Overview

"Through popular movies starring Bruce Lee and songs like the disco hit ""Kung Fu Fighting,"" martial arts have found a central place in the Western cultural imagination. But what would 'martial arts' be without the explosion of media texts and images that brought it to a wide audience in the late 1960s and early 1970s? In this examination of the media history of what we now call martial arts, author Paul Bowman makes the bold case that the phenomenon of martial arts is chiefly an invention of media representations. Rather than passively taking up a preexisting history of martial arts practices--some of which, of course, predated the martial arts boom in popular culture--media images and narratives actively constructed martial arts.Grounded in a historical survey of the British media history of martial arts such as Bartitsu, jujutsu, judo, karate, tai chi, and MMA across a range of media, this book thoroughly recasts our understanding of the history of martial arts. By interweaving theories of key thinkers on historiography, such as Foucault and Hobsbawm, and Said's ideas on Orientalism with analyses of both mainstream and marginal media texts, Bowman arrives at the surprising insight that media representations created martial arts rather than the other way around. In this way, he not only deepens our understanding of martial arts but also demonstrates the productive power of media discourses."

Full Product Details

Author:   Paul Bowman (Professor of Cultural Studies, Professor of Cultural Studies, Cardiff University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 24.10cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 15.90cm
Weight:   0.522kg
ISBN:  

9780197540336

ISBN 10:   0197540333
Pages:   276
Publication Date:   24 February 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1: Introduction--The Invention of Martial Arts: Popular Culture between Asia and America Chapter 2: Modernity, Media and Martial Arts, or: From Beginning at the Origin to the Origin of the Beginning Chapter 3: Martial Arts into Media Culture Chapter 4: Everybody Was Kung Ku Citing: Inventing Popular Martial Arts Aesthetics Chapter 5: From Linear History to Discursive Constellation Chapter 6: The Meaning of Martial Arts Chapter 7: I Want My TKD: Martial Arts in Music Videos Chapter 8: Martial Ads Chapter 9: The Invention of Tradition in Martial Arts Chapter 10: Inventing Martial Subjects: Toxic Masculinity, MMA and Media Representations Conclusion: After the Invention References Index

Reviews

Wide ranging, rich in detail, and meticulously researched, The Invention of Martial Arts traces multiple and varied representations of structured, combative praxes in the UK. Moving beyond a now-conventional inquiry into kung fu film, Bowman provides a history of the idea of martial arts as articulated through popular culture forms as diverse as novels, TV commercials, cartoons, and pop music. * Janet O'Shea, Professor, UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance *

Author Information

Paul Bowman is Professor of Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. He is the author of many works of film, media and cultural studies, on popular culture, postcolonialism, cultural theory, and martial arts. He is founder and director of the Martial Arts Studies Research Network.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions