Description
The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies has played a pioneering role in the development of cultural studies. This book, by bringing together old and new work from the Centre, charts both the Centre's relation to the wider intellectual debates within cultural studies as well as the theoretical changes in its approach to its own work during the past decade. The articles in this collection are drawn from the first nine issues of the Centre's journal, Working Papers in Cultural Studies, from its list of stencilled papers and from recent unpublished work which extends the discussions initiated by the early papers. In a new article which introduces the book, Stuart Hall, director of the Centre from 1974 to 1979, traces the history and development of cultural studies generally, pointing out the major influences on the Centre's work and giving his personal assessment of the Centre's contribution to the field. A second introductory piece--Richard Johnson's 1976 review article on the debate about the 'peculiarities' of English social development--marks the Centre's shift in emphasis towards more historical work. The rest of the book is divided into sections on ethnography, media studies, language and English studies. Each presents an overview of the changing interests and directions in these areas, which are then illustrated by a selection of early and recent articles. The result is a guide to some of the landmarks in cultural studies and to the current state of the subject.
