Synopses & Reviews
Recent media events like the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas, the beating of Rodney King and its aftermath, and the murder trial of O.J. Simpson have trained our collective eye on the televised spectacle of race.
Living Color combines media studies, cultural studies, and critical race theory to investigate the representation of race on American TV.
Ranging across television genres, historical periods, and racial formations, Living Colorandmdash;as it positions race as a key element of televisionandrsquo;s cultural influenceandmdash;moves the discussion out of a black-and-white binary and illustrates how class, gender, and sexuality interact with images of race. In addition to essays on representations of andquot;Orientalandquot; performers and African Americans in the early years of television, this collection also examines how the celebrity of the late MTV star Pedro Zamora countered racist and homophobic discourses; reveals how news coverage on drug use shifted from the white middle-class cocaine user in the early 1980s to the black andquot;crack motherandquot; of the 1990s; and takes on TV coverage of the Rodney King beating and the subsequent unrest in Los Angeles. Other essays consider O.J. Simpsonandrsquo;s murder trial, comparing televisionandrsquo;s treatment of Simpson to that of Michael Jackson, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Clarence Thomas and look at the racism directed at Asian Americans by the recurring andquot;Dancing Itosandquot; on Jay Lenoandrsquo;s Tonight Show.
Review
andquot;Each of these essays illustrates the impossibility of understanding television without understanding race. Living Color subjects the analysis of television, like television itself, to critical interrogations that place racial difference at the center of television history, strategies of representation and narration, forms of address, and industrial production and circulation.andquot;andmdash;Herman Gray, author of Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for Blackness
Review
andquot;This collection of essays provides an essential addition to work within the fields of media, cultural, and critical race studies; its provocative readings of television texts and audiences will no doubt yield important new insights on the relationship between television, race, ethnicity, and history.andquot;andmdash;Lynne Joyrich, author of Re-viewing Reception: Television, Gender, and Postmodern Culture
Synopsis
An edited volume of essays on race, ethnicity and television.
About the Author
"Each of these essays illustrates the impossibility of understanding television without understanding race. Living Color subjects the analysis of television, like television itself, to critical interrogations that place racial difference at the center of television history, strategies of representation and narration, forms of address, and industrial production and circulation."—Herman Gray, author of Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for Blackness"This collection of essays provides an essential addition to work within the fields of media, cultural, and critical race studies; its provocative readings of television texts and audiences will no doubt yield important new insights on the relationship between television, race, ethnicity, and history."—Lynne Joyrich, author of Re-viewing Reception: Television, Gender, and Postmodern Culture