Kirjahaku

Ideas of 'nursing' and 'nurses' carry a powerful social charge. The image of the nurse continues to be a symbol of caring and of duty at the same time as it projects a view of femininity, 'stereotypical' in its gender relations. How has this image come to be constructed? An empirical investigation of representations of nursing practices in Britain focusing on publicity and promotional materials and their relationship to popular fictional narratives reveals a strong correlation between what are usually described as discrete forms of signification. Recruitment images, provide an important source of information and inspiration for those considering nurse training. Julia Hallam, draws from a wide range of sources including biographies, marketing and recruitment literature, popular fiction and film to explore this question. In doing so she makes an original contribution to the debates surrounding gender and occupational identity. The book will provide a valuable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students on courses such as the social history of nursing, the understanding of health and illness, women's studies, gender studies and sociology courses.

Lynda La Plante is Britain’s most successful and well known screenwriter and the first woman to win the prestigious Dennis Potter writer’s award. Attracting millions of viewers, the popular and critical success of La Plante’s work is central to understanding changes that shook the UK television industry in the late twentieth century. This critical introduction, the first account of her work, focuses on three innovative serials: Widows (ITV, 1983), Prime Suspect (ITV 1991) and Trial and Retribution (ITV 1997). In each chapter questions of gender and genre, acting and stardom and authorship and value are mapped against the changing relationship between women and the television industry. The final chapter traces La Plante’s metamorphosis from ‘just a writer for hire’ to the astute businesswoman she has become through a focus on the trans-national appeal of dramas such as Killer Net (C4 1997) and Bella Mafia (CBS 1997).