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  • © 2017

When Highbrow Meets Lowbrow

Popular Culture and the Rise of Nobrow

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Edited by an award-winning expert in the field

  • Examines a wide range of "nobrow" texts

  • Adopts a lively and accessible style, in keeping with its subject

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
  2. Introduction—Browbeaten into Pulp

    • Peter Swirski, Tero Eljas Vanhanen
    Pages 1-9
  3. Pop Culture and Nobrow Culture

    • Arthur Asa Berger
    Pages 11-28
  4. Nobrow, American Style

    • Peter Swirski
    Pages 29-52
  5. Middlebrow and Nobrow

    • Beth Driscoll
    Pages 53-79
  6. Prequels to Nobrow

    • Kenneth Krabbenhoft
    Pages 81-107
  7. Gothic Literature in America

    • Agnieszka Soltysik Monnet
    Pages 109-130
  8. Neither Indian Reservation Nor Baboon Patriarchy

    • Nicholas Ruddick
    Pages 131-154
  9. Mambo Clothing and Australian Nobrow

    • Chris McAuliffe
    Pages 155-179
  10. Guilty Pleasures, or Nobrow Treasures?

    • David McAvoy
    Pages 181-205
  11. The Good, the Bad, and the Nobrow

    • Tero Eljas Vanhanen
    Pages 207-233
  12. Back Matter

    Pages 235-271

About this book

This book examines nobrow, a cultural formation that intertwines art and entertainment into an identifiable creative force. In our eclectic and culturally turbocharged world, the binary of highbrow vs. lowbrow is incapable of doing justice to the complexity and artistry of cultural production. Until now, the historical power, aesthetic complexity, and social significance of nobrow “artertainment” have escaped analysis. This book rectifies this oversight. Smart, funny, and iconoclastic, it scrutinizes the many faces of nobrow, throwing surprising light on the hazards and rewards of traffic between high entertainment and genre art.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Sun Yat-Sen University , HONG KONG, Hong Kong

    Peter Swirski

  • University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland

    Tero Eljas Vanhanen

About the editors

Peter Swirski is Distinguished Professor of American Studies and American Literature. Listed in Canadian Who’s Who, he is a multiple Amazon bestseller in his field and author of sixteen award-winning books, including From Lowbrow to Nobrow (2005) and American Crime Fiction: A Cultural History of Nobrow Literature as Art (2016).

Tero Eljas Vanhanen is a researcher and lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His has published in, among others, Philosophy and Literature, SubStance, and the Journal of American Studies.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: When Highbrow Meets Lowbrow

  • Book Subtitle: Popular Culture and the Rise of Nobrow

  • Editors: Peter Swirski, Tero Eljas Vanhanen

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95168-0

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • License: CC BY

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-59772-4Published: 29 June 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-95878-8Published: 11 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-349-95168-0Published: 27 June 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 271

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Literary History, Media Studies, Cultural History, Cultural Studies

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access