Book description
Her image is iconic: Oprah Winfrey has built an empire on her ability
to connect with and inspire her audience. No longer just a name, “Oprah”
has become a brand representing the talk show host's unique style of
self-actualizing individualism. The cultural and economic power wielded
by Winfrey merits critical evaluation. The contributors to The Oprah
Phenomenon examine the origins of her public image and its substantial
influence on politics, entertainment, and popular opinion. Contributors
address praise from her many supporters and weigh criticisms from her
detractors. Winfrey's ability to create a feeling of intimacy with her
audience has long been cited as one of the foundations of her
popularity. She has repeatedly made national headlines by engaging and
informing her audience with respect to her personal relationships to
race, gender, feminism, and New Age culture. The Oprah Phenomenon
explores these relationships in detail. At the root of Winfrey's message
to her vast audience is her assertion that anyone can be a success
regardless of background or upbringing. The contributors scrutinize this
message: What does this success entail? Is the motivation behind
self-actualization, in fact, merely the hope of replicating Winfrey's
purchasing power? Is it just a prescription to buy the products she
recommends and heed the advice of people she admires, or is it a
lifestyle change of meaningful spiritual benefit? The Oprah Phenomenon
asks these and many other difficult questions to promote a greater
understanding of Winfrey's influence on the American consciousness.
Elwood Watson, associate professor of history at East Tennessee State
University, is the editor of several books, including “There She Is,
Miss America”: The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in America's Most
Famous Pageant and Searching The Soul of Ally McBeal: Critical Essays.
Jennifer Harris is assistant professor of English at Mount Allison
University, New Brunswick, Canada. Her articles and essays have appeared
in several journals, including African American Review and The Journal
of American Culture, and books, including Turbo Chicks: Talking Young
Feminisms.
