Power Plays, Power Works

Fiske ( Understanding Popular Culture ) mixes case studies and theory in a jargon-laden but provoking assessment of ways in which ordinary people fight power-blocs in a society lacking a ``broadly shared consensus of values and priorities.'' Fiske suggests, for example, that sports offers its fans a limited opportunity to know and master a field without being subject to the control of experts. Similarly, he suggests that Elvis fans find community in rejecting the official account of his death. Fiske examines the Smithsonian Institutions's 1991 look at the exploitative side of the frontier West, observing that while advocates of ``high'' culture hotly debate multiculturalism, popular culture has been invaded by revisionist movies like Dances with Wolves . His most interesting chapters delve into race relations, observing, for instance, the ``counter-knowledge'' purveyed by black-oriented radio stations, corresponding to a black experience of reality that differs from whites'. Fiske concludes that the current power-bloc still isn't ready to negotiate a new multicultural consensus, though he's hardly ready to define one himself. (Dec.)