Logo image
The reception deception
Book chapter

The reception deception

T. Miller
New Directions in American Reception Study, pp.353-369
Oxford University Press, Inc
2008
url
Google Books PreviewView

Abstract

Eve Tushnet was editor-in-chief of The Yale Free Press in 1999. Reflecting on her leaving year's reception of Gilda, Charles Vidor's 1946 film noir, she wrote, "Gilda tries to get her dignity back through sex, Johnny through power-the same trophies many of us seek at Yale, the former on couches and the latter in classrooms." Tushnet, who went on to be a conservative Catholic-conversa blogger, understood the importance of a materially situated uptake of texts. So should we. I take her illuminating remark on ruling-class methods and mores, titillation and training, as a touchstone to criticize what I am calling the "reception deception"-namely, dominant investigations of cultural effects. In its place I propose a hybrid of political economy and ethnography, borrowing, inter alia, from several essays in this volume...

Details

Metrics

89 Record Views
Logo image