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 Handbook of the Medical Consequences of Alcohol and Drug Abuse by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Britain, Israel and Anglo-Jewry 1949-57 by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Grammar Wars by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book European Immigration by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Schools and Community by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Shell Shock and the Modernist Imagination by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Soil Science by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Domestic Mandala by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Liberalism Divided by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Prosperity and Depression by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Become the Primary Teacher Everyone Wants to Have by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Movements for Human Rights by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Security Officers and Policing by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Ecofeminism and Systems Thinking by Peter Conrad
Cover of the book Transforming Men 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