Imelda Whelehan

This introduction provides a critical survey of the dominant trends in Anglo-American feminist thought since 1968. From the historical roots of second-wave feminism to current debates about feminist theory and politics, it sets out the different philosophies and political positions before relating them to feminism in the 1990s. Chapters analyse issues such as sexuality, representation, consciousness-raising and ideology from liberal, socialist, radical, black and lesbian feminist perspectives. Current crises which threaten to divide the women's movement are discussed, such as 'men in feminism', postmodernism, and the notion of a backlash fuelled by detractors like Camille Paglia and Kate Roiphe. (Source: [Edinburgh University Press](

Overloaded examines the phenomenon of laddishness and the cult of the girlie in film, TV, advertising, music, politics, literature and society. It interprets these trends as a nostalgic longing for a pre-feminist society.

Taking Quentin Tarantino's dictionary definition of 'pulp fiction' as its starting point, Pulping Fictions explores the unease with which film and television adaptations are often greeted, investigating the changing status of 'canonical' and 'non-canonical' texts in the increasingly blurred interface between literature and media studies. Branagh's film of Henry V, the filming of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Angela Carter's adaptability from book to screen are examined. The transference of the grand narratives of history into theme park youth culture is explored via Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and the folk-myth rendition of Mel Brooks's 'irreverent' Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The notion of 'planning' is examined in the evolution of Neil Jordan's film of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire and the exploitation of textual/cinematic strategies is revealed in Sally Potter's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando. The BBC's decision to film Middlemarch in Stamford is considered and, concluding the volume, charges against Tarantino for exploiting the banal and vulgar tastes of mass culture are refuted in a reading of his Pulp Fiction.

"The past decade has seen an increase in popular cultural representations of ageing, in response to the realities of an ageing Western population and an acknowledgement of the economic significance of consumption by seniors. Yet, while contemporary film often depicts late middle to old age as a time of renewal and acceptance, most popular depictions of ageing focus on images of loss, decline, and the fear of physically ageing 'naturally'. Ageing in popular culture is a battlefield, with an increasing range of euphemisms used to disguise the fact of age. Feminist discourse has kept forever young, even though some of its most eminent proponents are ageing and dying. In the field of popular cultural studies the emphasis on the discourse of postfeminism and the 'girling' of culture has foregrounded the concerns of young women at the expense of a focus on older women, or what 'gender' means for middle-aged to older people generally. This collection demonstrates how popular culture constructs ageing as a perilous experience for not only women but also for men, while also underscoring the possibilities (and problems) of positive representations of ageing in the wider culture and in feminist criticism. "--