An edition of The DNA mystique (1995)

The DNA mystique

the gene as a cultural icon

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

Check-In

×Close
Add an optional check-in date. Check-in dates are used to track yearly reading goals.
Today


Buy this book

Last edited by MARC Bot
July 16, 2024 | History
An edition of The DNA mystique (1995)

The DNA mystique

the gene as a cultural icon

What explains society's fascination with the gene? DNA in popular culture has been granted extraordinary powers of agency and control, appearing as an explanation of personality, a source of crime and other social problems, the cause of academic failure, and the basis of financial success. It appears as a scientific guide to social policy, a way to locate responsibility, and to delegate blame: "it's all in the genes.".

In The DNA Mystique, Nelkin and Lindee explore the striking presence of the gene in popular culture, where DNA has become a powerful, deterministic - even magical - entity, the essence of life, and the secular equivalent of the soul. Drawing on stories and metaphors from film, television, news reports, comic books, ads, and even cartoons, the authors reveal how science and culture intersect to shape the social meaning of the gene.

Nelkin and Lindee describe how the gene is appropriated to define the proper family, predict future behavior, and advance common stereotypes of gender and race. They show how social problems and opportunities have disappeared behind the image of the double helix, which looms so large in the popular imagination. And they show how cultural interpretations of the gene influence individual expectations, institutional practices, and social policies.

Their analysis then addresses a critical issue: What does this fascination with genetics mean for reproductive practices? Does the DNA mystique portend a "new eugenics" - a dangerous science that locates solutions to social problems in biological controls?

Publish Date
Publisher
Freeman
Language
English
Pages
276

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The DNA mystique
The DNA mystique: the gene as a cultural icon
1995, Freeman
in English
Cover of: The DNA mystique
The DNA mystique: the gene as a cultural icon
Publisher unknown

Add another edition?

Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-260) and index.

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
304.5
Library of Congress
QH430 .N46 1995, QH430.N46 1995

The Physical Object

Pagination
x, 276 p. :
Number of pages
276

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1121902M
Internet Archive
dnamystiquegenea0000nelk
ISBN 10
0716727099
LCCN
94048711
OCLC/WorldCat
31776871
Library Thing
168304
Goodreads
5289376

Community Reviews (0)

Feedback?
No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

Lists

This work does not appear on any lists.

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
July 16, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
May 25, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
March 15, 2018 Edited by ImportBot import new book
February 14, 2010 Edited by WorkBot add more information to works
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page