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 7
... Star - Spangled Banner ' by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey , ” in Post - Cold War Europe , Post - Cold War America ( Amsterdam : VU University Press , 2004 ) , edited by Ruud Janssens and Rob Kroes , and “ Let's Make Things Better ...
... Star - Spangled Banner ' by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey , ” in Post - Cold War Europe , Post - Cold War America ( Amsterdam : VU University Press , 2004 ) , edited by Ruud Janssens and Rob Kroes , and “ Let's Make Things Better ...
Page 44
... Star-Spangled Banner,” the official national anthem, suggests that not so much the nation-state USA but “America” was perceived to be under attack and in need of defending by rearticulating the values of freedom and democracy that ...
... Star-Spangled Banner,” the official national anthem, suggests that not so much the nation-state USA but “America” was perceived to be under attack and in need of defending by rearticulating the values of freedom and democracy that ...
Page 67
... star Roseanne Barr . On July 25 , 1990 , in between two games of the San Diego Padres baseball team , she had sung an extremely off - key a cappella rendition of “ The Star - Spangled Banner . ” Adding insult to the injury , she also ...
... star Roseanne Barr . On July 25 , 1990 , in between two games of the San Diego Padres baseball team , she had sung an extremely off - key a cappella rendition of “ The Star - Spangled Banner . ” Adding insult to the injury , she also ...
Page 73
... star to sing “ The Star - Spangled Banner ” at the Super Bowl . Since the early 1980s , it has become a Super Bowl tradition to invite pop music stars to sing the nation- al anthem , including performances by Diana Ross ( 1982 ) , Billy ...
... star to sing “ The Star - Spangled Banner ” at the Super Bowl . Since the early 1980s , it has become a Super Bowl tradition to invite pop music stars to sing the nation- al anthem , including performances by Diana Ross ( 1982 ) , Billy ...
Page 74
... Star-Spangled Banner.” In an interview, she recalled: If you were there, you could feel the intensity. You know, we were in the Gulf War at the time. It was an intense time for a country. A lot of our daughters and sons were overseas ...
... Star-Spangled Banner.” In an interview, she recalled: If you were there, you could feel the intensity. You know, we were in the Gulf War at the time. It was an intense time for a country. A lot of our daughters and sons were overseas ...
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