Popular Culture and the Future of Politics

Popular Culture and the Future of Politics examines changes in popular culture and political culture in the United States, particularly in terms of progressive change. Because it provides overviews of theory along with concrete examples of politics and textual / content analyses of multiple cultural productions across media, it is ideal for courses that seek to be relevant to contemporary changes in popular culture, particularly in view of post-9/11 developments in identity politics and domestic and foreign policy.

Popular Culture and the Future of Politics: Cultural Studies and the Tao of South Park argues that progressives should conceive the connections between media, policy, and culture beyond the limits of 'politics' and 'news.' With sustained analyses of groundbreaking contemporary examples of what has become known as 'convergence culture,' Ted Gournelos brings together a wide range of media without sacrificing depth. His examples, such as South Park, The Simpsons, The Onion, The Daily Show, Chappelle's Show, and The Boondocks, are chosen for their political scope and social impact and demonstrate the ways in which what we know as 'politics' is rapidly changing. The book's forays into established fields like feminist, race, and queer theory are combined with perspectives drawn from political economy and rhetoric to demonstrate the power of irony, humor, and cultural dissonance in modern approaches to dissonant cultural politics.

Part 1 Introduction: How to Break What's Broken: Visual Culture, Dissonance, and Politics
Part 2 Prelude: Tactics of Oppositional Culture
Part 3 Part I: The Allusive
Chapter 4 Chapter 1. Boobs, Barf, and Bloody Asses: Coming of Age in South Park
Chapter 5 Chapter 2. Singing in Hell With Satan: Intertextuality, Music, and the Regulation of the Child
Chapter 6 Interlude 1. Irony, Community, and the Intelligent Design Debate inSouth Park andThe Simpsons
Part 7 Part II: The Responsive
Chapter 8 Chapter 3. Puppets, Slaves, and Sex Changes: Performing Sex with Mr. Garrison
Chapter 9 Chapter 4. Muhammad's Ghost: Religion, Censorship, and the Politics of Intimidation
Chapter 10 Interlude 2. To Rely on the Absurdity of the System:The Daily ShowThe Onion, and New Media Convergence
Part 11 Part III: The Disruptive
Chapter 12 Chapter 5. Ambivalent Opposition:South Park's Racial Discourse
Chapter 13 Chapter 6. A Neocon Parade:South Park and Post-9/11 Politics
Chapter 14 Coda: The Boondocks, Chappelle's Show, and the Rearticulation of Racial Politics
Part 15 Conclusion: Playing With the System, Playing With Fire