The Handbook of Magazine Studies

A scholarly work examining the continuing evolution of the magazine—part of the popular Handbooks in Media and Communication series

The Handbook of Magazine Studies is a wide-ranging study of the ways in which the political economy of magazines has dramatically shifted in recent years—and continues to do so at a rapid pace. Essays from emerging and established scholars explore the cultural function of magazine media in light of significant changes in content delivery, format, and audience.  This volume integrates academic examination with pragmatic discussion to explore contemporary organizational practices, content, and cultural impact.

Offering original research and fresh insights, thirty-six chapters provide a truly global perspective on the conceptual and historical foundations of magazines, their organizational cultures and narrative strategies, and their influences on society, identities, and lifestyle. The text addresses topics such as the role of advocacy in shaping and changing magazine identities, magazines and advertising in the digital age, gender and sexuality in magazines, and global magazine markets. Useful to scholars and educators alike, this book:

• Discusses media theory, academic research, and real-world organizational dynamics
• Presents essays from both emerging and established scholars in disciplines such as art, geography, and women’s studies
• Features in-depth case studies of magazines in international, national, and regional contexts
• Explores issues surrounding race, ethnicity, activism, and resistance

Whether used as a reference, a supplementary text, or as a catalyst to spark new research, The Handbook of Magazine Studies is a valuable resource for students, educators, and scholars in fields of mass media, communication, and journalism.

Miglena Sternadori is Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media Industries at Texas Tech University. She is the author of Mediated Eros and contributor to numerous journals and publications including Mass Communication & Society and Feminist Media Studies.

Tim Holmes is associate director of postgraduatetaught journalism programs at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University, Wales. He is the founder of the Mapping The Magazine series of conferences, and author of Magazine Journalism and The 21st Century Journalism Handbook.

List of Figures viii

Notes on Contributors x

Part I Conceptual and Historical Underpinnings 1

1 Magazines, Megazines, and Metazines: What is a Magazine in the Twenty‐First Century? 3
Tim Holmes

2 Reading Magazines: Taking Death Cab for Cutie from Shed to Dalston 20
John Hartley

3 Social Scientific Approaches to Magazine Research 36
Berkley Hudson and Carol B. Schwalbe

4 Viewing the Magazine Form Through the Lens of Classic Media Theories 51
David Weiss and Miglena Sternadori

5 Case Study: Where Industry and Academy Meet 65
Tim Holmes

Part II Magazines as Dynamic Organizations 75

6 Sex, Power, and Organizational Culture in the Glossy Magazine Industry 77
Nicholas Boston

7 Slow Magazines: The New Indies in Print 92
Megan Le Masurier

8 Magazines and Advertising in the Digital Age 105
John Sinclair

9 An Extraordinary Duckling: B2B Magazines as Information and Networking Tools for Professionals 120
Dan Zhang and Paul Dwyer

10 Customer Magazines as Hybrids of Journalism and PR 136
Thomas Koch, Nora Denner, and Benedikt Gutheil

11 On Johnson’s Shoulders: The Lessons and Legacy of Ebony Magazine 146
Sharon Bloyd‐Peshkin and Charles Whitaker

12 Case Study: Porter Magazine: A Case Study in Hybridity 154
Tim Holmes

Part III Magazines, Identities, and Lifestyles 163

13 Magazines and the Construction of Consumer Lifestyles 165
David Weiss

14 The “Woke” Sex Discourse: Sexuality and Gender in Online Consumer Magazines 180
Chelsea Reynolds

15 Gatekeepers and Gal Pals: The Narrative Strategies of Celebrity Magazines 198
Andrea McDonnell

16 Gender in Magazines 214
Elizabeth Groeneveld

17 Magazines’ Construction of Life Markers: From Youth to Old Age 226
Joy Jenkins

18 Case Study: Beauty, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: How Three British Magazines Construct Feminine Adolescence, “Middle Youth,” and Maturity 241
Joy Jenkins

19 Case Study: How Magazines Carry Western Consumer Values Around the World: The Chinese Women’s Lifestyle Magazine Rayli and its Representation of Healthy Diets 248
Ariel Chen and David Machin

Part IV Magazines, Culture, and Society 261

20 Magazines as Alternative Sites of Artistic Practice 263
Gwen Allen

21 Magazines as Sites of Didacticism, Edutainment, and (Sometimes) Pedagogy 278
Miglena Sternadori

22 Magazines and Interpretive Communities: Approaching the Commercial Media Fan Magazine 293
Matt Hills

23 City and Regional Magazines: Consumer Guides or Social Binders? 307
Miglena Sternadori and Susan Currie Sivek

24 Case Study: The Contested Category of the Photography Magazine: Three Case Studies 322
David Brittain

25 Case Study: Language, Little Magazines, and Local Feminisms 333
Nithila Kanagasabai

Part V Magazines, Activism, and Resistance 343

26 Magazines as Sites of Satire, Parody, and Political Resistance 345
Kevin M. Lerner

27 The Cultural Campaigners: The Role of Advocacy in Shaping and Changing Magazine Identities 358
Sharon Maxwell Magnus

28 American Magazines as Champions of Environmental and Corporate Sustainability 370
Matthew Yeomans

29 Case Study: Constructing an Imagined Community in Al‐Qaeda’s Magazine Inspire 384
Lara Tarantini

30 Case Study: How gal‐dem Magazine Succeeded Where Mainstream Media Failed 393
Esther Egbeyemi

Part VI Global Markets and Audiences 401

31 Magazines in Spanish and Portuguese America 403
Kenton T. Wilkinson and Cristobal Benavides Almarza

32 Chinese Consumer Magazines: Digital Transitions in an Evolving Cultural Economy 417
Xiang Ren

33 Indian Magazines Revitalized in Response to Demand for Long-form Storytelling 427
Savyasaachi Jain and Usha Raman

34 From Grit to Glitz: Magazine Markets and Ideologies in Post‐Communist Europe and Asia 440
Miglena Sternadori

35 Case Study: Culinary Magazines in Oceania and Australia 453
Lyn Barnes

36 Case Study: The Bulgarian Woman as a “Free and Happy Individual”: A Cultural Analysis of a Bulgarian Magazine’s Covers over Seven Decades 462
Elza Ibrosheva and Maria Stover

Index 472

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