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The Power of Cute

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The Power of Cute

By Simon MayNarrated by Anthony Head

The Power of Cute

Length3h 14m

About this audiobook

This audiobook narrated by acclaimed British actor Anthony Head explores cuteness and its immense hold on us, from emojis and fluffy puppies to its more uncanny, subversive expressions Cuteness has taken the planet by storm. Global sensations Hello Kitty and Pokémon, the works of artists Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum and E.T.—all reflect its gathering power. But what does "cute" mean, as a sensibility and style? Why is it so pervasive? Is it all infantile fluff, or is there something more uncanny and even menacing going on—in a lighthearted way? In The Power of Cute, Simon May provides nuanced and surprising answers. We usually see the cute as merely diminutive, harmless, and helpless. May challenges this prevailing perspective, investigating everything from Mickey Mouse to Kim Jong-il to argue that cuteness is not restricted to such sweet qualities but also beguiles us by transforming or distorting them into something of playfully indeterminate power, gender, age, morality, and even species. May grapples with cuteness's dark and unpindownable side—unnerving, artful, knowing, apprehensive—elements that have fascinated since ancient times through mythical figures, especially hybrids like the hermaphrodite and the sphinx. He argues that cuteness is an addictive antidote to today's pressured expectations of knowing our purpose, being in charge, and appearing predictable, transparent, and sincere. Instead, it frivolously expresses the uncertainty that these norms deny: the ineliminable uncertainty of who we are; of how much we can control and know; of who, in our relations with others, really has power; indeed, of the very value and purpose of power. The Power of Cute delves into a phenomenon that speaks with strange force to our age.

Audiobook details

GenrePhilosophy

Length3 hrs 14 mins

Narrated byAnthony Head

FormatAudiobook

Publish dateMar 19, 2019

LanguageEnglish

Table of contents

1Opening Anno

10Chapter 8 - What's Wrong with Cute Anthropomorphism?

2Preface

11Chapter 9 - Cute and the Monstrous: The Case of Donald Trump

3Chapter 1 - Cute as a Weapon of Mass Seduction

12Chapter 10 - Cute and the New Cult of the Child

4Chapter 2 - Spooked in the Garden of Eden

13Chapter 11 - Survival of the Cutest

5Chapter 3 - Cute as an Uncertainty Principle

14Chapter 12 - Cute and Kitsch: Identical Twins?

Show all chaptersShow less

6Chapter 4 - Mickey Mouse and the Cuteness Continuum

15Chapter 13 - Exiting the Cute of Sincerity

7Chapter 5 - Kawaii: The New Japanese Imperium

16Chapter 14 - "Lifetime is a Child at Play"

8Chapter 6 - The Cuteness of Kim Jong-il

17Acknowledgements

9Chapter 7 - Cute and the Uncanny

18Closing Anno

About the author

Simon May

View all by Simon May

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