Is there really a global village out there? It may be true that the whole world is watching Dallas and Dynasty, but is everyone seeing the same story? It is a fashionable worry among academics, critics and politicians that American hit programs are agents of cultural imperialism. Until now, however, nobody has known what message, if any, the viewer is actually getting and what critical capabilities he or she commands. In this book, Katz and Liebes analyze conversations about Dallas among groups of families and friends in six different sub-cultures in Israel (where the program was an all-time best-seller), in Japan (where it was rejected), and in the U.S. (the original target audience). The authors propose that there is a process of negotiation between these quintessentially American stories and what the viewers bring to them: their life experiences, the "texts" of their culture, and their expectations from the genre of family drama. A study of these negotiations leads to a typology of "readings" ranging from those that connect the characters with reality to those that find pleasure in the way the puzzle is put together. Concluding that television viewers possess considerably more critical ability than they are often given credit for, this fascinating study will interest a wide range of students and academics in communications, anthropology, literature, semiotics, sociology, and education.

The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of Dallas (Communication and Society)

Humor & Entertainment

Liebes, Tamar

Katz, Elihu

Movies

Oxford University Press

Constituting a new television genre, live broadcasts of "historic" events have become world rituals which, according to Dayan and Katz, have the potential for transforming societies even as they transfix viewers around the globe. Analyzing such public spectacles as the Olympic games, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, John F. Kenndy's funeral, the moon landing, and Pope John II's visits to Poland, they offer an ethnography of how media events are scripted, negotiated, performed, celebrated, shamanized, and reviewed.

Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History

Politics & Social Sciences

Dayan, Daniel

Social Sciences

Harvard University Press

The Secularization of Leisure: Culture and Communication in Israel

Gurevitch, Michael

In the new paperback edition of this classic text, Liebes and Katz examine how television viewers around the world respond differently to popular television programmes, particularly  Dallas.  Analszing conversations among viewers in Israel, Japan and the U. S., they show that viewers possess a good deal more critical ability than they are commonly given credit for.

The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of Dallas

Polity

Explores the beliefs, attitudes, and values of ordinary Palestinians and Israeli Jews asking the question: Is it possible to reach a negotiated resolution to the Jerusalem question? An in-depth examination of how Jerusalem is seen by both Palestinians and Israeli-Jews, this book is a landmark study of the potential for successfully negotiating the Jerusalem question. It sheds important light on the question “what is Jerusalem?” By showing that the current boundaries are not viewed by either side as sacrosanct, the authors prove that there is room for creative efforts to reach an agreement. Such room may help resolve what is undoubtedly the most difficult issue standing between Israelis and Palestinians.

Negotiating Jerusalem (Suny Series in Israeli Studies)

History

Segal, Jerome M.

Levy, Shlomit

Sa Id, Nader Izzat

Middle East

State Univ of New York Pr

Negotiating Jerusalem (Suny Israeli Studies)

Sa 'id, Nadar Izzat

State University of New York Press

Personal Influence: The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communications

LAZARSFELD, PAUL F.

Roper, Elmo

Routledge

ECHOES OF GABRIEL TARDE: WHAT WE KNOW BETTER OR DIFFERENT 100 YEARS LATER by Elihu Katz, Christopher Ali and Joohan Kim is based on Gabriel Tarde’s essay of 1898 "L' Opinion et la Conversation" or "Opinion and Conversation," analyzing the applicability of Tarde’s theories of communication some 100 years later. For communication scholars, it will become apparent immediately that Tarde may be read as an anticipation of contemporary concerns with issues such as agenda setting, public opinion formation, the diffusion of innovation, the two-step flow of communication, the role of the press in nation-building, new media technologies, the normative role of the press in a democracy, media events, and the public sphere. In Echoes of Gabriel Tarde we map these connections to demonstrate Tarde’s value for scholars of communication theory, political communication and deliberative democracy. As such, not only is this book an updating of Tarde’s work, but it is also a review of current academic thought regarding the role of media, conversation, opinion, and action in public space and deliberative democracy. Katz, Ali and Kim review current academic thought regarding the interaction of media, conversation, opinion, and action in public space and deliberative democracy. Exploring these themes in a "dialogue" with Tarde, the authors ask what we know better or different 100 years later. The aim is not only to reawaken attention to Tarde’s work, but to assess the progress of communications research in its light. The book offers a series of propositions — foreshadowing contemporary concerns with issues such as agenda setting, public opinion formation, the diffusion of innovation, the two-step flow of communication, the role of the press in nation-building, new media technologies, the normative role of media in a democracy, media events, and the like. The book includes the first full English translation of Tarde's essay. Long overlooked, "Opinion and Conversation" deserves to be canonized as foundational for theories that link mass and interpersonal communication, especially in the age of social media. Authors are Elihu Katz, Distinguished Trustee Professor of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, Christopher Ali, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Virginia, and Joohan Kim, Professor of Communication at Yonsei University in South Korea. Louise Salmon of the Sorbonne (Paris 1) contributed the biographical note. Published by USC Annenberg Press.

Echoes of Gabriel Tarde: What We Know Better or Different 100 Years Later

Ali, Christopher

Kim, Joohan

USC Annenberg Press

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