Cultural studies is arguably the most ample and rewarding interdisciplinary approach in contemporary theory. To illustrate the richness and variety of and to represent the most important trends in this discipline the writers of this introductory guide have focused on a number of the most influencial figures on/in it - Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Stuart Hall, Linda Hutcheon. To present the theoretical notions in practice the writers have chosen George Bernard Shaw's popular play Pygmalion and its yet more popular film version My Fair Lady, which, they suggest, provide fascinating examples for in-depth analyses from a cultural studies perspective.