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Catttt Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

This account of

Does the bold "this account of 1950s subliminal strategies" mean "this criticizing approach toward 1950s subliminal strategies"?


Context:

There are other factors that prepared the way for the abandonment of advertising’s version of Capitalist Realism and the embrace of Surrealism. On a broader cultural level, criticisms of the motivational approach, like that offered by Vance Packard as early as 1957, were beginning to make an impact on the way that advertising was viewed by the public in general. While riddled with cold-war-style paranoia about the takeover of people’s minds, this account of 1950s subliminal strategies was, at the same time, a clear forerunner of the counter-establishment attitudes that emerged in the 1960s. Such attitudes assisted in the opening up of postmodern outlooks within the culture that were marked politically by a recognition of and respect for cultural diversity and difference.

  

Top answer

catttt Does the bold "this account of 1950s subliminal strategies" mean "this criticizing approach toward 1950s subliminal strategies"? It isn't clear. I think the writer meant Packard's book specifically because of the word "this" and because "account" seems to mean a piece of writing and not a trend in thinking, but he should have written "Packard's account" in that case.

  • catttt Does the bold "this account of 1950s subliminal strategies" mean "this criticizing approach toward 1950s subliminal strategies"?
  • It isn't clear.
  • I think the writer meant Packard's book specifically because of the word "this" and because "account" seems to mean a piece of writing and not a trend in thinking, but he should have written "Packard's account" in that case.
  • It does not matter much, though, because the important thing is the new criticism that Packard's book is an example of.
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2 Answers
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cattttDoes the bold "this account of 1950s subliminal strategies" mean "this criticizing approach toward 1950s subliminal strategies"?

It isn't clear. I think the writer meant Packard's book specifically because of the word "this" and because "account" seems to mean a piece of writing and not a trend in thinking, but he should have written "Packard's accoun

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Does the bold "this account of 1950s subliminal strategies" mean "this criticizing approach toward 1950s subliminal strategies"?

No. Your rewording adds meaning that is not in the original.

this account of 1950s subliminal strategies means this story or history of 1950s subliminal strategies. The phrase by itself does not suggest there is criticism, though the

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