The anthology gathers canonical scholarly texts from the past 50 years, as well as journalistic contributions and theoretical reflections from pop actors themselves. It provides an overview of central positions in international and interdisciplinary pop theory, featuring exemplary examples from Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and the USA, as well as from various academic disciplines. The arrangement of the selected texts follows the chronology of their first publications to make historical developments comprehensible. Concise introductions to each text highlight key aspects, place them in their contexts of origin, and refer to discussion contexts and lines of reception.