March 15, 2011
Lofton (American studies & religious studies, Yale) elucidates the particular significance of Oprah Winfrey in modern culture and how her presence has achieved icono-religious status from the sheer pervasion of her brand and what it imbues for believers. Winfrey's ascent in the annals of cultural studies did not begin until after it became clear that The Oprah Winfrey Show was a game changer. This dense volume adds to the building scholarship on Winfrey by expanding on Lofton's 2006 piece in the Journal of Popular Culture. Lofton here successfully provides further insight into the Oprah gospel by parsing out the omnipresent mechanisms through which the relentless admonishments and associated consumables are conveyed, as well as by extensively analyzing what that very act of conveyance overtly and covertly signifies to audiences. VERDICT Casual readers and fans of Oprah may find the tone and language of this serious study daunting--don't mistake this for an easy read--but budding and active scholars of cultural, popular, and religious studies will read with interest.--Jewell Anderson, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ. Lib., Savannah
Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2011
Religion scholar Lofton views the much-watched talk-show host from the perspective of her contribution to and impact on American religion. She explores how Oprah and her many enterprises have responded to changes in contemporary culture (e.g., the increasingly crass nature of talk shows that drove her to switch to a more uplifting genre) and the entwining of the person and the product of Oprah. Oprah herself has stated that her show is her ministry as she has pondered the spiritual aspects of life and how she and her audience can change themselves for the better and make the world better. In each chapter, Lofton compares materials from Oprahs many productions and religious culture. Specifically, she focuses on the prosperity gospel as practiced by many churches and preached by Oprah, who gives gifts and fills pages of her magazine with products intended for self-realization. Other chapters focus on celebrity culture and contemporary evangelism. Lofton also analyzes Oprahs sex and race within a long line of American preachers. A fascinating new perspective on a media icon.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)
February 14, 2011
Lofton, an assistant professor of religious studies and American studies, looks long and very closely at the Oprah Winfrey media empire, analyzing Oprah's pulpit: message, style, and ubiquitous recommendations. She has sifted through mountains of material about Winfrey, both scholarly and popular, as well as what Winfrey has said in the course of talk shows that have been broadcast five days a week since 1986. Lofton's prodigious research has produced a killer 50-page footnotes section and a book accessible to an academic audience only. That's both unfortunate and ironic, given the mass appeal of its complex subject and the value of an analysis of Oprah's overwhelming power. Lofton is at her best as a historian of American religion, insightfully locating Winfrey's signature confessionalism in the context of the "anxious bench" of 19th-century evangelical revival. She also does good work in taking seriously and helping define the term "spirituality" that is evident in popular beliefs about matters divine and transcendent. The book is a tenure maker; general readers will find the writing academic hardtack ("Yet this generic is inadequate to the narratives of its particular").