From the Editor’s Desk
In Chaos Theory we discuss the interconnectedness of all things. Nowhere is
this interconnection better illustrated than in the study of popular culture, which breaks
down disciplinary barriers, thus illuminating the multiplicity of ways the sea of popular
culture in which we swim influences us and we it, virtual reality almost seamlessly
blending with reality.
In variations on this theme, Ken Moser, in his provocative article on
Baudrillardian ‘Discourse of the Good’ and the Film Wag the Dog, asks, “have hyperreal representations of war eclipsed the reality of armed struggles?” Are we witnessing
the “death of meaning”? In “Revengers, Redeemed,” Robert Johnson focuses on “how
adaptation, as a tool, lays bare the power of an audience’s cultural grievances and
expectations to determine the version of a plot that will please at a given place and
time.” Melanie Marotta’s “The Resurgence of the Cowboy Figure: Raylan’s Utopic Quest
in Justified” explores the hero’s evolution in the Myth of the Frontier in preservation of
both the Old and New Wests.
Lest we forget, “In I will not apologize,” William Nesbit gives the history of antiestablishment Amiri Baraka, his poem “Somebody Blew Up America,” and the
controversies that surrounded him.
Scholar/musician Daniel Ferreras Savoye explains the staying power of the the
Beatles, perhaps the greatest band of all time, in his marvelously informative “On
Beatles Time.” Not only does he give a history of the Beatles placing them in detailed
context in the industry, but explores what keeps them at the top of the universal rock
chart, and giving much credit to their sheer artistry “which allowed them to change and
evolve, turning pop music into art.”
Showing perhaps the greatest staying power is Dante Alighieri who seems to be
everywhere in popular culture. Dante scholar, Joseph Ceccio in “(Re-)Popularizing
Dante: Dan Brown’s Inferno” explains how when Dante lives on in everything from video
games, graphic novels and over 100 English translations, Brown has managed to add
still more to that popularity.
Last we have Nicole White’s “Balanced on a Proverbial Cliffhanger: The
Methods, Pros and Current Tribulations of How Blind Readers Obtain Books for Leisure
Reading”, an article I solicited after her brilliant performance in one of my classes. It was
a revelation to me and I hope will be to you also.
Felicia