Cultural Studies and Critical Theory explores questions of culture, representation, gender, power, sexuality, and the postmodern. What is culture? And why is it divided into high, middle, and popular? What is a text, and how does it work in the world? What issues fuel contemporary cultural politics? What is the subject, and why has it become such a burning issue in cultural studies? This book thoroughly revises and updates Cultural Studies and the New Humanities: Concepts and Controversies. Drawing on the strengths of the earlier edition, it provides a comprehensive overview of issues in the humanities at the turn of the new millennium, providing historical background, defining key terms, and introducing the ideas of influential thinkers. New chapters have been added on the rise of visual cultures and the fierce contemporary debate between identity politics and queer theory. Students at all levels will find this to be an accessible and thought-provoking text. - Back cover.