Television

The Medium and its Manners

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book Television by Peter Conrad, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Peter Conrad ISBN: 9781315462356
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: October 4, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Peter Conrad
ISBN: 9781315462356
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: October 4, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

It dominates our lives. It is the twentieth-century medium. And yet we're all a little sheepish when it comes to television, disowning it by disavowal or by inventing subtle, innocuous disguises for it. Why is this? In this book, first published in 1982, Peter Conrad argues that our unease stems from the way that the medium works: it absorbs the messages it transmits, it invents a reality of its own and ends by luring the world into the confines of its box. Television's achievement is to have estranged us from the reality which it puports to represent, but which it actually refracts. This invasion of our lives is monitored and projected in programmes designed to ape the human routine. Following a discussion of television as furniture, Peter Conrad explores its various versions of reality: the simulated conversation of the talk show, the competitive consumerism of the games, the messianic commercials, the eventless protraction of the soap operas and the camera's incitement of happenings which the television calls news.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

It dominates our lives. It is the twentieth-century medium. And yet we're all a little sheepish when it comes to television, disowning it by disavowal or by inventing subtle, innocuous disguises for it. Why is this? In this book, first published in 1982, Peter Conrad argues that our unease stems from the way that the medium works: it absorbs the messages it transmits, it invents a reality of its own and ends by luring the world into the confines of its box. Television's achievement is to have estranged us from the reality which it puports to represent, but which it actually refracts. This invasion of our lives is monitored and projected in programmes designed to ape the human routine. Following a discussion of television as furniture, Peter Conrad explores its various versions of reality: the simulated conversation of the talk show, the competitive consumerism of the games, the messianic commercials, the eventless protraction of the soap operas and the camera's incitement of happenings which the television calls news.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Disability, Space, Architecture: A Reader by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book English Privateering Voyages to the West Indies, 1588-1595 by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Transformational Imagemaking: Handmade Photography Since 1960 by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Recognising European Modernities by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book The Future That Failed by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Spatial Analysis in Health Geography by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book The State of Minority Languages by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Scientists, Experts, and Civic Engagement by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Building the Inclusive City by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Coming Home Again by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Popularizing Japanese TV by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Contemporary Studies by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Riotous Citizens by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Adolescent Psychiatry, V. 22 by Peter Conrad
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy