Fascination with what makes the Germans tick has produced a vast range of texts that explore German postwar politics, culture, and society. Yet within this considerable body of work, there is a paucity of academic analysis that acknowledges the role of media discourse in the representation and construction of German identity. This book makes an important contribution to the study of German national identity by offering a detailed and large-scale academic analysis of how German media discourse between 1998 and 2005 represents German national identity. It brings together a variety of case...

From entertainment to citizenship reveals how the young use shows like X-factor to comment on how power ought to be used, and how they respond to those pop stars - like Bono and Bob Geldof - who claim to represent them. It explores how young people connect the pleasures of popular culture to the world at large. For them, popular culture is not simply a matter of escapism and entertainment, but of engagement too.

The place of popular culture in politics, and its contribution to democratic life, has too often been misrepresented or misunderstood. This book provides the evidence and analysis...

There is a widespread concern about young people's disengagement from politics, and a widespread assumption that part of the explanation for this disengagement is mass media in general and popular culture in particular. This book challenges both assumptions. Drawing on research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, it provides the first detailed study of how young people in Britain use popular culture to shape and express their political views and values. From entertainment to citizenship reveals how the young use shows like X-factor to comment on how power ought to be used, and...