Theming Of America
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€55.99
A01=Mark Gottdiener
Author_Mark Gottdiener
Category=JHB
cultural geography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
media influence on space
postmodern architecture
public realm decline
spatial commodification
symbolic environment analysis
urban semiotics
Product details
- ISBN 9780367311971
- Weight: 330g
- Dimensions: 148 x 233mm
- Publication Date: 31 May 2021
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Mark Gottdiener explores the nature of social change as it has developed since the 1960s as reflected in the "theming" of America, from Graceland to Dollywood, from Las Vegas to Disney World, from the Mall of America to your local mall. Nowhere can modern Americans escape the profusion of recognizable symbols and signs attached to virtually every aspect of their culture constantly reminding them that they are on familiar and comforting grounds. "Just come in, friend, and buy; make yourself at home," these symbols seem to say, thus tying media culture and the seduction of consumerism to the production of ingeniously designed symbolic spaces. This is the first book to explore the origins, nature, and future of themed spaces in our information-overloaded world. Gottdiener begins with a brief historical account of the shifting importance of themes in the construction of built space. He then evaluates the economic basis for the increasing reliance on symbols in the marketing of commercial enterprises and analyzes contemporary trends in themed restaurants, malls, airports, theme parks, museums, and war memorials. Final chapters are devoted to examining such critical issues as the disappearance of public space, the relation between themes and mass media industries, and the future of symbolic spaces.
Mark Gottdieneris chair and professor of the department of sociology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. He has written numerous books including Postmodern Semiotics: Material Culture and the Forms of Postmodern Life, The New Urban Sociology, and Urban Life in Transition. Gottdiener lives in East Amherst, New York.
