Gramsci and Media Literacy: Critically Thinking about TV and the Movies

(Hardback)

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This book offers a series of contemporary media analyses that use Antonio Gramscis theory of hegemony to explore how dominant ideologies in media delivery, historical storytelling, and gender in todays mass media environment become the commonsense viewpoints that maintain power structures in civil society. Through a media literacy approach, case studies of ideological delivery through television and film illustrate why Gramscian media theory serves as a valuable tool for revealing the many ways hegemonic thought operates in the media sphere and in everyday life, and they offer hope for counterhegemonic understandings.

Reviews

Gramsci and Media Literacy is grounded in three key concepts--hegemony, media literacy, and semiotics--in the pursuit of demonstrating how the study of Gramsci is still relevant in mass media studies. Co-authors Erika Engstrom, professor and director of the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, and Ralph Beliveau, associate professor of Creative Media Production at the University of Oklahoma, apply a Gramscian/hegemonic lens to the disciplines of cultural studies, media studies, education studies, and gender studies that coalesce quite nicely as the book progresses.

-- "Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly"

In their important new book, scholars and professors Erika Engstrom and Ralph Beliveau provide a crucial wake-up call along with a thoughtfully devised action plan for recognizing and combating ideologically manipulative media power. Through well-developed clear arguments and convincing evidence (underscored by dynamic prose), they wed Antonio Gramsci's ideas about hegemony and social justice to an approach to media literacy education firmly grounded in critical activism. The authors' in-depth, exemplary close analysis of hegemonic masculinity in the all-time highest grossing film (as of July 2019)--Marvel/Disney's Avengers: Endgame--is a brilliant and inspiring penultimate chapter.

--Mary-Lou Galician, Arizona State University

In this engaging work, readers are introduced to the work of a grandfather of media literacy, Antonio Gramsci. Engstrom and Beliveau ably demonstrate the power of critically analyzing representations of race, class, and gender to elucidate shifts in contemporary media culture. In framing cultural studies as a form of media literacy, readers learn how the act of interpreting media may transform our own understanding of power as it impacts many aspects of everyday life.

--Renee Hobbs, Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island

The book Gramsci and Media Literacy: Critically Thinking about TV and the Movies provides valuable insights into the complex interplay between media, power, and ideology. It offers a comprehensive exploration of the intricate relationship between Gramscian theories and media literacy. Engstrom and Beliveau skillfully blend theoretical insights with practical applications, presenting readers with a robust framework for understanding how power operates within the cultural narratives perpetuated by television and movies. It is a commendable resource recommended to scholars, educators, and students interested in media studies, cultural analysis, and the transformative potential of media literacy.

-- "European Journal Of Communication"

Author Bio

Erika Engstrom is professor and director of the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky.

Ralph Beliveau is associate professor at the University of Oklahoma and affiliate faculty in film and media studies and women's and gender studies.