'Grease Is the Word': Exploring a Cultural Phenomenon

Description

Bringing together a group of international scholars from diverse academic backgrounds, 'Grease Is the Word' analyses the cultural phenomenon Grease. From the stage show's first appearance in 1971, the Hollywood film of 1978, to twenty-first century responses to the Grease Megamix, 'Grease Is the Word' reflects on the musical's impact and enduring legacy. With essays covering everything from the film's production history, political representations, industrial impact, stars and reception, the book shines a spotlight on one of Broadway's and Hollywood's biggest commercial successes. By adopting a range of perspectives and drawing on various visual, textual and archival sources, the contributors maintain a vibrant dialogue throughout, offering a timely reappraisal of a musical that continues to resonate with fans and commentators the world over. Written in an engaging, accessible manner, 'Grease Is the Word' will appeal to students, academics and anyone interested in American popular culture.

Oliver Gruner is senior lecturer in visual culture at the University of Portsmouth, UK. He is the author of Screening the Sixties: Hollywood Cinema and the Politics of Memory (2016); his work has also been published or is forthcoming in journals such as the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Rethinking History and The Poster as well as in various edited collections. Peter Kramer is senior research fellow in cinema and TV in the Leicester Media School at De Montfort University, UK, and senior fellow in the School of Art, Media and American Studies at the University of East Anglia, UK. He is also a regular guest lecturer at Masaryk University, Czech Republic, and at the University of Television and Film, Munich, Germany. Kramer is the author or co-editor of nine academic books.

'Mining significant new primary materials and offering an admirable array of scholarly approaches, this collection adds much-needed depth to our current understanding of one of the most successful and yet underexamined pieces of American popular film in the twentieth century, the "cultural phenomenon" known as Grease.' -Barbara Jane Brickman, Assistant Professor of Media and Gender Studies, New College & Department of Gender and Race Studies, University of Alabama, USA 'Gruner and Kramer have gathered eleven fascinating essays that dissect Grease and explore the contexts that produced it and sustained its popularity. More than an in-depth examination of the film, "Grease Is the Word" is a major new offering in the study of US cinema and culture.' -Yannis Tzioumakis, Reader in Film and Media Industries, University of Liverpool, UK 'This collection brings together a variety of scholars in order to offer an interdisciplinary array of approaches to examine a multimedia phenomenon, using Grease as a lens through which to ask some of the key questions pertinent to film, media and cultural studies - most significantly questions related to stardom, nostalgia, fandom, representation, adaptation and critical reception.' -Melanie Kennedy (SFHEA), Lecturer in Media and Communication, School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, UK