Understanding American Icons - Softcover

Berger, Arthur Asa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1611320399 ISBN 13: 9781611320398

Publisher: Routledge, 2011

Synopsis

This brief, student-friendly introduction to the study of semiotics uses examples from 25 iconic locations in the United States. From Coney Island to Las Vegas, the World Trade Center to the Grand Canyon, Berger shows how semiotics offers a different lens in understanding locations taken for granted in American culture. He recasts Disneyland according to Freud, channels the Mall of America through Baudrilliard, and sees Mount Rushmore through the lens of Gramsci. A seasoned author of student texts, Berger offers an entertaining, non-threatening way to teach theory to undergraduates and that will fit ideally in classes on cultural studies, American studies, social theory, and tourism.

About this title

About the Author:

Arthur Asa Berger is professor emeritus of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University, where he taught for 38 years. He has been a visiting professor in Italy, Germany, Hong Kong, and China and has lectured in more than a dozen countries. Berger is author of over one hundred articles and more than sixty books on media, popular culture, humor, and tourism. His books have been translated into nine languages. Among his recent books are Seeing is Believing: An Introduction to Visual Communication, What Objects Mean: An Introduction to Material Culture, The Objects of Affection, Media and Society, Media and Communication Research Methods, Bloom’s Morning, Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture and Shop ‘Til You Drop. He was elected to the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s “Hall of Fame” in 2009.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1611320399
• ISBN 13: 9781611320398
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184