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Book Details
Abstract
Revolution in the Echo Chamber is a sociohistorical analysis of British and US radio and audio drama from 1919 to the present day. This volume examines the aesthetic, cultural and technical elements of audio drama along with its context within the literary canon. In addition to the form and development of aural drama, Leslie Grace McMurtry provides an exploration of mental imagery generation in relation to its reception and production. Building on historical analysis, Revolution in the Echo Chamber provides contemporary perspective, drawing on trends from the current audio drama environment to analyse how people listen to audio drama, including podcast drama, today – and how they might listen in the future.
Leslie Grace McMurtry is a lecturer in radio studies at the University of Salford (School of Arts and Media). Her work has been published by The Journal of Radio and Audio Media, Palgrave Communications and The Journal of Popular Culture.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Half Title | i | ||
| Title | iii | ||
| Copyright | iv | ||
| Contents | ix | ||
| Acknowledgements | xiii | ||
| Introduction: Why Bother with Audio Drama? | 1 | ||
| Section I: Audio Drama in Context | 11 | ||
| Chapter 1: Audio Drama in the Context of the Literary Canon | 13 | ||
| How to treat radio drama | 16 | ||
| Radio drama as high and low art | 18 | ||
| A deluge of dirt? | 20 | ||
| Against the Storm (1939–42) | 23 | ||
| The Country and the City and The Archers in Middle England | 26 | ||
| The radio western | 29 | ||
| Conclusion | 32 | ||
| Chapter 2: Audio Drama and Listening | 33 | ||
| Listening is centripetal | 36 | ||
| One and many | 38 | ||
| Modes of listening | 39 | ||
| Understanding listening | 41 | ||
| Conclusion | 42 | ||
| Chapter 3: Audio Drama Techniques and Effects | 45 | ||
| How is audio drama made? | 47 | ||
| The role of the actor in audio drama | 51 | ||
| The role of the director and producer in audio drama | 53 | ||
| Creating a soundscape | 54 | ||
| The architecture of time | 58 | ||
| Previously unheard worlds | 58 | ||
| Painting a picture | 60 | ||
| Dialect | 60 | ||
| Heightened language | 62 | ||
| Audiopositioning | 63 | ||
| When we might like earlids | 64 | ||
| Sex and violence on air | 65 | ||
| Conclusion | 67 | ||
| Section II: History (1919–2010) | 69 | ||
| Chapter 4: British Radio Drama (1919–60) | 71 | ||
| The birth of broadcasting (1895–1918) | 73 | ||
| The British Broadcasting Company (1922–26) | 76 | ||
| The BBC: Ambition and control (1927–39) | 80 | ||
| Europe at war (1939–45) | 85 | ||
| Post-war content (1945–55) | 87 | ||
| The 1950s: The Golden Age of British radio drama | 89 | ||
| Conclusion | 90 | ||
| Chapter 5: US Radio Drama (1919–60) | 93 | ||
| Spies, detectives, crime-fighters and victims | 96 | ||
| Tinkering (1901–20) | 97 | ||
| The Radio Act of 1927 (1920–27) | 99 | ||
| The Columbia Workshop and art vs. commodity (1935–40) | 102 | ||
| Genre and audience (1940–55) | 105 | ||
| Post-war radio trends (1945–55) | 109 | ||
| Conclusion | 111 | ||
| Chapter 6: Why US Audio Drama Died and British Audio Drama Survived | 113 | ||
| Commercial advertising and control in the United States | 116 | ||
| US network executives shape policy | 117 | ||
| Censorship and TV | 119 | ||
| The BBC and US radio policy | 121 | ||
| Let’s pretend: Was there any US radio drama 1948–58 that could have saved the genre? | 124 | ||
| Chapter 7: The Ascendance of the Background Medium: Drama on US and British Radio (1960–2010) | 129 | ||
| Radio drama in Britain (1960–2010) | 131 | ||
| Radio drama in the United States (1960–2010) | 138 | ||
| Conclusion | 147 | ||
| Section III: Audio Drama Today | 149 | ||
| Chapter 8: Current British Audio Drama | 151 | ||
| Structure and strands | 154 | ||
| BBC radio drama, body of work: Statistics | 157 | ||
| BBC radio drama: Range of work | 158 | ||
| Range of work: Anecdotal evidence | 158 | ||
| Audiences | 162 | ||
| iPlayer | 163 | ||
| The gamechanger and Life and Fate | 165 | ||
| Alternatives to the BBC | 168 | ||
| Conclusion | 171 | ||
| Chapter 9: Current US Audio Drama | 173 | ||
| A tyranny of choice | 177 | ||
| Serial | 178 | ||
| What does public service broadcasting mean in the United States? | 179 | ||
| Audiobooks | 182 | ||
| Performatory OTR recreations | 182 | ||
| Satellite audio drama | 183 | ||
| Audio drama podcasts | 187 | ||
| Conclusion | 190 | ||
| Section IV: The Future of Audio Drama | 193 | ||
| Chapter 10: Listening Now | 195 | ||
| Shrimp sale at the Crab Crib: Advertising in podcasting paradise? | 198 | ||
| Serial’s sophomore slump | 203 | ||
| Serial’s audience: Those who don’t listen | 208 | ||
| Conclusion | 211 | ||
| Chapter 11: The Post-Serial World and Listeners of the Future | 213 | ||
| Throw us your pennies and we’ll make you a kingdom | 216 | ||
| A rewrite of US communications legislation | 221 | ||
| Where do we go from here? | 222 | ||
| Audio drama in the political landscape | 224 | ||
| Conclusion: We’re Listening | 227 | ||
| Appendices | 233 | ||
| Appendix 1 – Methodology: Statistics on BBC Radio Drama 2012 | 235 | ||
| Appendix 2 – British winners of the Prix Italia and Prix Europa in Radio Drama since 1949 | 239 | ||
| Appendix 3 – Panel of experts for Radio Times survey | 245 | ||
| Appendix 4 – Audio drama awards | 246 | ||
| References | 251 | ||
| Index | 289 | ||
| Back Cover | Back Cover |