163 171 Acknowledgments ...
Page 7
... Dutch teenager , back in 1983 , I loved Eddie Murphy and Stevie Wonder , not yet realizing that these American entertainers ( and many others ) helped to make “ America ” an integral part of my own culture . Now twenty - five years ...
... Dutch teenager , back in 1983 , I loved Eddie Murphy and Stevie Wonder , not yet realizing that these American entertainers ( and many others ) helped to make “ America ” an integral part of my own culture . Now twenty - five years ...
Page 9
... Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf. Ken Johnson, art critic of The New York Times, described the photographs as “mysterious and touching,” suggesting that the pictures present “scenes that Norman Rockwell's mordantly depressed cousin might ...
... Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf. Ken Johnson, art critic of The New York Times, described the photographs as “mysterious and touching,” suggesting that the pictures present “scenes that Norman Rockwell's mordantly depressed cousin might ...
Page 10
... Dutch ) pop - cultural artifacts as absolute fakes , such as the photograph by Olaf , as they are often inspired by American pop culture . Such a perspective enables me to analyze specific cases of Americanization as forms of cultural ...
... Dutch ) pop - cultural artifacts as absolute fakes , such as the photograph by Olaf , as they are often inspired by American pop culture . Such a perspective enables me to analyze specific cases of Americanization as forms of cultural ...
Page 13
... Dutch). The real challenge in the study of Americanization is to find a way to recognize the active appropriation of American pop culture without falling back on essentialist notions of what is American and, in the case of the ...
... Dutch). The real challenge in the study of Americanization is to find a way to recognize the active appropriation of American pop culture without falling back on essentialist notions of what is American and, in the case of the ...
Other editions - View all
Fabricating the Absolute Fake: America in Contemporary Pop Culture Jaap Kooijman No preview available - 2013 |
Fabricating the absolute fake: America in contemporary pop culture Jaap Kooijman No preview available - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
Absolute Fake Adam Curry African-American Ally McBeal Ameri American Dream American flag American pop culture Amsterdam audience broadcast Bruce Springsteen celebrities close-up Coca-Cola commercial Dixie Chicks Dutch Dutch national Dutch pop culture editors emphasizes episode essay ethnic European Cinema explicit fictional film Frans & Baas genre conventions Gulf Gulf War hip-hop Hollywood hyper-Americanness hyperreality imagined America imagined community Iraq Jarhead Jean Baudrillard karaoke Americanism Katja Lange Frans Lee Towers Linda London Michael Jackson military Moroccan Moroccan-Dutch movie multicultural music video nation-state USA national identity Netherlands Oprah Winfrey Show Patricia Paay patriotism perceived Pim Fortuyn political pop song pop stars pop-cultural artifacts popular present President rapper rhetoric Rob Kroes Routledge Shouf Shouf Habibi singing star image star myth Star-Spangled Banner suggesting Super Bowl performance talk show terrorist Theo van Gogh Three Kings tion translated University Press USA for Africa viewers West Wing white Dutch Whitney Houston World York