The Grand Allusion
How Pop Culture Works in the 21st Century
(forthcoming, Repeater Books)

From music to movies to memes, allusions are rampant in our popular culture. A viewing of any single episode of popular television shows Family Guy, South Park, or Robot Chicken yields allusions to any number of artifacts and cultural detritus past.. Their meaning relies in large part on the catching and interpreting of cultural allusions, on their audiences sharing the same mediated memories.

The use of allusions specifically enables us not only to make sense of our culture but also to make it our own in the first place. This attitude empowers the audience in that it views them as cultural co-creators rather than just consumers. So widespread is this practice that it has become its own cultural form. The “remix” or “mash-up”—the creation of a new work out of pieces of other works—as a cultural practice or form is as viable as any other.  Following allusions on a path through media provides a unique way to understand contemporary mediated culture. Because allusion relies on shared media memories, exploring its use and function in media and conversation will help answer questions of how such mediated messages are stored, conceived, retrieved, and received.

The Grand Allusion illustrates the historical pedigree and the instructive power of allusion. The references in all of these works serve the same function: a deeper meaning for the audience, a deeper connection to the work. The book traces a lineage from ancient literature and philosophy, through contemporary music, movies, and television, right up to internet memes. A vital and timely volume with not only a broad appeal to media studies but also a solid foundation in its literary roots, The Grand Allusion is of interest to anyone who wants to understand how pop culture works in the 21st century.

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