Elayne Antler Rapping (December 24, 1938 – June 7, 2016) was an American
critic
A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...
and analyst of
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
and
social issues
A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...
. She authored several books covering topics such as
media theory
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...
,
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
,
women's issues
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
, and the portrayal of the legal system on television. As a regular contributor to such publications as ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', ''
The Progressive
''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Follett ...
'', and ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', she wrote on a wide variety of cultural issues including film and movie reviews.
Early life and education
Born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
, she began studying at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, where she met and married a professor, Leonard A. Rapping. She earned a bachelor's degree at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, then moved to Pittsburgh when her husband took a position at Carnegie Mellon University. She insisted on taking courses at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
and earned her masters and doctoral degrees in English.
Career
In 1967, she received the Andrew Mellon Fellowship. Rapping had two children,
Jonathan and Alison. As an educator, Rapping was a professor of English and director of women's studies at
Robert Morris College
Robert Morris University Illinois, formerly Robert Morris College, was a private university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1965 but its oldest ancestor was the Moser School founded in 1913. It changed its name to ...
from 1970–1990, professor of communications at
Adelphi University
Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...
from 1991–1998, and professor of American studies at
State University of New York at Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...
until 2009. Rapping was the author of several books which address a range of topics from
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
,
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and society,
gender issues
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
, to
media theory
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...
.
Her first book, ''The Looking Glass World of Nonfiction TV'', was published in 1987. A collection of her essays and articles, ''Media-tions: Forays into the Culture and Gender Wars'', was published in 1994, in which she took up such pop culture artifacts as
soap operas
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
,
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
and
Amy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher (born August 21, 1974) is an American woman who became known in the media as "the Long Island Lolita" in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of Joey Buttafuoco, with whom ...
to set forth a new paradigm of feminism's interface with the media.
In 1996, Rapping published ''The Culture of Recovery: Making Sense of the Self-help Movement in Women's Lives'', a book based on her personal investigations into the
self-help groups {{short description, None
This is a list of self-help organizations.
Twelve-step programs
Recovery programs using Alcoholics Anonymous' twelve steps and twelve traditions either in their original form or by changing only the alcohol-specific ref ...
for women. Her 2003 book, ''Law and Justice As Seen On TV'', examines the significance and political impact of law-related television programming beginning with courtroom dramas in the 1940s up to the crime shows of the present. In his review of ''Law and Justice'', educator
Austin Sarat
Austin Sarat (born November 2, 1947) is an American political scientist who is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is also a Five College Fortieth Anniversary ...
stated that Rappings's work "shows how valuable the analysis of popular culture can be in illuminating some of the most important legal and social issues of our time."
Rapping wrote extensively for a number of national publications including ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'', ''
Cineaste'', ''
Jump Cut
A jump cut is a cut (transition), cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera posit ...
'', and ''
The Progressive
''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Follett ...
'', where she was a regular columnist for many years.
Death
Elayne Rapping died in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
of breast cancer on June 7, 2016, aged 77.
“Legacy.com" Obituary”
/ref>
Books
* (1976) ''Processed Ideas and Packaged Dreams: The Manufacturing and Marketing of American Reality''
* (1987) ''The Looking Glass World of Non-Fiction Television'' ()
* (1992) ''The Movie of the Week: Private Stories, Public Events'' ()
* (1993) ''Gender and Media Theory: A Critique of the Backlash Model''
* (1994) ''Media-tions: Forays into the Culture and Gender Wars'' ()
* (1997) ''The Culture of Recovery: Making Sense of the Self-help Movement in Women's Lives'' ()
* (2003) ''Law and Justice as Seen on TV'' ()
Articles
* "Unfree Women: Feminism in Doris Lessing's Fiction," ''Women's Studies
Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...
'', vol. 3, no. 1 (1975), p. 29-44.
* "Tupperware and Women," ''Radical America
''Radical America'' was a left-wing political magazine in the United States established in 1967. The magazine was founded by Paul Buhle and Mari Jo Buhle, activists in Students for a Democratic Society and served during its first few years of exi ...
'', vol. 14, no.6 (November–December, 1980), p. 39-50.
* "The View from Hollywood: The American Family and the American Dream," ''Socialist Review
The ''Socialist Review'' is a monthly magazine of the British Socialist Workers Party. As well as being printed it is also published online.
Original publication: 1950–1962
The ''Socialist Review'' was set up in 1950 as the main publication o ...
'', vol. 13, no. 1 (January–February, 1983), p. 71-92.
* "The Magic World of Nonfiction TV," ''Monthly Review
The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States.
History Establishment
Following ...
'', vol. 35, no. 7 (December 1983), p. 71-92.
* "Under Fire" By Elayne Rapping and Robert Simon. ''Jump Cut'' no. 30 (March 1985), p. 70
* "Twice in a Lifetime: Consuming Families" ''Jump Cut'' no. 31, (March 1986), p. 3-4
* "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," '' Media and Values'' (Summer 1987), p. 10-13.
* "Art and the U.S. Left," ''Monthly Review'', vol.39, no. 1, (January 1987), p. 29-38.
* "Twice in a Lifetime," ''Jump Cut,'' no. 33 (1987) p. 2-4.
* "Hollywood's Youth Cult Films," '' Cineaste,'' vol. 16, no. 1-2 (1987–88) p. 14-28.
* "From Print to Film: The Filming of Joyce Carol Oates' 'Smooth Talk'," ''Cineaste,'' vol.15, no.1 (1987), p. 12-14.
* "Wall Street and Hollywood's Classic Tradition," ''Cineaste,'' vol.16, no. 3, (1988) p. 15-16.
* "Max Headroom: V-v-very Bigtime TV," ''Socialist Review'', no.96 (1988), p. 31-45.
* "Liberation in Chains: The Woman Question in Hollywood," ''Cineaste,'' vol.17, no.1 (1989), p. 4-12.
* "The Future of Motherhood." In: ''Class and the Feminist Imagination'', edited by Ilene Philipson and Karen Hansen, Temple University Press, (Fall 1989), p. 339-427.
* "Hooked on a Feeling: The Sociology of Self-Help" ''Nation,'' (November 1989).
* "Gender and Media Theory: A Critique of the Backlash Model," ''Journal of Social Philosophy'', (Summer 1994), p. 7-22.
* "Karal Ann Marling's As Seen on TV," ''Journal of Communication'', (Summer 1995), p. 211-215.
* "The Jane Austen Thing" ''The Progressive'' (July 1996), p. 37.
* "The Movie of the Week: Law, Narrativity, and Gender on Prime Time." In: ''Feminism, Media, and the Law,'' edited by Martha Fineman and Martha McCluskey. Oxford University Press US (1997) ()
* "Ellen Comes Out: Media Events as Political Happenings," ''Z Magazine
Z Communications is a left-wing activist-oriented media group founded in 1986 by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent.Max Elbaum''Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che'' London, England, UK; New York, New York, US: Verso, ...
,'' (July–August, 1997).
* "Television and the Rise of the Victims’ Rights Movement," '' New York Law Review'', (Summer 1999).
* "Textual Travel and Translation and an Age of Globalized Media," ''Journal of Social Philosophy
The ''Journal of Social Philosophy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of social philosophy covering work of normative and practical significance concerning social and political life. It was established in 1970 by the North American Soc ...
'', (Fall 1999).
* "Gender, Melrose Place and the Aaron Spelling Legacy." In: ''Mediated Women'', edited by Marian Meyers. Hampton Press (1999).
* "What the Men Don't Know: Secrets of the Daytime Gender Ghetto." In: ''The Pleasures of Television'', edited by Stanley Aronowitz and Patricia Clough. Minnesota UP. (1999).
* "Justice and Ideology on Prime Time TV," '' Studies in Law, Politics and Society'', vol. 21, (2001)
* "Daytime Talk Shows and the Gendered Public Sphere." In: ''Women's Politics and Communication'', edited by Liesbet van Zoonen and Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi. Hampton Press, (2001).
* "Aliens, Nomads, Mad Dogs and Road Warriors: The New Face of Criminal Violence on Tabloid TV." In: ''Mythologies of Violence in Postmodern Media'', edited by Christopher Sharrett, Wayne State University Press, (2002).
* "Daytime Utopias: If You Lived in Pine Valley, You'd Be Home." In: ''Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture,'' edited by Henry Jenkins, Tara McPherson and Jane Shattuc. Duke University Press (2002) p. 47 ()
* "The Changing Face of Criminal Violence on Television." In: ''Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture,'' edited by Laurie Ouelette and Susan Murray, NYU Press. (2005).
* "Feminism and Daytime Soap Operas." In: ''Mediated Women,'' 2nd ed., ed Marian Meyers, Hampton Press. (2007)
* "The Magical World of Daytime Soap Operas." In: ''The Media/Cultural Studies Reader,'' edited by Douglas Kellner and Rhonda Hammer, Peter Lang Press (2009).
* "Media, Law and Celebrity," '' St. Louis Journalism Review,'' (Winter 2009).
* "Room For Debate: Do We Need Network TV?" ''New York Times'', (February 27, 2009).
* "Room For Debate: What Does Broadcast News Do Right?" ''New York Times'', (November 9, 2009).
* "TV Lawyers through History." In: ''Lawyers on Television: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,'' edited by Michael Asimov, forthcoming, ABA Press (2009).
* "Room For Debate: When Hollywood Says 'Enough'." ''New York Times'', (February 25, 2011).
* "Is It Harder To Be A Celebrity Now?" ''New York Times'', (March 23, 2011).
Television and video
* ''Swoons to Romance Novels'', Paper Tiger Television
Paper Tiger Television (PTTV) is a non-profit, low-budget public access television program and open media collective based in New York City. Currently operating from Brooklyn, PPTV was co-founded by media activist and Academy Award nominated doc ...
1983
* "Elayne Rapping Reads Soap Operas" As part of the Paper Tiger Television
Paper Tiger Television (PTTV) is a non-profit, low-budget public access television program and open media collective based in New York City. Currently operating from Brooklyn, PPTV was co-founded by media activist and Academy Award nominated doc ...
series: "Smashing the Myths of the Mass Media," 1985.
External links
Law and Society Association article on Elayne Rapping's work on TV lawyers
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapping, Elayne
1938 births
2016 deaths
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state)
University at Buffalo faculty
American non-fiction writers
Adelphi University faculty
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Chicago