Irene J. Nexica, independent writer and cultural analyst.
I’m an irreverent cultural critic, which is to say I look at culture and try to understand and explain patterns and anomalies I see, while keeping a sense of humor (mostly). I analyze societies through their popular cultures, using tools from film studies, literature analysis, cultural studies, ethnic studies, anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines. I currently focus on cultures of north America, Britain, and India.
My work was featured in July 2008 as a cover story for the East Bay Express on Indian cinema. My current large project is a book about British colonialism styles and their affect on British popular music in 1997. My next large project will be a book on Indian cinema’s role as a tool to define Indian national identities. I have worked as a radio DJ and produced audio shows, co-edited an academic book, interviewed a Spice Girl for a magazine cover story, and done lots of research, published and unpublished.
I have worked as an educator, primarily at the university level, and as an event planner, marketer, facilitator and strategic consultant to local non-profit organizations and select small businesses.
“One of the useful metaphors to portray cultural studies is the idea of double vision: it’s only when you look outwards at someone else’s practices that you start to examine your own practices, and begin to realise what is special about them. Normally your own social context remains transparent.” – Joanne Collie, University of Warwick, discussing her book What’s It Like in 2002