Introducing Cultural Studies

The book is enlightening as an introduction. I recommend it. I do detect a strong British oriented and influenced view of the topic which, in certain ways, is refreshing. The United States tends to seem to think of itself as the center or the world and it's nice to read a book with at least a slightly different point of view. It should be mentioned that the book is very heavily illustrated so that the page count is somewhat misleading. If the book were not illustrated, it would perhaps be 50 pages or less. The graphics do help enliven what might be a dry topic for some. The "Further Reading" section at the end will aid those who would like to continue more in depth.

Ziauddin Sardar's "Introduction to Cultural Studies" is nothing more than the title indicates. This lenghty essay merely presents basic concepts that are prevalent in a postmodern discourse between societal values, power relations, and the value placed on cultural "norms" given in various communities. Sardar presents the history of Cultural Studies as a discipline, which begins in a social context, but the analysis of which, takes place by various sociologists, philosophers (primarily Freud, Nietzche, and Hegel), and literary minds. Overall, the essay is enlightening as an introduction, a good preface to the discourse(s) one finds in most disciplines today.