Advertising and Literature

[G. Schmundt-Thomas]

V. Lombari asks:
<How do you teach contemporary writers who use popular
<culture in their fiction/poetry/drama?
Popular culture and advertising are part of the discursive material that shapes
contemporary reality. So, how can you leave them out as a contemporary writer or
ignore them as a teacher?

For choice examples how advertising icons and paragons of commercial culture
come to life in literature in a way that goes beyond namedropping and using them
as historical "local color" you may want to check out Max Apple's "The Oranging
of America". As mentioned, Pynchon is a wizard with popular culture in general,
and not only in _Vineland_.If conceptually you want to push beyond polemics
against advertising, turn to William Leiss et. al., _Social Communication in
Advertising_. New York: Routledge, 1990. For an excellent historical reading of
advertising, read Roland Marchand, _Advertising the American Dream_. Berkeley>
U. of California Pr., 1985.

So, how do you teach advertising and literature? Put the topos into perspective
by looking into the different ways that social reality finds textual
representation. As a discursive device, the Green Giant is not much different
from the holy grail.

Enjoy!

G. Schmundt-Thomas

__________

"Ethics is the aesthetics of the future" - Karl Marx
"Ethics is the aesthetics of the few" - Laurie Anderson

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