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Representing

Hip Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema

In this engaging and provocative book, S. Craig Watkins examines two of the most important developments in the recent history of black cinema—the ascendancy of Spike Lee and the proliferation of "ghettocentric films." Representing explores a distinct contradiction in American society: at the same time that black youth have become the targets of a fierce racial backlash, their popular expressive cultures have become highly visible and commercially viable.

"Watkins is at his most sophisticated and persuasive when he explains the surprising success of hyper-talented, entrepreneurial, and energetic black artists."—Archon Fung, Boston Book Review

330 pages | 1 line drawing, 9 tables | 6 x 9 | © 1998

Black Studies

Sociology: General Sociology

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Black Youth at Century’s End
1: Social Conservatism and the Culture Wars
2: Black Youth and the Ironies of Capitalism
3: Black Cinema and the Changing Landscape of Industrial Image Making
4: Producing the Spike Lee Joint
5: Spike’s Joint
6: Producing Ghetto Pictures
7: The Ghettocentric Imagination
Epilogue: The Culture Industry and the Hip Hop Generation
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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