Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Images
- Acknowledgments
- Preface to the AUP Edition
- Introduction
- 1 Bart Talks Back: The Politics and Poetics of Participatory Culture
- 2 Alternative TV: The Genesis of The Simpsons
- 3 More than Just a Cartoon: Meta-Television Culture and the Age of Irony
- 4 High Fives on Prime Time: Representing Popular Culture
- 5 At the Edge of Convergence Culture: Engaging in the Simpsons Cult
- 6 Echoes of Springfield: The Simpsons in Remix Culture
- Conclusion: The Simpsons, Cultural Feedback Loops, and the Case of Apu
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Images
- Acknowledgments
- Preface to the AUP Edition
- Introduction
- 1 Bart Talks Back: The Politics and Poetics of Participatory Culture
- 2 Alternative TV: The Genesis of The Simpsons
- 3 More than Just a Cartoon: Meta-Television Culture and the Age of Irony
- 4 High Fives on Prime Time: Representing Popular Culture
- 5 At the Edge of Convergence Culture: Engaging in the Simpsons Cult
- 6 Echoes of Springfield: The Simpsons in Remix Culture
- Conclusion: The Simpsons, Cultural Feedback Loops, and the Case of Apu
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Abstract
This introductory chapter links the Simpsons phenomenon to the emergence of convergence culture, which refers to the blurring of media production and media consumption in the digital age. Various cultural agencies, I argue, have both shaped and expanded the popular narrative associated with The Simpsons. In contrast to most other pop culture texts, The Simpsons’ iconic characters and storyworld are mainly parodic commentaries that reflect sensibilities rooted in popular culture, informing what I call the series’ “popular semiosis.” Furthermore, the chapter discusses the cult series in relation to the label “fan” as well as in relation to media scholarship that adopts the dual role of critical inquiry and pop culture fandom.
Keywords: The Simpsons, convergence culture, popular semiosis, cultural studies, media fandom, aca-fandom
Thirty-plus years after its prime-time premiere on December 17, 1989, the American animated sitcom The Simpsons represents a pop-cultural institution: on the one hand, a globally recognized icon of American popular culture, on the other, a media text whose major subject is popular culture itself.
Today, most people in the Western world will know of The Simpsons. Many adult TV viewers, including myself, consider the series and its characters a part of their media socialization—a part of their media culture. Looking back to the show's phenomenal success in the 1990s and 2000s, the Simpsons brand appears quite dated; for younger generations, the media franchise holds far from the same attraction that it originally did for Gen Xers and millennials. But why, then, is The Simpsons still in production and being broadcast all over the world? And how have the Simpsons characters preserved their recognizability and meaning as popular cartoon icons?
This book traces the cultural phenomenon of The Simpsons. This refers not only to the eponymous television show itself but to the associated media franchise at large, as well as to various forms through which we encounter The Simpsons beyond The Simpsons. To approach this nexus, my study will reflect how media production has undergone tremendous changes over the past three decades: the television industries have shifted from broadcasting to narrowcasting; storytelling strategies have moved away from illusionist approaches toward self-referential and self-deprecating forms of representation; and traditional models of mass-communication have been reshaped by media convergence in the digital age.
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- Information
- Understanding The SimpsonsAnimating the Politics and Poetics of Participatory Culture, pp. 15 - 36Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2021