Violence in American Popular Culture [2 volumes]

This timely collection provides a historical overview of violence in American popular culture from the Puritan era to the present and across a range of media. • Provides a narrative of the development of violence in American popular culture, illustrating both continuity and change • Combines an overview of each essay's subject matter with in-depth analysis of specific examples • Features discussion of well-known portrayers of violence, such as film and television, as well as lesser-known sources—for example, murder ballads and Puritan sermons—helping readers place contemporary concerns and examples into a detailed historical context • Suggests directions for future research and other developments in the field • Includes a keyword index to enable readers to track continuities across the various essays