O. J. Simpson Facts and Fictions: News Rituals in the Construction of Reality / Edition 1

by Darnell M. Hunt

Overview

Darnell M. Hunt explores the relationship between social identity (race, class, gender, etc.), our perceptions of everyday reality and the O. J. Simpson double murder trial to ask: why was America so obsessed by this case? Why were so many people invested in particular outcomes? And what are we to make of the apparent racial divide in attitudes about the case captured by the opinion polls? O. J. Facts and Fictions tackles these questions and considers the implications for race relations in the United States at the dawn of the new millennium.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521624688
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/15/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.87(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction: knowing O.J.; Part I. Theory: 1. O. J. and ritual; 2. O. J. and politics; Part II. News Construction: 3. Press rites and O. J. wrongs: behind the scenes at 'camp O. J.'; 4. Celebrating the process: O. J. and KTLA-TV; 5. (Re)affirming official sources: O. J. and the Los Angeles Times; 6. (Il) legitimate transgressions: O. J. and the Los Angeles Sentinel; Part III. Audience Reception: 7. Raced ways of seeing O. J.; 8. Raced ways of seeing O. J. revisited; Part IV. Conclusions: 9. O. J. and reality; Appendices.

Editorial Reviews

"...illuminates the cultural media event with clarity, freshness, rigorous scholarship, and with insights that inform both black and white readers." Choice

"A superb book, Hunt writes with a passionate clarity about one of the most significant cultural events of our time. His multi-dimensional analysis, his persuasive arguments and his insightful conclusions show us not only the importance of the O.J. affair itself, but also how an avowedly non-racist society keeps its racism alive and kicking. Anyone who wants to understand how race is made to operate in America, and anyone who wishes to intervene in its operations, will need to read this book and to refer to it frequently." John Fiske, University of Wisconsin, Madison

"...an important scholarly examination of the various discourses related to this case." CSMC Bookends

From the Publisher