Swift Viewing : The Popular Life of Subliminal Influence

Acland, Charles R.

ISBN 10: 0822349191 / ISBN 13: 9780822349198

Published by Duke University Press, 2012

Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 12986448-6

Synopsis:

Since the late 1950s, the idea that hidden, imperceptible messages could influence mass behavior has been debated, feared, and ridiculed. In Swift Viewing, Charles R. Acland reveals the secret story of subliminal influence, showing how an obscure concept from experimental psychology became a mainstream belief about our vulnerability to manipulation in an age of media clutter. He chronicles the enduring popularity of the dubious claims about subliminal influence, tracking their migration from nineteenth-century hypnotism to twentieth-century front-page news. His expansive history of popular concern about subliminal messages shows how the notion of “hidden persuaders” became a vernacular media critique, one reflecting anxiety about a rapidly expanding media environment. Through a deep archive of eclectic examples, including educational technology in the American classroom, mind-control tropes in science fiction, Marshall McLuhan’s media theories, and sensational claims in the late 1950s about subliminal advertising, Acland establishes the subliminal as both a product of and a balm for information overload.

About the Author:

Charles R. Acland is Professor and Communication Studies Research Chair at Concordia University, Montreal. He is the author of Screen Traffic: Movies, Multiplexes, and Global Culture and co-editor of Useful Cinema, both also published by Duke University Press.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Swift Viewing : The Popular Life of ...
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication Date: 2012
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Very Good