Reading the Beatles : Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four

Annotation Despite the enormous amount of writing devoted to the Beatles during the last few decades, the band's abiding intellectual and cultural significance has received scant attention. Using various modes of literary, musicological, and cultural criticism, the essays in Reading the Beatles firmly establish the Beatles as a locus of serious academic and cultural study. Exploring the group's resounding impact on how we think about gender, popular culture, and the formal and poetic qualities of music, the contributors trace not only the literary and musicological qualities of selected Beatles songs but also the development of the Beatles' artistry in their films and the ways in which the band has functioned as a cultural, historical, and economic product. In a poignant afterword, Jane Tompkins offers an autobiographical account of the ways in which the Beatles afforded her with the self-actualizing means to become less alienated from popular culture, gender expectations, and even herself during the early 1960s. Book jacket READING THE BEATLES......Page 2 CONTENTS......Page 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 12 Introduction: “Dear Sir or Madam,Will You Read My Book?” KENNETH WOMACK AND TODD F. DAVIS......Page 14 Part 1. “Speaking words of wisdom”The Beatles’ Poetics......Page 20 1. “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together ”Bakhtin and the Beatles......Page 22 2. From “Craft” to “Art”: Formal Structure in the Music of the Beatles......Page 50 3. “Love, love, love” Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Selected Songs by the Beatles......Page 68 4. Painting Their Room in a Colorful Way: The Beatles’ Exploration of Timbre......Page 84 Part II. “A splendid time is guaranteed for all”: Theorizing the Beatles......Page 108 5. Mythology, Remythology, and Demythology: The Beatles on Film......Page 110 6. Vacio Luminoso: “Tomorrow Never Knows” and the Coherence of the Impossible......Page 124 7. The Spectacle of Alienation: Death, Loss, and the Crowd in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band......Page 142 8. We All Want to Change the World: Postmodern Politics and the Beatles’ White Album......Page 160 Part III. “We can work it out”: The Beatles and Culture......Page 172 9. “The rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry: ”The Beatles and Questions of Mass and High Culture......Page 174 10.A Universal Childhood: Tourism, Pilgrimage, and the Beatles......Page 182 11.“Baby You’re a Rich Man”: The Beatles, Ideology, and the Cultural Moment......Page 196 12. Spinning the Historical Record: Lennon, McCartney, and Museum Politics......Page 210 Afterword: I Want to Hold Your Hand......Page 228 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 234 CONTRIBUTORS......Page 246 B......Page 250 C......Page 251 D......Page 252 G......Page 253 H......Page 254 K......Page 255 M......Page 256 N......Page 257 R......Page 258 S......Page 259 T......Page 260 Y......Page 261 Z......Page 262 Part I:'speaking The Words Of Wisdom': The Beatles' Poetics - Part Ii: 'a Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All': Theorizing The Beatles - Part Iii: 'we Can Work It Out': The Beatles And Culture. Speaking Words Of Wisdom : The Beatles' Poetics. I Am He As You Are He As You Are Me And We Are All Together : Bakhtin And The Beatles / Ian Marshall ; From Craft To Art : Formal Structure In The Music Of The Beatles / John Covach ; Love, Love, Love : Representations Of Gender And Sexuality In Selected Songs By The Beatles / Sheila Whiteley ; Painting Their Room In A Colorful Way : The Beatles' Exploration Of Timbre / Walter Everett -- A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All : Theorizing The Beatles. Mythology, Remythology, And Demythology : The Beatles On Film / Kenneth Womack And Todd F. Davis ; Vacio Luminoso : Tomorrow Never Knows And The Coherence Of The Impossible / Russell Reising ; The Spectacle Of Alienation : Death, Loss, And The Crowd In Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / William M. Northcutt ; We All Want To Change The World : Postmodern Politics And The Beatles' White Album / Jeffrey Roessner -- We Can Work It Out : The Beatles And Culture. The Rest Of You, If You'll Just Rattle Your Jewelry : The Beatles And Questions Of Mass And High Culture / Paul Gleed ; A Universal Childhood : Tourism, Pilgrimage, And The Beatles / Kevin Mccarron ; Baby, You're A Rich Man : The Beatles, Ideology, And The Cultural Moment / James M. Decker ; Spinning The Historical Record : Lennon, Mccartney, And Museum Politics / John Kimsey -- Afterword : I Want To Hold Your Hand / Jane Tompkins. Edited By Kenneth Womack And Todd F. Davis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 221-231) And Index. At the Pennsylvania State University at Altoona, Kenneth Womack is Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Todd F. Davis is Associate Professor of English. Together they authored The Critical Response to John Irving and Formalist Criticism and Reader-Response Theory , and edited Mapping the Ethical A Reader in Ethics, Culture, and Literary Theory . Davis is also the author of Kurt Vonnegut's Crusade; or, How a Postmodern Harlequin Preached a New Kind of Humanism , also published by SUNY Press.