Jaap Kooijman

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American pop culture - Hollywood cinema, television, pop music - dominates the rest of the world through its hegemonic presence. Does that make everyone a hybridized American, or do these elements find mediation within the other cultures that consume them? Fabricating the Absolute Fake applies concepts of postmodern theory - Baudrillard’s hyperreality and Eco’s “absolute fake,” among others - to this globally mediated American pop culture in order to examine both the phenomenon itself and its appropriation in the Netherlands, as evidenced by such diverse cultural icons as the Elvis-inspired crooner Lee Towers, the Moroccan-Dutch rapper Ali B, musical tributes to an assassinated politician, and the Dutch reality soap opera scene. Fabricating the Absolute Fake is a fascinating exploration of how global cultures struggle to create their own “America” within a post-9/11 media culture.

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“A brilliant, thoroughly enjoyable work of cultural critique, Fabricating the Absolute Fake takes seemingly exhausted concepts like ‘Americanization’ and turns them on their head. Refusing simple binaries between the fake and the authentic, or between cultural imperialism and native resistance, Kooijman demonstrates just how flexible the signifiers of Americanness can be when they circulate globally.” Anna McCarthy, Cinema Studies, New York University

“Most daring and persuasive is Kooijman’s ability to move between and connect the most delicious pop and the most searing political events (9/11, the murder of Pim Fortuyn), never evading the seriousness of entertainment nor the spectacle of politics. A book that is a pleasure for what it conveys of its subject and for its intellectual rigor, managing to be at once subtle and straightforward, complex and lucid.” Richard Dyer, Film Studies, King’s College London

“Fabricating the Absolute Fake shows that pop culture is more than emphemeral entertainment. When looked at with Kooijman’s cosmopolitan eye, pop culture can be seen as a continuing ritual in celebration of national identities, America’s identity for sure, but also, intriguinly, a Dutch or even European sense of self.” Rob Kroes, American Studies, University of Amsterdam

tags Fabricating the Absolute Fake, New book posted in Just published

Jaap Kooijman has received the ASCA Book Award 2009 for Fabricating the Absolute Fake: America in Contemporary Pop Culture (AUP 2008). The annual award is given to an outstanding book published by a member of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA). In Fabricating the Absolute Fake, Kooijman examines the global dominance of American pop culture and its local appropriations. Written in an accessible style, the book cleverly shows how politics and popular culture are intertwined. The author perceives Americanization as a dynamic process, recognizing both its imperialistic character as well as its promise for productive appropriation on local level.
Recently, Kooijman has promoted the book by giving public lectures, including a keynote lecture at the Appropriating America, Making Europe conference of the European Science Foundation in Amsterdam (16 January 2009), and book talks at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of Minnesota (10 March 2009) and the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University (6 April 2009).

tags ASCA award, Fabricating the Absolute Fake posted in News

On 7 August 2008, Petra Possel interviewed Jaap Kooijman about his book Fabricating the Absolute Fake on the radio 1 talkshow Kunststof. With fragments of songs ranging from USA for Africa’s “We Are The World” and Mariah Carey’s “The Star-Spangled Banner” to Lee Tower’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and Gerard Joling’s “At Your Service,” the discussion focuses on the Americanization of Dutch popular culture and the dominance of America in global pop culture. One of the talkshow’s traditions is to have the guest write down “words of wisdom” on a tile. Jaap cited the late singer Paul Jabara, who sang in his disco classic “Never Lose Your Sense of Humor” that “instead of the plumber, I called Donna Summer.” In other words, instead of always opting for practical solutions, answers sometimes can be found in art or pop culture. Click here to listen to the show.

tags Fabricating the Absolute Fake posted in News

On 17 June 2008, at SPUI25, Jaap Kooijman presented the first copy of his book Fabricating the Absolute Fake: America in Contemporary Pop Culture to José van Dijck, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. Before that, personal reflections on the book were presented by Stine Jensen, Pieter Kottman, and Bas Heijne. Since then, Kooijman has been interviewed about the book on several radio shows, including Casa Luna, DeSmet Live, De Avonden, Hoe?Zo!, and BNR. To listen to these shows, go to the media page of this website. Fabricating the Absolute Fake has been published by Amsterdam University Press.

tags Fabricating the Absolute Fake, SPUI25 posted in News