{"product_id":"9781472523716","title":"Semiotics of Happiness : Rhetorical beginnings of a public problem (Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Semiotics of Happiness examines the rise of 'happiness' (and its various satellite terminologies) as a social and political semiotic, exploring its origins in the US and subsequent spread into the UK and across the globe. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe research takes as its starting point the development of discussions about happiness in UK newspapers in which dedicated advocates began to claim that a new 'science of happiness' had been discovered and argued for social and political change on its behalf. Through an in-depth analysis of the written and visual rhetoric and subsequent activities of these influential 'claims-makers', Frawley argues that happiness became a serious political issue not because of a growing unhappiness in society nor a demand 'on the ground' for new knowledge about it, but rather because influential and dedicated 'insiders' took the issue on at a cultural moment when problems cast in emotional terms were particularly likely to make an impact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEmerging from the analysis is the observation that, while apparently positive and light-hearted, the concern with happiness implicitly affirms a 'vulnerability' model of human functioning, encourages a morality of low expectations, and in spite of the radical language used to describe it, is ultimately conservative and ideally suited to an era of 'no alternative' (to capitalism).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52561565942071,"sku":"00000_00000_00000_00000","price":1029.42,"currency_code":"MYR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0962\/3548\/7543\/files\/9781472523716-1.jpg?v=1783206649","url":"https:\/\/kinokuniya.com.my\/products\/9781472523716","provider":"Books Kinokuniya Malaysia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}