New Titles in Mass Comm.

Here's a look at several new books on mass communication and mass media.

Transforming McLuhan: Cultural, Critical, and Postmodern Perspectives. Paul Grosswiler, ed. Peter Lang. 2010. An anthology of new essays updating our understanding of McLuhan's work

Messages, Meaning, and Symbols. Charles T. Meadow. Scarecrow. 2006. Outlines the history of communication, going into the future, and delves into both communication and information theory

Discourse Theory and Critical Media Politics. Lincoln Dahlberg and Sean Phelan, eds. Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. Essays on Marxist Theory, New Media, Laclau's Political Theory and more

Twilight Of The Social: Resurgent Publics In the Age of Disposability. Henry A. Giroux. Paradigm. 2012. Advocates the need for social spaces in which people can agitate for social change

Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction To Its Own Past Simon Reynolds. Faber and Faber. 2011. Contains chapters on record collection, youtube, sampling, hauntology, and mash-ups, among other topics

On Media Memory: Collective Memory In a New Media Age Motti Neiger, Oren Meyers, Eyal Zandberg, eds. Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. Discusses journalistic practices and politics through the lens of a society's formation of a collective memory

Women On Screen: Feminism and Femininity In Visual Culture Melanie Waters. Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. With essays on James Bond films, the show "The Sopranos" and many others.

Idolized: Music, Media, and Identity In American Idol Katherine Meizel. Indiana University Press. 2011. Analyzes success and failure and global politics

Coming soon: SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy and The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires.