American Dreamtime: A Cultural Analysis of Popular Movies, and Their Implications for a Science of Humanity [Paperback]

Americans consider themselves practical, realistic people engaged in building a complex technological civilization. At the same time, however, we spend countless billions on activities that fly in the face of our supposed commitment to down-to-earth realism: our movies, television programs, and sports events seem to be the pastimes of a whimsical, fantasy-ridden people.American Dreamtimeexplores these conflicting images through an analysis of blockbuster movies, revealing the intimate ties our daily activity and thought have with a world of myth.Lee Drummondis an independent scholar living in California. He directs the Center for Peripheral Studies.

In his innovative and original study of popular American films Drummond finds a virtual forest of symbols-not disembodied, language-based meanings but of pervasive images of machines and animals that are generative of the mythic ambiguities of American culture. Richard J. Parmentier, Brandeis University

An important work in contemporary social theory. Presents well-constructed arguments that simply cannot be ignored. Paul Stoller, author of Yaya's Story: The Quest for Well Being in the World

In a radical challenge to both anthropology and the popular imagination, Drummond's marvelously irreverent wit probes the extraordinary fascination with both animal and machine through which popular entertainments grapple with the boundaries of human identity. Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University, USA

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Primacy of Myth
Chapter 3 A Theory of Culture as Semiospace
Chapter 4 The Story of Bond
Chapter 5 Metaphors Be with You: A Cultural Analysis ofStar Wars
Chapter 6 It and Other Beasts:Jawsand the New Totemism
Chapter 7 Phone Home:E.T.as a Saga of the American Family
Chapter 8 Conclusions. Index