booklogging
It'd be a useful discipline for me to log and write about the books I read. A blog might help in that discipline and -who knows?- may be useful to ... you?8.10.04
Signs of the Times: The Secret Lives of Twelve Everyday Icons by Peter Graystone
I bought this book at Greenbelt and read most of it on the train home. I bought it because it looked to be like a series of essays of cultural analysis froma Christian viewpoint. And for the most part it is. There are twelve cultural artefacts looked at and thought about in the book. There are useful insights in many of the essays that comprise the book. PArt of the normal content in each is some background information about the hsitory and/or economics and/or social palcing etc of the items covered. Mostly good examples of cultural analysis which would grace a Cultural Studies essay.
Where it was weakest, I felt, was occasionally in making links to Christian faith. Sometimes this worked well -I felt the essay on tatooing was particularly helpful in this regard as were the comments on the phenomenon of flowers at impromptu 'wayside shrines'. Sometimes it felt, however, as if the link to Christian spirituality was a bit forced: like the author had pretty much said what he had to say, been pretty happy with it and suddenly remembered that he needed to make it explicitly Christian and so tacked on a biblical story reference -the chapter on companies changing their names is a case in point: I felt that I wanted something a bit more perceptive and in-keeping with the quality of the rest of the chapter than Saul's change of name.
Full marks for doing the chapter on texting in txt spelng -even if it was challenging to read. At least it was a shorter chapter!
Overall a good and interesting read. A good way in to thinking Christianly about some cultural icons and a nice use of contemporary cultural analytical tools in an accessible way showing how Christian communicators can use them in the service of the formation of a Christian mind. I'd give this to people who are interested in news and current affairs, cultural developments, trade justice, media. I might even give it to some non-Christians if I felt that they needed to get a feel for how Christians can interact appreciatively and critically to popular culture.
Where it was weakest, I felt, was occasionally in making links to Christian faith. Sometimes this worked well -I felt the essay on tatooing was particularly helpful in this regard as were the comments on the phenomenon of flowers at impromptu 'wayside shrines'. Sometimes it felt, however, as if the link to Christian spirituality was a bit forced: like the author had pretty much said what he had to say, been pretty happy with it and suddenly remembered that he needed to make it explicitly Christian and so tacked on a biblical story reference -the chapter on companies changing their names is a case in point: I felt that I wanted something a bit more perceptive and in-keeping with the quality of the rest of the chapter than Saul's change of name.
Full marks for doing the chapter on texting in txt spelng -even if it was challenging to read. At least it was a shorter chapter!
Overall a good and interesting read. A good way in to thinking Christianly about some cultural icons and a nice use of contemporary cultural analytical tools in an accessible way showing how Christian communicators can use them in the service of the formation of a Christian mind. I'd give this to people who are interested in news and current affairs, cultural developments, trade justice, media. I might even give it to some non-Christians if I felt that they needed to get a feel for how Christians can interact appreciatively and critically to popular culture.
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