This book argues that the distinctive forms of modern popular culture can only be understood through the ways we dramatize public life, and that in the dramatic fictions of collective experience we represent the terms of social order. The argument is illustrated with chapters on the theoretical character of performance in modernity; photography as the first means of mass representation; the nature of public discourse in mass democracy; and the elaboration of space for theatrical performance; and the marketing of culture and communication through mass systems of distribution. The book aims to provide a framework within which any of the popular cultural forms of modernity can be understood. Drawing upon and adapting the extensive literature of cultural studies the author offers a distinctive and original perspective on the relationship between individual and community in popular culture. The author also sets out the distinctive features of change in late-modern and postmodern culture. The book should be of interest to all those working in the field of the sociology of culture and cultural studies.