The late Ray B. Browne (1922–2009) edited the Journal of Popular Culture, served as an officer of the Popular Culture Association and wrote prolifically on the subject. He was the founding chair of the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. Ben Urish is a culturologist specializing in mass media, popular culture, and humor studies. The author of several books, he was one of the last students Ray Browne taught before retirement.

• Table of ContentsEditor’s Acknowledgments (Ben Urish)      Foreword ( John Cawelti)      Preface: Ray B. Browne, Freely Engaged (Ben Urish)      Prologue. On Redefining Cultural Studies      PART ONE: BLAZING THE TRAIL1. Popular Culture: Notes Toward a Definition      2. Popular Culture: New Notes Toward a Definition      3. The Many Faces of American Culture: The Long Push to Democracy      4. The Humanities as Redefined Through Popular Culture      5. Popular Culture: Medicine for Illiteracy and Associated Educational Ills      PART TWO: CLEARING THE HORIZON6. Up from Elitism: The Aesthetics of Popular Fiction      7. The Repressive Nature of TV Esthetics Criticism      8. The Face of the Hero in Democracy      9. The Theory-Methodology Complex: The Critics’ Jabberwock      10. Internationalizing Popular Culture Studies      11. The Vanishing Global Village      PART THREE: TOPICS AND EXAMPLES12. Whale Lore and Popular Print in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America: Sketches Toward a Profile      13. The Seat of Democracy: The Privy Humor of “Chic” Sale      14. Sherlock Holmes as Christian Detective: The Case of the Invisible Thief      PART FOUR: MEANDERINGS AND EXCURSIONS15. The Rape of the Vulnerable      16. Class Reunions as a Folk Festival      17. The ASA and Its Friends      18. Folklore to Populore      19. Replying to a Rejoinder      20. American Studies and Humanity’s Dream      21. Russel B. Nye: The Richness of His Life      22. Reviews      Epilogue. Education: Forward to Democratic Fluency      Annotated Bibliography      Index

The late Ray B. Browne (1922–2009) edited the Journal of Popular Culture, served as an officer of the Popular Culture Association and wrote prolifically on the subject. He was the founding chair of the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. Ben Urish is a culturologist specializing in mass media, popular culture, and humor studies. The author of several books, he was one of the last students Ray Browne taught before retirement.

• Table of ContentsEditor’s Acknowledgments (Ben Urish)      Foreword ( John Cawelti)      Preface: Ray B. Browne, Freely Engaged (Ben Urish)      Prologue. On Redefining Cultural Studies      PART ONE: BLAZING THE TRAIL1. Popular Culture: Notes Toward a Definition      2. Popular Culture: New Notes Toward a Definition      3. The Many Faces of American Culture: The Long Push to Democracy      4. The Humanities as Redefined Through Popular Culture      5. Popular Culture: Medicine for Illiteracy and Associated Educational Ills      PART TWO: CLEARING THE HORIZON6. Up from Elitism: The Aesthetics of Popular Fiction      7. The Repressive Nature of TV Esthetics Criticism      8. The Face of the Hero in Democracy      9. The Theory-Methodology Complex: The Critics’ Jabberwock      10. Internationalizing Popular Culture Studies      11. The Vanishing Global Village      PART THREE: TOPICS AND EXAMPLES12. Whale Lore and Popular Print in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America: Sketches Toward a Profile      13. The Seat of Democracy: The Privy Humor of “Chic” Sale      14. Sherlock Holmes as Christian Detective: The Case of the Invisible Thief      PART FOUR: MEANDERINGS AND EXCURSIONS15. The Rape of the Vulnerable      16. Class Reunions as a Folk Festival      17. The ASA and Its Friends      18. Folklore to Populore      19. Replying to a Rejoinder      20. American Studies and Humanity’s Dream      21. Russel B. Nye: The Richness of His Life      22. Reviews      Epilogue. Education: Forward to Democratic Fluency      Annotated Bibliography      Index

The late Ray B. Browne (1922–2009) edited the Journal of Popular Culture, served as an officer of the Popular Culture Association and wrote prolifically on the subject. He was the founding chair of the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. Ben Urish is a culturologist specializing in mass media, popular culture, and humor studies. The author of several books, he was one of the last students Ray Browne taught before retirement.

• Table of ContentsEditor’s Acknowledgments (Ben Urish)      Foreword ( John Cawelti)      Preface: Ray B. Browne, Freely Engaged (Ben Urish)      Prologue. On Redefining Cultural Studies      PART ONE: BLAZING THE TRAIL1. Popular Culture: Notes Toward a Definition      2. Popular Culture: New Notes Toward a Definition      3. The Many Faces of American Culture: The Long Push to Democracy      4. The Humanities as Redefined Through Popular Culture      5. Popular Culture: Medicine for Illiteracy and Associated Educational Ills      PART TWO: CLEARING THE HORIZON6. Up from Elitism: The Aesthetics of Popular Fiction      7. The Repressive Nature of TV Esthetics Criticism      8. The Face of the Hero in Democracy      9. The Theory-Methodology Complex: The Critics’ Jabberwock      10. Internationalizing Popular Culture Studies      11. The Vanishing Global Village      PART THREE: TOPICS AND EXAMPLES12. Whale Lore and Popular Print in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America: Sketches Toward a Profile      13. The Seat of Democracy: The Privy Humor of “Chic” Sale      14. Sherlock Holmes as Christian Detective: The Case of the Invisible Thief      PART FOUR: MEANDERINGS AND EXCURSIONS15. The Rape of the Vulnerable      16. Class Reunions as a Folk Festival      17. The ASA and Its Friends      18. Folklore to Populore      19. Replying to a Rejoinder      20. American Studies and Humanity’s Dream      21. Russel B. Nye: The Richness of His Life      22. Reviews      Epilogue. Education: Forward to Democratic Fluency      Annotated Bibliography      Index