Now published in a revised second edition,
The Matter of Images
searches through the resonances of the term ‘representation’, analysing images in terms of why they matter, what they are made of, and the material realities they refer to. Richard Dyer’s analyses consider representations of ‘out’ groups and traditionally dominant groups alike, and encompass the eclectic texts of contemporary culture, from queers to straights, political correctness, representations of Empire and films including
Gilda
,
Papillon
and
The Night of the Living Dead
. Essays new to the second edition discuss Lillian Gish as the ultimate white movie star, the representation of whiteness in the South in
Birth of a Nation
, and society’s fascination with serial killers.
is distinctive in its commitment to writing politically about contemporary culture, while insisting on the importance of understanding the formal qualities and complexity of the images it investigates.