ABSTRACT
Everyday life invents itself by poaching in countless ways on the property of others. Much is embedded in that first sentence: "Everyday life invents itself by poaching in countless ways on the property of others". Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life questions the common idea that consumers are passive dupes who yield to the values, attitudes, and hierarchies consumer society imposes on them. He recognizes that consumers engage in legitimate production, and as a result, he advises us that "it is always good to remind ourselves that we must not take people for fools". To follow de Certeau's lead, one need to choose a text and make two interpretive moves. First, use any number of strategies in this textbook to understand what values, attitudes, and behaviors a particular text celebrates or critiques. Second, shift scholars focus away from the text to how the readers, viewers, fans, and consumers modify, use, and make sense of the text.
