{"title":"Wrestling Voices: Amplifying Patriotism and Ethnic Stereotypes in 1980s American Professional Wrestling","authors":"Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70025","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines the use of promotional interviews (“promos”) in American professional wrestling of the 1980s. I argue that promos introduced a vocal modality into a form of sports entertainment that, as Roland Barthes ([1957] 1972) showed in <i>Mythologies</i>, had always been dominated by visual spectacle. I then undertake a focused linguistic and auditory analysis of promos made by two wrestlers: the Iranian Iron Sheik and his American opponent Hulk Hogan. The analysis shows how voices were made to amplify ethnic stereotypes and patriotic sentiments in constructing the all-American heroes and foreignized villains that proliferated in, and that helped to legitimize, this era of neoconservative nationalism in American culture and politics.</p>","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"19-29"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jacc.70025","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147569415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hardcore Punk in the Age of Reagan: The Lyrical Lashing of an American Presidency. By Fitzgerald, Robert, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2025. 241 pp. $34.95 (Softcover) ISBN: 978-1-46-9668545-8","authors":"Scott R. Stalcup","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70059","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"64-65"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147562638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Perverse Eucharist: Flanagan's Midnight Mass as Religious Satire","authors":"Paul A. Crutcher","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70031","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"30-37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147562825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning Hollywood's Master of the Macabre. Revised Edition by David J. Skal and Elias Savada Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2025. 408 pp. ISBN: 978-1-5179-1673-2","authors":"Daniel P. Murphy","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70027","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"79-80"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147566226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult: A Journey to the Other Side. By Paul Wyld, Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2024. pp. 256. ISBN: 979-8-88-850080-4","authors":"Dwaipayan Roy","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70023","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"75-76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147566967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Where the Wild Things Were: Boyhood and Permissive Parenting in Postwar AmericaBy Henry Jenkins, New York: New York University Press, 2025 367 pp. ISBN: 978-1-47-983189-0","authors":"Kathy Merlock Jackson","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70024","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"73-74"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147569271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comic Fascism: Ideology, Catholicism, and Americanism in Italian Children's Periodicals. By Elward, Zane. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. 2025. 226 pp. ISBN: 978-0-81-421592-0","authors":"Mark John Isola","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70061","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"68-69"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147568949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Making Originals Out of Adaptations: The Case of Fox's The Gifted","authors":"Ahmad Hayat","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70017","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>American network television is based on an advertiser-supported economic model that mandates the production of series that target a broad range of demographics and at the same time refrain from developing characters and storylines that could potentially deter advertisers. These production conditions inform the adaptation process of comic-book properties. This article examines the Fox network's <i>The Gifted</i> (2017–2019), a live-action superhero television series based on Marvel Comics' X-Men properties. It foregrounds the changes made to such properties to address the network's diversity ambitions by offering representations that could potentially reflect their heterogeneous audience, adequately satisfy advertisers, and simultaneously reinforce the network's edgy identity. The study illustrates how the economic, audience, and contract commitment factors are reflected in the narrative elements of the show, informing the selection of particular source material mutants and facilitating the development of original X-Men characters on television.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"12-18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147563928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Race Relations on the Silver Screen: “Hollywood's Racial Reckoning and the Conservative Response”","authors":"Alex Pinelli","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70020","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article examines the intersection of race, film, and conservative cultural commentary from 1976 to 2000. It explores how conservative film critics engaged with Black-led films and shifting portrayals of race in American cinema. By analyzing film reviews from major conservative publications—including <i>National Review, Commentary, The American Spectator, Crisis, Human Events, Reason,</i> and <i>Chronicles</i>—this study traces the evolution of conservative responses to Black narratives on screen. The article reveals a shift from indifference and colorblind interpretations in the 1970s and 1980s to increasing discomfort and opposition in the 1990s, as films confronted racial injustices more explicitly. The findings contribute to broader discussions on race, media representation, and political ideology in late 20th-century America.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"49-61"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147562263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The 1968 Florida Teachers' Strike: Public Sector Unionism and the Fight Against Sunshine State Conservatism. By Jody Baxter Noll, Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2025. 209 pp. ISBN: 978-0-80-718300-7","authors":"Zachary Kizer","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70018","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147565728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}