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 9
... present “scenes that Norman Rockwell's mordantly depressed cousin might have painted.” Yet, Johnson singled out Olaf's photograph of a young Boy Scout with his dog in a 1950s ice cream parlor (which is also featured on the cover of this ...
... present “scenes that Norman Rockwell's mordantly depressed cousin might have painted.” Yet, Johnson singled out Olaf's photograph of a young Boy Scout with his dog in a 1950s ice cream parlor (which is also featured on the cover of this ...
Page 10
... presents an image of America that often leaves out the diversity of cultures in the USA . Moreover , my reading of America is undoubtedly a very subjective one , with the danger of “ lump [ ing ] together ' non - Americans , ' as if ...
... presents an image of America that often leaves out the diversity of cultures in the USA . Moreover , my reading of America is undoubtedly a very subjective one , with the danger of “ lump [ ing ] together ' non - Americans , ' as if ...
Page 18
... presents a universal rather than an explicitly American conception of values such as freedom and democracy by recognizing Hollywood as “ an engine of global hegemony . ” 26 With Fabricat- ing the Absolute Fake , I expand Elsaesser's ...
... presents a universal rather than an explicitly American conception of values such as freedom and democracy by recognizing Hollywood as “ an engine of global hegemony . ” 26 With Fabricat- ing the Absolute Fake , I expand Elsaesser's ...
Page 19
... present- ing the illusion of being their “authentic” selves, reminiscent of Umberto Eco's words that to “speak of things that one wants to connote as real, these things must seem real,” resulting in the absolute fake.27 I was not ...
... present- ing the illusion of being their “authentic” selves, reminiscent of Umberto Eco's words that to “speak of things that one wants to connote as real, these things must seem real,” resulting in the absolute fake.27 I was not ...
Page 24
... present a melodic and rather plain message about famine and poverty in Africa in an attempt to raise awareness and money. Both songs make explicit references to God, which, particularly in the case of “Do They Know It's Christmas ...
... present a melodic and rather plain message about famine and poverty in Africa in an attempt to raise awareness and money. Both songs make explicit references to God, which, particularly in the case of “Do They Know It's Christmas ...
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