Subverting Mainstream Narratives in the Reagan Era

Subverting Mainstream Narratives in the Reagan Era explores how artists, novelists, and directors were able to present narratives of strong dissent in popular culture during the Reagan Era. Using but subverting the tools of mainstream novels and films, these visionaries’ works were featured alongside other books in major bookstores and promoted alongside blockbusters in movie theatres across the country. Ashley M. Donnelly discusses how the artists accomplished this, why it is so important, and how new artists can use these techniques in today’s homogenous and mundane media.

Ashley M. Donnelly is Associate Professor of Telecommunications and Director of the Digital Storytelling Master’s Program in Telecommunications at Ball State University, USA. She is author of Renegade Hero or Faux Rogue: The Secret Traditionalism of Television Bad Boys, as well as several articles on contemporary US culture. Her work is based in cultural and critical theory and focuses gender, capitalism, and socio-political criticism. In addition to her academic work, she is an award-winning screenwriter who continues to write original feature films.