New Media, Cultural Studies, and Critical Theory After Postmodernism : Automodernity From Zizek to Laclau

"This book argues that we have moved into a new cultural period, automodernity, which represents a social, psychological, and technological reaction to postmodernity. In fact, by showing how individual autonomy is now being generated through technological and cultural automation, Samuels posits that we must rethink modernity and postmodernity. Part of this rethinking entails stressing how the progressive political aspects of postmodernism need to be separated from the aesthetic consumption of differences in automoderntiy. Choosing culturally relevant studies of The Matrix, Grand Theft Auto, Eminem and Jurassic Park, he interprets these medias through the lens of eminent theorists like Slavoj Zizek, Frederic Jameson, and Henry Jenkins. Ultimately, he argues that what defines postmodernity is the stress on social construction, secular humanism, and progressive social movements that challenge the universality and neutrality of modern reason"--Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Automodernity: Autonomy and Automation after Postmodernity....Pages 3-25 Henry Jenkins: Cultural Studies, New Media, and the Ends of the Modern University....Pages 27-50 After Frederic Jameson: A Practical Critique of Pure Theory and Postmodernity....Pages 51-68 The Political without Politics: Slavoj Zizek and the Psychoanalysis of Automodernity....Pages 69-83 Front Matter....Pages 85-85 On the Psychopathology of the New Right: From Jurassic Park to the Gendered Culture Wars....Pages 87-103 The Automodern University: The Universal Individual and the Backlash against Social Discourse....Pages 105-121 Grand Theft Automodernity: Globalizing Individualism and Cultural Nihilism from Eminem to The Matrix....Pages 123-144 Front Matter....Pages 145-145 Postmodern Education and Social Ethics after Automodernity....Pages 147-165 Taking Back the Automodern University: Postmodern Progressive Social Movements and the Academic Class System....Pages 167-186 Beyond the Zizek-Laclau Debate: Coalition Politics and Academic Theory after Obama....Pages 187-205 Back Matter....Pages 207-256