Accolades such as "the best TV show of the twentieth century" or "the longest-running scripted series on American prime-time television" have elevated The Simpsons to the pop culture pantheon, while also suggesting the very vintage character of the program. But the label "The Simpsons" refers not just to a show that seems to belong to a bygone television era, it implies a rich narrative universe, including a set of iconic figures, familiar across continents and generations.
Through the lens of transmedia studies, Understanding The Simpsons traces the franchise’s trajectory, exploring how one of the most popular comedy series of all time has redefined the intersections between corporate media and participatory culture, as the kernel of its cult meaning.
Accolades such as "the best TV show of the twentieth century" or "the longest-running scripted series on American prime-time television" have elevated The Simpsons to the pop culture pantheon, while also suggesting the very vintage character of the program. But the label "The Simpsons" refers not just to a show that seems to belong to a bygone television era, it implies a rich narrative universe, including a set of iconic figures, familiar across continents and generations.
Through the lens of transmedia studies, Understanding The Simpsons traces the franchise’s trajectory, exploring how one of the most popular comedy series of all time has redefined the intersections between corporate media and participatory culture, as the kernel of its cult meaning.
List of Images
Acknowledgments
Preface to the AUP Edition
Introduction
1. Bart Talks Back: The Politics and Poetics of Participatory
Culture
2. Alternative TV: The Genesis of The Simpsons
3. More than Just a Cartoon: Meta-Television Culture and the Age of
Irony
4. High Fives on Prime Time: Representing Popular Culture
5. At the Edge of Convergence Culture: Engaging in the Simpsons
Cult
6. Echoes of Springfield: The Simpsons in Remix Culture
Conclusion: The Simpsons, Cultural Feedback Loops, and the Case of
Apu
Bibliography
Index
Moritz Fink is an independent media scholar. He holds a doctoral degree in American Studies from the University of Munich, and has published on The Simpsons as well as a variety of pop culture themes.
"Does the world need another book on The Simpsons? Don’t have a
cow! From Black Bart to Banksy, from the Harvard Lampoon and
underground comics to Mad Magazine, from transmedia storytelling to
DeviantArt, Moritz Fink deftly explores what’s ‘cult‘ in this
long-running television series and in the process, uses The
Simpsons to explore the complex status of television in
contemporary culture."
- Henry Jenkins, University of Southern California, editor of
Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative
Activism
"Meticulously researched and intelligently argued, Understanding
The Simpsons: Animating the Politics and Poetics of Participatory
Culture will be welcomed by American Studies scholars, students of
television seriality, and anyone interested in the cultural
histories of the nineties and naughties and beyond. Whether you
like to watch The Simpsons as an academic, as a fan, or as an
aca-fan, this book is for you."
- Frank Kelleter, Freie Universität Berlin, editor of Media of
Serial Narrative
"Broadening the scope of study of The Simpsons from the television
series to its status as a global transmedia franchise, Moritz
Fink’s book is essential reading for anyone interested in the
television industry and production, media convergence, fandom and
participatory culture."
- Rebecca Williams, University of South Wales, author of Theme Park
Fandom: Spatial Transmedia, Materiality, and Participatory Cultures
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