Best book
Cave Hill lecturer Dr. Curwen Best has scored another literary first with a text which examines the impact of new technologies on aspects of the region’s culture. The Politics of Caribbean Cyberculture, just published, has been cited as the first book of its kind devoted to Caribbean and western popular culture.
Published by international academic publisher Palgrave, The Politics of Caribbean Cyberculture covers significant new ground, examining the impact and imprint of new leading technology on a range of popular expressions. This technology includes the Internet, the computer, the cell phone, television, and radio, among others. Some of the specific expressions and phenomena treated include: tourism, big budget films, sports, video games, entertainment culture, religious and gospel culture, mobile culture, popular music, writing and technology, and porn.
Best, who lectures in Popular Culture, Literary and Cultural Studies in the campus’ Faculty of Humanities and Education said of his new book: “This work responds to the realities of our time. Although we live in a digital world, it is amazing how very little we know about it. Our lives are defined by our relationship to our machines, our companions, namely, the cellphone, television, computer, laptop, iPod, MP3 or MP4 player, Nintendos, videogames, wireless peripherals, etc.
“They aren’t merely machines they are our newest best friend. It is fascinating to think that 20 years ago most of these gadgets, common to us now, existed mainly as simulations, or fantasy in science fiction films. My book sets out to provide clearer understanding of the role and function of these technologies within our lives.”
The Politics of Caribbean Cyberculture has already attracted the attention of two leading academics in the field - Wolfgang Schirmacher, Program Director of Media and Communications, at The European Graduate School; and Gregory Ulmer, Professor of English at the University of Florida.
Schirmacher said of the work: "The global impact of information technology is a fact, but what does it mean? Is it a story of coming together, or mere colonization; a multi-cultural success, or a cultural nightmare? This book investigates cyberculture from the viewpoint of Caribbean culture, a daring change in perspective. Instead of assigning blame it opens up potentialities - let the game of mutual influence begin."
Ulmer who sums up the book as "innovative and thorough” noted: “This study lays the foundation for a new field of scholarship."
The 250-page book is currently available at the University bookshop
Among Best’s other works are Barbadian Popular Music, Roots to Popular Culture and Culture @ the Cutting Edge which argues that Caribbean criticism and the study of Caribbean culture needed to leap into the 21st century to respond to current and emerging trends within youth culture.
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