Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Rags and refuse : the newspaper, empire, and nineteenth century commodity culture. / Cronin, Anne M.
In: Cultural Studies, Vol. 20, No. 6, 01.11.2006, p. 574-598.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Rags and refuse : the newspaper, empire, and nineteenth century commodity culture.
AU - Cronin, Anne M.
PY - 2006/11/1
Y1 - 2006/11/1
N2 - This article asks what an analysis of nineteenth century English newspapers can tell us about the developing commodity culture, and what an understanding of the newspaper as commodity can reveal about the evolving nature of the newspaper. Using Walter Benjamin's work on commodities and temporality, and focusing on issues of empire, I argue that newspapers such as The Manchester Guardian constituted a 'technology of possession': alongside their status as commodities and commercial enterprises, such newspapers formed a lens for perceiving the world in terms of capitalist principles of ownership and exchange, and constituted a kind of early intellectual property rights. Establishing particular commodity-rhythms of production and consumption, the newspaper tapped into and rearticulated the temporalities of modernity, shaping and being shaped by a culture of commodities.
AB - This article asks what an analysis of nineteenth century English newspapers can tell us about the developing commodity culture, and what an understanding of the newspaper as commodity can reveal about the evolving nature of the newspaper. Using Walter Benjamin's work on commodities and temporality, and focusing on issues of empire, I argue that newspapers such as The Manchester Guardian constituted a 'technology of possession': alongside their status as commodities and commercial enterprises, such newspapers formed a lens for perceiving the world in terms of capitalist principles of ownership and exchange, and constituted a kind of early intellectual property rights. Establishing particular commodity-rhythms of production and consumption, the newspaper tapped into and rearticulated the temporalities of modernity, shaping and being shaped by a culture of commodities.
KW - commodity culture
KW - newspapers
KW - The Manchester Guardian
KW - time
KW - space
KW - possession
KW - empire
U2 - 10.1080/09502380600973952
DO - 10.1080/09502380600973952
M3 - Journal article
VL - 20
SP - 574
EP - 598
JO - Cultural Studies
JF - Cultural Studies
SN - 0950-2386
IS - 6
ER -