1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910463459803321

Titolo

ConFiguring America [[electronic resource] ] : iconic figures, visuality, and the American identity / / edited by Klaus Rieser, Michael Fuchs, and Michael Phillips

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Bristol, UK ; ; Chicago, : Intellect, 2013

ISBN

1-84150-762-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (302 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

RieserKlaus

FuchsMichael

PhillipsMichael

Disciplina

973.099

Soggetti

Arts and society

Popular culture - United States

National characteristics, American

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Table of Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction: Theorizing Iconic Figures; PART I: Icons and the Struggle over Meaning; Chapter 1: 'Just Like You', But Not Like Us: Staging National Belonging, MultiracialFemininity, and Collective Memory in the American Girl Family; Chapter 2: Behind the Brown Mask: Joe Louis' Face and the Construction of Racial Mythologies; Chapter 3: LeBron James and the Web of Discourse: Iconic Sports Figures andSemantic Struggles; PART II: Appropriating Iconic Figures; Chapter 4: O Superman: The Many Faces of the Man of Steel

Chapter 5: Thirty Are Better Than One: Marilyn Monroe and the Performance of AmericannessChapter 6: Queering Cowboys, Queering Futurity: The Re/Construction of American Cowboy Masculinity; Chapter 7: Iconizing Radical Change: How Gary Cooper Led Poland to Freedom; PART III: The Mutability and Abstraction of Iconic Figures; Chapter 8: The Embodiment of a Nation: The Iconicity of Uncle Sam and the Construction of a Conflicted National Identity; Chapter 9: Lois Lane: The Making of a Girl Reporter



Chapter 10: War in Four Colors: The Battle between Superman and Captain America for America's Hearts and Minds during World War IIChapter 11: Myth and Materiality: The Duality of Grace Kelly; Chapter 12: 'Its Own Special Attraction': Meditations on Martyrdom and the Iconicity of Civil Rights Widows; Contributors; Index; Back Cover

Sommario/riassunto

ConFiguring America brings together a series of incisive essays that analyse a wide range of such figures: those who embody America's tendency to produce celebrities and iconic personalities with global reach. Drawing on theoretical insights from a variety of fields-including cultural iconography, visual culture, star studies, and history-a diverse group of international contributors sheds light on how these figures and their media representations construct America's image beyond its borders. An important addition to an expanding field, ConFiguring America will deepen readers' understanding of