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Transformations: Identity Construction in Contemporary Culture
Self reinvention has become a preoccupation of contemporary culture. In the last decade, Hollywood made a 500-million-dollar bet on this idea with movies such as Multiplicity, Fight Club, eXistenZ, and Catch Me If You Can. Self reinvention marks the careers of Madonna, Ani DiFranco, Martha Stewart, and Robin Williams. The Nike ads of LeBron James, the experiments of New Age spirituality, the mores of contemporary teen culture, and the obsession with "extreme makeovers" are all examples of our culture's fixation with change. In a time marked by plenitude, transformation is one of the few things these parties have in common.
Although transformation is widely acknowledged as a defining characteristic of our culture, we have almost no studies on what it is or how it works. Transformations offers the first comprehensive and systematic view. It is an ethnography of the contemporary world.
Although transformation is widely acknowledged as a defining characteristic of our culture, we have almost no studies on what it is or how it works. Transformations offers the first comprehensive and systematic view. It is an ethnography of the contemporary world.
- GenresNonfiction
464 pages, Paperback
First published April 21, 2008
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85 people want to read
About the author
Grant McCracken
19 books49 followersI'm an anthropologist, born in Canada, now living in, and studying, the US. I divide my life into two halves. One is the writing half. The other is for clients: Netflix, the Ford Foundation, the White House, among others. My new book, out in late December from Simon and Schuster is called The New Honor Code.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 18, 2009
While McCracken has insightful analyses of trends in the arts, and I
picked up some interesting observations that he makes along the way to
his main thesis, I don't find his big picture--the justification for
writing the book--that compelling. For every current example of
transformation he gives, I could find an example of somebody doing it
centuries ago, and McCracken gives minimal attention to such
historical parallels. If more of that kind of transformation is going
on now, perhaps it's because there are more people alive, or more
wealth and leisure, or more freedom in all things. Finally, while I
was impressed with his breadth of scope, I sometimes thought he drew
his view too broadly and forced a lot of things into his thesis that
are described better with other frameworks.
picked up some interesting observations that he makes along the way to
his main thesis, I don't find his big picture--the justification for
writing the book--that compelling. For every current example of
transformation he gives, I could find an example of somebody doing it
centuries ago, and McCracken gives minimal attention to such
historical parallels. If more of that kind of transformation is going
on now, perhaps it's because there are more people alive, or more
wealth and leisure, or more freedom in all things. Finally, while I
was impressed with his breadth of scope, I sometimes thought he drew
his view too broadly and forced a lot of things into his thesis that
are described better with other frameworks.
Displaying 1 of 1 review