Meanings of the Medium

The latest addition to the Media and Society Series, "Meanings of the Medium" takes a new approach to the study of the past, present, and future of television. Most of its authors are not media experts but literary critics, philosophers, rhetoricians, and historians. They use their unique skills to examine three interwoven themes: the origin and meaning of American attitudes toward television, the relationship between "high" art and television's popular art, and the relationship between particular kinds of programmes and the audience's sensibilities. Stressing an aesthetic and historical approach, the volume directs itself to the reasons why people watch particular programmes and what these patterns tell us about ourselves.