Diana, A Cultural History Gender, Race, Nation and the Peoples Princess [Hardcover]

This book intervenes in debates over the significance of Diana, Princess of Wales by offering a critical account of her media iconicity from 1981 to the present. It outlines the historical development of representations of Diana, analysing the ways in which the Princess has been understood via discourses of gender, sexuality, race, economic class, the royal, national identity, and the human. The book then goes on to assess the issues at stake in debates over the 'meaning' of Diana, such as the gender politics of cultural icon-making and deconstruction, and conflicting notions of cultural value.Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: Why a Cultural History Historicizing the Signs of Diana Diana, Royalty and Femininity The Ambivalent Femininities of Diana Narratives A Life in Images The Mourning for Diana and the Question of National Transformation Epilogue Bibliography Index

'Unlike so much recent writing on Princess Diana, Jude Davies' book is based

on in-depth research that long predated Diana's death. He was written a

wide-ranging, sophisticated and historically well-grounded study of the web

of representations that surrounded Diana, and their complex cultural and

political resonances. The book is an important contribution to the growing

debate on what it means for monarchy to be mediated.' - Dr Nick Couldry,

Lecturer in Media and Communications,The London School of Economics and Political Science

'Just when we thought there was nothing left to be said about the representation of Diana, Princess of Wales, along comes this substantial book by Jude Davies. The product of an impressive amount of research, Davies teases apart assumptions not only about Diana, but also about the place and process of cultural theorising, particularly in relation to the consequences for our sense of self of postmodern icons. This book will surely convert thlSR