Popular Culture

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May 3, 2010

Heroes Are Over With: Possibilities for Folk Hybridity in “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”

Posted by folkpub under Internet, Participatory Culture, Popular Culture
1 Comment 

Heroes Are Over With: Possibilities for Folk Hybridity in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Katie L. Ramos
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Abstract:

Folklorists have long sought to illuminate the blurry boundary between contemporary popular culture and folk culture, and in the information age that boundary is fuzzier than ever.  The internet provides tools for the folk to produce creative works and disseminate them widely while remaining mostly anonymous.  These tools have also allowed greater interaction between producers of popular media and their fan (folk) base.  Camille Bacon-Smith and Henry Jenkins have identified a “participatory culture” in which fans produce their own creative works (on and offline) in response to popular film and television.  The more recent phenomenon of internet-based high-budget programming has led to an even greater level of interaction between media producers and their fans.  One example is Joss Whedon’s 2008 web production Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.  Whedon was known for friendly interaction with his fans, but when he developed Dr. Horrible he encouraged them to engage actively in creative play with the musical, partly through a contest that asked viewers to create their own video responses to the musical.  The ten best were included on the DVD release.  This paper examines how the producers and fans of Dr. Horrible entered into a (lopsided) reciprocal performance, inventing and re-inventing a shared, creative event. (more…)

 

April 8, 2009

Harold Hinds, et al. Popular Culture Theory and Methodology: A Basic Introduction

Posted by folkpub under Book Review, Popular Culture, Theory
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Harold E. Hinds, Jr., Marilyn F. Motz, and Angela M. S. Nelson, eds. Popular Culture Theory and Methodology: A Basic Introduction. Madison: Popular Press/ University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. Pp. vii + 406, introduction, bibliography. $65.00 hardcover, $21.95 paperback.

Trevor J. Blank
Indiana University

The relationship between folklore and popular culture has been the subject of scrutiny amongst folklorists, and the study of the connections between these fields is problematic for scholars entangled in debates over the scope and legitimacy of their disciplines. The comparative analysis of popular culture by folklorists has been peripheral, not rigorous. However, it is important to note the influential role of popular culture on folklore, and this field certainly merits the attention of folklorists and cultural historians. Popular Culture Theory and Methodology provides a wonderful introduction for folklorists and interested scholars seeking to enhance their knowledge of the core fundamental theories, methods, and debates that have shaped the popular culture discipline since its acceptance as a serious academic field in the 1960s. (more…)