http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=186435
Call for Papers:
A Brand of Fictional Magic: Imaginative Empathy in Harry Potter
A two day conference hosted by the School of English, University of St Andrews
17-18 May 2012, Kennedy Hall, St Andrews, Scotland
The relentless success of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (1997-2007) evokes words like ‘phenomenon’ and ‘catastrophe’. With the conclusion of the film franchise and the launch of Pottermore.com, the series is receiving increased academic consideration in conferences, articles, and monographs. However, relatively little work has been done directly engaging with the series as a literary text. This conference attempts to begin redressing that lack.
Rowling’s combination of fantasy and school-story genres, her use of folkloric archetypes and mythopoeic symbolism, and her social and religious messages render the Harry Potterbooks a point of interest—and controversy—to scholars from a wide range of disciplines. This conference seeks to critically explore Rowling’s concept of imaginative empathy, the ability to ‘learn and understand, without having experienced’. Of particular interest are ways in which the power of empathy, in addition to its being of socio-political necessity, might be read as Rowling’s ‘brand of fictional magic’.
We invite papers and panels that engage with the text to discuss the centrality of empathy to the economies of the creative artist. We particularly encourage submissions from scholars working in children's and YA literature; also welcome are papers from scholars interested in relating Harry Potter to their own areas of research.
Relevant topics might include:
• The poetics of empathy
• Symbolic or archetypal depictions of empathy
• Readings of the series as children’s or YA literature
• Mythopoesis and the re-appropriation of folklore
• Medievalism and depictions of the Middle Ages in the Wizarding World
• Space, landscape, or architecture
• Representations and uses of socialization or maturation
• Depictions of education and pedagogy, empathetic or bounded
• Rowling’s concepts of “mental agoraphobia” and “willful unimagination”
• Literary influences on the series
• Textual or semiotic analysis of the narrative
• Genre criticism, viz., Gothic, Fantasy, Fairy Tale, School Story, Dystopia, et al.
• Narrative voice and authority
• Political empathy, class action, or solidarity
Keynote speakers will be John Granger and Jessica Tiffin.
Papers will be 20 minutes, and may discuss any of the seven books individually or the series as a whole. Please submit a 300-word (max.) abstract in .doc, .docx., or .pdf format with a short CV to John Patrick Pazdziora (jpp6@st-andrews.ac.uk) by 15 November 2011.
John Patrick Pazdziora
School of English
Castle House
University of St Andrews
KY16 9AL
Scotland
Email: jpp6@st-andrews.ac.uk
Monday, July 18, 2011
Extrapolation 52.1
Extrapolation 52.1 (Spring 2011) arrived several weeks ago. The contents are not yet up at the journal's website, so I am including them here:
Phillip Drake, Art and Power in the Age of Empire: Greg Egan's Society of Control
T. S. Miller, The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths: Escaping Escapism in Henson's Labyrinth and Del Toro's Laberinto
Erika Nelson, Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Gender and Sexuality in Four Film Adaptations
Jessica Johnston and Cornelia Sears, The Stepford Wives and the Technoscientific Imaginary
Christy Tidwell, The Problem of Materiality in Paolo Bacigalupi's "The People of Sand and Slag"
Reviews
Phillip Drake, Art and Power in the Age of Empire: Greg Egan's Society of Control
T. S. Miller, The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths: Escaping Escapism in Henson's Labyrinth and Del Toro's Laberinto
Erika Nelson, Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Gender and Sexuality in Four Film Adaptations
Jessica Johnston and Cornelia Sears, The Stepford Wives and the Technoscientific Imaginary
Christy Tidwell, The Problem of Materiality in Paolo Bacigalupi's "The People of Sand and Slag"
Reviews
Friday, July 15, 2011
New Seasons on SyFy
SyFy launched new seasons of Eureka and Warehouse 13 (introducing a new agent played by Smallville's Aaron Ashmore) earlier this week and premieres the second season of Haven on Friday. The season premieres are repeated throughout the month on the network (see http://www.syfy.com/schedule/).
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Lost Studies
Reading Contemporary Television
Edited by Roberta Pearson
I.B. Tauris, March 2009
ISBN: 978-1-84511-836-5, ISBN10: 1-84511-836-7,
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 272 pages
This book is a comprehensive guide to the one of the most successful TV dramas in global television history. Created by wunderkind J.J. Abrams, the award-winning seriesLost began in 2004 and will end after its sixth season in 2010. Reading Lost delves into the aspects that attract 15 million viewers a week: cinematic visuals, complex narrative, and a diverse, international cast. Also addressed are the show's multitude of mystifying elements and plot twists including the polar bear, the four-toed statue, and the "Others." The book also includes an up-to-date episode guide.
* Introduction: Why Lost? -- Roberta Pearson * Production/audiences * How Lost Found its Audience: The Making of a Cult Blockbuster -- Stacey Abbott * The Fictional Institutions of Lost: World Building, Reality, and the Economic Possibilities of Narrative Divergence -- Derek Johnson * Television Out of Time: Watching Cult Shows On Download -- Will Brooker * The Gathering Place: Lost in Oahu -- Julian Stringer * Lost logos: Channel 4 and the Branding of American Event Television -- Paul Grainge * Text * Lost in a Great Story: Evaluation in Narrative Television (and Television Studies) -- Jason Mittell * Chain of Events: Regimes of Evaluation and Lost’s Construction of the Televisual Character -- Roberta Pearson * ‘Do you even know where this is going?’: Lost’s Viewers and Narrative Premeditation -- Ivan Askwith * Lost in Genre: Chasing the White Rabbit to Find a White Polar Bear -- Angela Ndalianis * Representation * Lost in the Orient: Transnationalism Interrupted -- Michael Newbury * We’re Not in Portland Anymore: Lost and Its International Others -- Jonathan Gray * ‘A fabricated Africanist persona’: Race, Representation, and Narrative Experimentation in Lost -- Celeste-Marie Bernier * Queer(ying) Lost -- Glyn Davis and Gary Needham * Contributors * Index *
Roberta Pearson is Professor of Film and Television Studies and Director of the Institute of Film and Television Studies at the University of Nottingham. She has authored, co-authored and co-edited numerous books and articles, including American Cultural Studies,A Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory and Cult Television. She is currently editing the forthcoming Companion to Television Genres.
by Sarah Clarke Stuart
Imprint: Continuum
Pub. date: 13 Jan 2011
ISBN: 9781441140807
176 Pages, paperback
World rights
Translation Rights Available
$19.95
Description
From the moment that Watership Down made its appearance on screen in season one, speculation about Lost’s literary allusions has played an important role in the larger discussion of the show. Fans and critics alike have noted the many references, from biblical passages and children’s stories to science fiction and classic novels.
Literary Lost teases out the critical significance of these featured books, demonstrating how literature has served to enhance the meaning of the show. It provides a fuller understanding of Lost and reveals how television can be used as a tool for stimulating a deeper interest in literary texts.
The first chapter features an exhaustive list of "Lost books," including the show’s predecessor texts. Subsequent chapters are arranged thematically, covering topics from free will and the nature of time to parenthood and group dynamics. From Lewis Carroll’s creations, which appear as recurring images and themes throughout, to Slaughterhouse-Five’s lessons on the nature of time, Literary Lost will help readers unravel the show’s novelistic plot while celebrating its astonishing layers and nuances of text.
Table of Contents
Introduction “What, Don’t You Read?”: Lost’s Literary Influence
Chapter 1: The Books of Lost
Chapter 2 “Are You There, God?”: Faith, Sacrifice and Redemption
Chapter 3: Who Has the “Power Over the Clay”? Purpose, Fate and Free Will
Chapter 4 Stuck and “Unstuck” in Time: a Tradition of Time Travel
Chapter 5 “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath”: Lost Parents
Chapter 6 “We’re All Mad Here”: Dreams, Illusions and the Nature of Reality
Chapter 7 “Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us”: Group Dynamics and the Communities of Lost
Chapter 9 A Conclusion: The Purpose of “Stories that Aren’t Even True”
Appendix 1
Bibliography
End Notes
Author(s)
Sarah Clarke Stuart teaches composition, media studies and literature at the University of North Florida. She has been teaching and writing about Lost for several years.
Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism
Giroux, Henry A.
Series: Popular Culture and Everyday Life - Volume 23
General Editor: Toby Miller
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2011. X, 168 pp.
ISBN 978-1-4331-1226-3 pb.
Year of Publication: 2011
Book synopsis
Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism capitalizes upon the popularity of zombies, exploring the relevance of the metaphor they provide for examining the political and pedagogical conditions that have produced a growing culture of sadism, cruelty, disposability, and death in America. The zombie metaphor may seem extreme, but it is particularly apt for drawing attention to the ways in which political culture and power in American society now operate on a level of mere survival. This book uses the metaphor not only to suggest the symbolic face of power: beginning and ending with an analysis of authoritarianism, it attempts to mark and chart the visible registers of a kind of zombie politics, including the emergence of right-wing teaching machines, a growing politics of disposability, the emergence of a culture of cruelty, and the ongoing war being waged on young people, especially on youth of color. By drawing attention to zombie politics and authoritarianism, this book aims to break through the poisonous common sense that often masks zombie politicians, anti-public intellectuals, politics, institutions, and social relations, and bring into focus a new language, pedagogy, and politics in which the living dead will be moved decisively to the margins rather than occupying the very center of politics and everyday life.
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Zombie Politics, Democracy, and the Threat
of Authoritarianism 1
SECTION I. ZOMBIE POLITICS AND THE CULTURE
OF CRUELTY
1. Zombie Politics and Other Late Modern Monstrosities in the Age
of Disposability 31
2. The Politics of Lying and the Culture of Deceit in Obama’s America:
The Rule of Damaged Politics 41
3. Zombie Language and the Politics of the Living Dead 49
4. Everyday Violence and the Culture of Cruelty: Entertaining
Democracy’s Demise 57
5. Market-Driven Hysteria and the Politics of Death 65
6. Torturing Children: Bush’s Legacy and Democracy’s Failure:
Salvos from the Culture of Cruelty 73
SECTION II. ZOMBIE THEATER AND THE SPECTACLE
OF ILLITERACY
7. The Spectacle of Illiteracy and the Crisis of Democracy 83
8. Zombie Politics and the Challenge of Right-Wing Teaching
Machines: Rethinking the Importance of the Powell Memo 89
9. Town Hall Politics as Zombie Theater: Rethinking the Importance
of the Public Sphere 95
10. Reclaiming Public Values in the Age of Casino Capitalism 101
SECTION III. BRUTALIZING YOUTH IN THE AGE
OF ZOMBIE POLITICS
11. No Bailouts for Youth: Broken Promises and Dashed Hopes 111
12. Zero Tolerance Policies and the Death of Reason: Schools
and the Pedagogy of Punishment 123
13. Brutalizing Kids: Painful Lessons in the Pedagogy of School Violence 133
14. Tortured Memories and the Culture of War 137
15. Youth Beyond the Politics of Hope 143
SECTION IV. CONCLUSION
16. Winter in America: Democracy Gone Rogue 153
Index 163
About the author(s)/editor(s)
Henry A. Giroux holds the Global TV Network Chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Canada. His most recent books include The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex (2007), Youth in a Suspect Society: Democracy or Disposability? (2009), Politics Beyond Hope (2010), and Hearts of Darkness: Torturing Children in the War on Terror (2010).
Friday, July 8, 2011
New/Recent from McFarland
Here's another batch from McFarland:
Looking for Lost: Critical Essays on the Enigmatic Series
Edited by Randy Laist
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4716-9
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8588-8
notes, bibliographies, index
260pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $38.00
About the Book
Lost has received widespread acclaim as one of the most innovative, intelligent, and influential dramatic series in television history. Central to Lost’s success has been its capacity to evoke audience interpretations of its mysteries, undiminished even with the series’ definitive conclusion.
This collection of fifteen essays by critics, academics, and philosophers examines the complete series from a diverse but interconnected array of perspectives. Complementary and occasionally conflicting interpretations of the show’s major themes are presented, including the role of time, fate and determinism, masculinity, parenthood, and the threat of environmental apocalypse.
Table of Contents
Introduction
RANDY LAIST 1
PART ONE: LOST IN TIME
“We Have to Go Back”: Temporal and Spatial Narrative Strategies
ERIKA JOHNSON-LEWIS 11
Narrative Philosophy in the Series: Fate, Determinism, and the Manipulation of Time
MICHAEL RENNETT 25
“Enslaved by Time and Space”: Determinism, Traumatic Temporality, and Global Interconnectedness
ARIS MOUSOUTZANIS 43
New Space, New Time, and Newly Told Tales: Lost and The Tempest
RYAN HOWE 59
PART TWO: LOST PHILOSOPHY
Lost and Becoming: Reconceptualizing Philosophy
JASON M. PECK 75
Lost in Theory: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lost but Were Afraid to Ask Lacan, Derrida, and Foucault
GIANCARLO LOMBARDI 90
“So This Is All in My Mind?” Hugo Crash-Tests the Contemporary Crusoe
MATTHEW PANGBORN 105
Primitivizing the Island: The Eclectic Collection of “Non-Western” Imagery
RENEE MCGARRY 120
PART THREE: LOST MEN AND LOST WOMEN
The Lost Boys and Masculinity Found
DAVID MAGILL 137
“It Always Ends the Same”: Paternal Failures
HOLLY HASSEL AND NANCY L. CHICK 154
Lost Children: Pregnancy, Parenthood, and Potential
DEBORAH DAVIDSON AND WAYNE JEBIAN 171
PART FOUR: LOST IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Lost in Capitalism: or, “Down Here Possession’s Nine-Tenths”
ELIZABETH LUNDBERG 189
“Strangers in a Strange Land”: Evading Environmental Apocalypse Through Human Choice
CARLOS A. TARIN AND STACEY K. SOWARDS 202
Securitizing the Island: The Other Others’ Defense of Environmental Management
J. L. SCHATZ 216
We Have to Go Back: Lost After 9/11
JESSE KAVADLO 230
About the Contributors 243
Index 247
About the Author
Randy Laist is an assistant professor of English at Goodwin College in Connecticut. He has published numerous articles on DeLillo, Mailer, Melville and Hawthorne, as well as on popular culture, new media, and pedagogy.
The Television World of Pushing Daisies: Critical Essays on the Bryan Fuller Series
Edited by Alissa Burger
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6148-6
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8575-8
notes, bibliographies, index
202pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Pushing Daisies was a unique network television show. This collection of 10 essays addresses the quirky, off-beat elements that made the show a popular success, as well as fodder for scholarly inquiry. Divided into three main sections, the essays address the themes of difference, the placement of the series within a larger philosophical context, and the role of gender on the show. A consideration of Pushing Daisies’ unique style and aesthetics is a consistent source of interest across these international and interdisciplinary scholarly critiques.
Table of Contents
Introduction
ALISSA BURGER 1
Part One: Television, Difference, and Pushing Daisies
1. Spectacular Collision/Collusion: Genre, “Quality,” and Contemporary Drama
LORNA JOWETT 11
2. Pushing Daisies Away: Community Through Isolation
MATT DAUPHIN 28
3. Often Invisible: Disability in Pushing Daisies
CHRISTINE GARBETT 43
Part Two: Philosophy and Pushing Daisies
4. Consuming Grief and Eating Pie
LAURA ANH WILLIAMS 57
5. “Neophobic Ned Needs Neoteny”: Neuroses and Child’s Play
ANN-GEE LEE 73
6. “Here Lies Dwight, Here Lies His Gun. He Was Bad, Now He’s Done”: On Justice and Schadenfreude
CHRISTINE ANGELA KNOOP 92
7. “It’s a Destiny Thing—Enjoy It!”: Free Will and Determinism in Bryan Fuller’s Series
PATRICK GILL 115
Part Three: Gender and Pushing Daisies
8. The Queer, Quirky World of Pushing Daisies
DANIEL FARR 137
9. Sweet Talk in The Pie Hole: Language, Intimacy, and Public Space
TARA K. PARMITER 155
10. Fashion, Femininity, and the 1950s: Costume and Identity Negotiation in Pushing Daisies
ALISSA BURGER 174
About the Contributors 193
Index 195
About the Author
Alissa Burger is an assistant professor of English and the humanities at the State University of New York, Delhi. Her research addresses literature and popular culture, with specific focus on multiple versions of the Wizard of Oz story and American identity.
NOW IN PAPERBACK
Inside Gilligan’s Island: From Creation to Syndication
Sherwood Schwartz
Forewords by Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6368-8
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8488-1
100 photos, appendices, index
342pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011 [1988]
Price: $19.99
About the Book
While every new TV series has to face some problems, no show had to overcome greater obstacles than Gilligan’s Island. In spite of that, no series has achieved greater success, as measured by the fact that Gilligan’s Island has given rise to three TV movies, two animated series, and is the most rerun program in the entire history of television.
Now, Sherwood Schwartz, creator, writer, and producer of Gilligan’s Island, tells the life story of the show: from the labor pains of scripting, casting, and production to its golden years of afternoon reruns. Fascinating history that could be known only by the show’s creator is enhanced by wonderful photos, sketches, and other illustrations from the author’s personal collection, as well as the guest forewords by all seven "Castaways." An appendix lists plots, writers and directors for every episode. All this behind-the-scenes information makes the book a special treat, not only for fans, but for anyone interested in an inside look at the television industry.
About the Author
Sherwood Schwartz lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Peter Pan on Stage and Screen, 1904-2010, 2d ed.
Bruce K. Hanson
Foreword by Stewart Stern
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4778-7
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8619-9
352 photos (14 in color), discography, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
417pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $45.00
About the Book
Recounting the more than century-long stage and screen history of J.M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan, Bruce K. Hanson updates and expands his 1993 volume on "The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up." Hanson traces the origin of Barrie’s tale through the first London production in 1904, to various British and American theatrical and film productions up to and including the stage versions of 2010.
Included are excerpts of interviews with actresses Dinah Sheridan, Mary Martin and Sandy Duncan, all of whom portrayed Peter Pan on stage, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyricists for the 1954 Broadway musical. The book features a wealth of rare photos, posters, programs and costume designs. An appendix lists virtually every actor who has performed a featured role in a London, Broadway or Hollywood production of Peter Pan from 1904 to the present.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Stewart Stern 1
Introduction 5
1. James Barrie: The Man Who Wouldn’t Grow Up 9
2. Nina Boucicault and the First Peter Pan 24
3. Maude Adams: Peter Pan Lands in America 52
4. Cecilia Loftus and the Mermaids 74
5. Vivian Martin and the Unknown Peter Pans 82
6. Pauline Chase and an Afterthought 86
7. Marilyn Miller: The Ziegfeld Treatment 106
8. Betty Bronson: The Silent Treatment 125
9. Jean Forbes-Robertson and Other English Lasses 143
10. Eva Le Gallienne: The Civic Repertory Theatre 166
11. Jean Arthur: A Touch of Bernstein 182
Between pages 200 and 201 are 12 color plates containing 14 photographs
12. The Disney Touch 201
13. Mary Martin: A Musical Peter Pan 210
14. Margaret Lockwood and Toots: A Family Affair 257
15. Mia Farrow and Another Musical 280
16. Sandy Duncan: Back on Broadway 285
17. Cathy Rigby: Peter Pan—A Record Breaker 294
18. A Change of Gender: Peter Pan as a Real Boy 303
Afterword: The Lasting Appeal of Peter Pan 325
Appendix A: A Selected Discography 329
About the Author
A theatre instructor and a National Board Certified teacher of Visual Arts, Bruce K. Hanson has written books, plays, articles and CD liner notes. He lives in Petersburg, Virginia.
In the Peanut Gallery with Mystery Science Theater 3000: Essays on Film, Fandom, Technology and the Culture of Riffing
Edited by Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba
Forewords by Kevin Murphy and Robert Moses Peaslee; Afterword by Mary Jo Pehl
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4532-5
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8572-7
14 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
277pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
The award-winning television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999) has been described as "the smartest, funniest show in America," and forever changed the way we watch movies. The series featured a human host and a pair of robotic puppets who, while being subjected to some of the worst films ever made, provided ongoing hilarious and insightful commentary in a style popularly known as "riffing." These essays represent the first full-length scholarly analysis of Mystery Science Theater 3000--MST3K--which blossomed from humble beginnings as a Minnesota public-access television show into a cultural phenomenon on two major cable networks. The book includes interviews with series creator Joel Hodgson and cast members Kevin Murphy and Trace Beaulieu.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Foreword: Riffing and You (and Riffing ) by Kevin Murphy 1
Foreword by Robert Moses Peaslee 3
Introduction by Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba 7
PART ONE: DIRECTORS
1. There’s Been an Accident at the Studio: How We Made Hobgoblins! 18
RICK SLOANE
2. “Remember: Only you can prevent Roger Corman”: The King of the Bs Under Siege 29
CYNTHIA J. MILLER
PART TWO: SPECIFIC FILMS
3. Communists and Cosmonauts in Mystery Science Theater 3000: De-Camping East Germany’s First Spaceship on Venus/Silent Star 40
SEBASTIAN HEIDUSCHKE
4. The Semiotics of Spaceflight on the Satellite of Love 46
MATTHEW H. HERSCH
5. Resurrecting the Dead: Revival of Forgotten Films through Appropriation 55
CHERYL HICKS
PART THREE: FANDOM
6. Becoming “The Right People”: Fan-Generated Knowledge Building 66
KRIS M. MARKMAN and JOHN OVERHOLT
7. Converging Fan Cultures and the Labors of Fandom 76
MEGAN CONDIS
8. “Consume excrement and thus expire”: Conflict Resolution, “Fantagonism,” and alt.tv.mst3k 88
JEREMY GROSKOPF
9. Cinemasochism: Bad Movies and the People Who Love Them 101
DAVID RAY CARTER
PART FOUR: MEDIA TEXTS, AUDIENCES, AND THE CULTURE OF RIFFING
10. Double Poaching and the Subversive Operations of Riffing: “You kids with your hoola hoops and your Rosenbergs and your Communist agendas” 110
ORA MCWILLIAMS and JOSHUA RICHARDSON
11. Frame Work, Resistance and Co-optation: How Mystery Science Theater 3000 Positions Us Both In and Against Hegemonic Culture 120
MICHAEL DEAN
12. “Not too different from you or me”: The Paradox of Fiction, Joint Attention, and Longevity 127
MICHAEL DAVID ELAM
13. Mystery Science Theater 3000: A Media-Centered Exploration 135
ZACHARY GRIMM
14. Authorship and Text Remediation in Mystery Science Theater 3000 140
KALEB HAVENS
PART FIVE: MENTAL HYGIENE: THE MST3K SHORTS
15. “People were whiter back then”: Film Placement and In-Theater Commentary as Sociopolitical Dialogue 146
ERIN GIANNINI
16. The Endearing Educational Shorts 155
AMANDA R. KEELER
17. Writing History with Riffs: The Historiography of the “Shorts” 164
MIRANDA TEDHOLM
PART SIX: SATIRE AND GENDER
18. Robot Roll Call: Gypsy! (Hi Girls!) 172
MICHELE BRITTANY
19. What’s the Difference? Satire and Separation in That “Little Puppet Show” 178
ALANA HATLEY
PART SEVEN: TECHNOLOGY AND EPISODE COLLECTING
20. The Design and Speculative Technology of MST3K: Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu at MIT 184
JASON BEGY and GENEROSO FIERRO
21. “Cambot Eye”: The Synthesis of Man, Machine and Spectatorship 197
DANIELLE REAY
22. MSTies and Mastery: Circulating the Tapes in a Digital Age 209
JOSEPH S. WALKER
PART EIGHT: HISTORY AND PRE-HISTORY
23. “Hamlet will return in Thunderball”: Historical Precedents of Riffing 220
MARK MCDERMOTT
24. From Techno-Isolation to Social Reconciliation 231
E. MITCHELL
25. Fishing with Cheese on a Blood Hook: MST3K’s Unlikely Origins on a Lake in the Woods of Wisconsin 242
ROBERT G. WEINER
Afterword by Mary Jo Pehl 253
About the Contributors 255
Index 259
About the Author
Robert G. Weiner is associate humanities librarian at Texas Tech University. His works have been published in the Journal of Popular Culture, Public Library Quarterly, Journal of American Culture, International Journal of Comic Art and Popular Music and Society. He lives in Lubbock, Texas. Shelley E. Barba has written for Texas Library Journal. She is a metadata librarian at Texas Tech University.
Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels: A Cultural Dictionary
C.W. Sullivan III Series Editor Donald E. Palumbo
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4463-2
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8717-2
appendices, bibliography
192pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Robert A. Heinlein’s early, juvenile science fiction novels appeared between 1947 and 1963, just as America was emerging from World War II and entering the space age, and are among his richest and most warmly remembered books. This comprehensive work defines the many names, terms and cultural references that appear in Heinlein’s juvenile novels, noting where they are found, explaining their sources and tracking their occurrences throughout the series. Of particular interest is the way in which Heinlein used science fiction to parallel the exploration of outer space with the settlement of the North American continent. Appendices provide a precis of the plot of each book, and speculate on some of the names and terms for which no specific reference could be found.
Table of Contents
Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels 1
Preface 3
Introduction 7
THE DICTIONARY 13
Appendix I: Plots of Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels 169
Appendix II: Some Speculations About Terms and Names Not Found 174
Works Cited 181
About the Author
C.W. Sullivan III is Distinguished Professor of arts and sciences at East Carolina University and a full member of the Welsh Academy. He is the author of numerous books and the on-line journal Celtic Cultural Studies
Donald E. Palumbo is a professor of English at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He lives in Greenville.
Walter M. Miller, Jr.: A Reference Guide to His Fiction and His Life
William H. Roberson
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6361-9
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8710-3
chronology, bibliographies, index
218pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Walter M. Miller, Jr., was one of the twentieth century’s leading science fiction writers, a two-time Hugo Award winner and author of the classic novels A Canticle for Leibowitz and Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. This comprehensive literary guide provides more than 1,500 alphabetically arranged entries on Miller’s life and body of work. It includes summaries of his two novels and all of his shorter works, character descriptions, explanations of the literary, cultural, historical, and religious allusions found in the works, as well as translations of all foreign words and phrases. This guide is meant to inform both scholarly and popular readings of Miller’s work.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
Chronology 3
The Reference Guide 5
Works by Walter M. Miller, Jr. 193
Works About Walter M. Miller, Jr. 195
General Bibliography 198
Index 201
About the Author
William H. Roberson is professor and head librarian at the Brentwood Campus of Long Island University. He is the author of a number of books and his articles have appeared in Critique, Great Lakes Review, RQ, and Bulletin of Bibliography.
Richard Matheson on Screen: A History of the Filmed Works
Matthew R. Bradley
Foreword by Richard Matheson
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4216-4
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-5638-3
64 photos, bibliography, index
315pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2010
Price: $45.00
About the Book
Though innumerable biographies have been written about novelists, playwrights, and poets, screenwriters are rarely granted this distinction, even ones as prolific and successful as Richard Matheson. He has occupied a unique position in cinema as the writer or original author of films from The Incredible Shrinking Man in 1957 through I Am Legend in 2007. This book documents his rise to prominence, parallel literary career, and role in the horror and science fiction renaissance. In chronological order, the exhaustively indexed narrative examines each film written by Matheson or based on his work, with sections devoted to episodic television (including The Twilight Zone) and unproduced projects.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword by Richard Matheson 1
Introduction 3
THE FILMS
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) 9
The Beat Generation (1959) 17
The Twilight Zone (1959–1964) 21
Other Episodic Television 49
House of Usher (1960) 78
Master of the World (1961) 85
Pit and the Pendulum (1961) 89
Night of the Eagle (1962) 94
Tales of Terror (1962) 101
The Raven (1963) 107
The Comedy of Terrors (1963) 112
The Last Man on Earth (1964) 117
Fanatic (1965) 123
The Young Warriors (1968) 127
The Devil Rides Out (1968) 130
“It’s Alive!” (1969) 137
De Sade (1969) 141
Cold Sweat (1970) 146
The Omega Man (1971) 149
Duel (1971) 155
The Night Stalker (1972) 162
The Night Strangler (1973) 169
The Legend of Hell House (1973) 177
Dying Room Only (1973) 185
Dracula (1974) 186
Scream of the Wolf (1974) 192
The Morning After (1974) 194
Icy Breasts (1974) 197
The Stranger Within (1974) 199
Trilogy of Terror (1975) 201
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977) 207
Dead of Night (1977) 209
The Martian Chronicles (1980) 212
Somewhere in Time (1980) 219
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) 228
Twilight Zone—The Movie (1983) 231
Jaws 3-D (1983) 239
Loose Cannons (1990) 242
The Dreamer of Oz (1990) 245
Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics (1994) 248
Trilogy of Terror II (1996) 249
What Dreams May Come (1998) 252
Stir of Echoes (1999) 257
Blood Son (2006) 262
My Ambition (2006) 262
I Am Legend (2007) 265
Other Unproduced Projects 269
Bibliography 273
Index 281
About the Author
Matthew R. Bradley is a widely published authority on the work of Richard Matheson. He has written articles, interviews, and reviews for Filmfax, Fangoria, Mystery Scene, VideoScope, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Cinema Retro. The creator of the Internet film-related blog Bradley On Film, he lives in Bethel, Connecticut.
The Lesbian Fantastic: A Critical Study of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal and Gothic Writings
Phyllis M. Betz
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-5885-1
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8614-4
appendix, notes, bibliography, index
211pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Science fiction has long been a haven for lesbian writers, allowing them to use the genre to discuss their marginalized status. This critical work examines how lesbian authors have used the structures and conventions of science fiction to embody characters, relationships and other themes that relate to their experience as the quintessential Other in the broader culture. Topics include lesbian gothic, fantasy, science fiction, mixed genre texts and historical background for the works discussed. A vital addition to the scholarship on homosexuality and culture.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Preface 1
Introduction: Reading Lesbians Reading Fantasy 5
1. Once Upon a Time: Historical Backgrounds and Contexts 27
2. Here Be Monsters: Lesbian Gothic 70
3. In a Kingdom Far Away: Lesbian Fantasy 102
4. Beyond the Known Galaxy: Lesbian Science Fiction 132
5. Blurring the Lines: Mixed Genre 158
Conclusion: Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On 172
Appendix: Why Would a Lesbian Writer Use Gay Characters Rather Than Lesbian Ones? 179
Notes 189
Works Cited 195
Index 201
About the Author
Phyllis M. Betz is an assistant professor of English at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has written three books examining genre fiction written by lesbians. She lives in Burlington, New Jersey.
Edited by Randy Laist
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4716-9
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8588-8
notes, bibliographies, index
260pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $38.00
About the Book
Lost has received widespread acclaim as one of the most innovative, intelligent, and influential dramatic series in television history. Central to Lost’s success has been its capacity to evoke audience interpretations of its mysteries, undiminished even with the series’ definitive conclusion.
This collection of fifteen essays by critics, academics, and philosophers examines the complete series from a diverse but interconnected array of perspectives. Complementary and occasionally conflicting interpretations of the show’s major themes are presented, including the role of time, fate and determinism, masculinity, parenthood, and the threat of environmental apocalypse.
Table of Contents
Introduction
RANDY LAIST 1
PART ONE: LOST IN TIME
“We Have to Go Back”: Temporal and Spatial Narrative Strategies
ERIKA JOHNSON-LEWIS 11
Narrative Philosophy in the Series: Fate, Determinism, and the Manipulation of Time
MICHAEL RENNETT 25
“Enslaved by Time and Space”: Determinism, Traumatic Temporality, and Global Interconnectedness
ARIS MOUSOUTZANIS 43
New Space, New Time, and Newly Told Tales: Lost and The Tempest
RYAN HOWE 59
PART TWO: LOST PHILOSOPHY
Lost and Becoming: Reconceptualizing Philosophy
JASON M. PECK 75
Lost in Theory: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lost but Were Afraid to Ask Lacan, Derrida, and Foucault
GIANCARLO LOMBARDI 90
“So This Is All in My Mind?” Hugo Crash-Tests the Contemporary Crusoe
MATTHEW PANGBORN 105
Primitivizing the Island: The Eclectic Collection of “Non-Western” Imagery
RENEE MCGARRY 120
PART THREE: LOST MEN AND LOST WOMEN
The Lost Boys and Masculinity Found
DAVID MAGILL 137
“It Always Ends the Same”: Paternal Failures
HOLLY HASSEL AND NANCY L. CHICK 154
Lost Children: Pregnancy, Parenthood, and Potential
DEBORAH DAVIDSON AND WAYNE JEBIAN 171
PART FOUR: LOST IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Lost in Capitalism: or, “Down Here Possession’s Nine-Tenths”
ELIZABETH LUNDBERG 189
“Strangers in a Strange Land”: Evading Environmental Apocalypse Through Human Choice
CARLOS A. TARIN AND STACEY K. SOWARDS 202
Securitizing the Island: The Other Others’ Defense of Environmental Management
J. L. SCHATZ 216
We Have to Go Back: Lost After 9/11
JESSE KAVADLO 230
About the Contributors 243
Index 247
About the Author
Randy Laist is an assistant professor of English at Goodwin College in Connecticut. He has published numerous articles on DeLillo, Mailer, Melville and Hawthorne, as well as on popular culture, new media, and pedagogy.
Edited by Alissa Burger
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6148-6
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8575-8
notes, bibliographies, index
202pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Pushing Daisies was a unique network television show. This collection of 10 essays addresses the quirky, off-beat elements that made the show a popular success, as well as fodder for scholarly inquiry. Divided into three main sections, the essays address the themes of difference, the placement of the series within a larger philosophical context, and the role of gender on the show. A consideration of Pushing Daisies’ unique style and aesthetics is a consistent source of interest across these international and interdisciplinary scholarly critiques.
Table of Contents
Introduction
ALISSA BURGER 1
Part One: Television, Difference, and Pushing Daisies
1. Spectacular Collision/Collusion: Genre, “Quality,” and Contemporary Drama
LORNA JOWETT 11
2. Pushing Daisies Away: Community Through Isolation
MATT DAUPHIN 28
3. Often Invisible: Disability in Pushing Daisies
CHRISTINE GARBETT 43
Part Two: Philosophy and Pushing Daisies
4. Consuming Grief and Eating Pie
LAURA ANH WILLIAMS 57
5. “Neophobic Ned Needs Neoteny”: Neuroses and Child’s Play
ANN-GEE LEE 73
6. “Here Lies Dwight, Here Lies His Gun. He Was Bad, Now He’s Done”: On Justice and Schadenfreude
CHRISTINE ANGELA KNOOP 92
7. “It’s a Destiny Thing—Enjoy It!”: Free Will and Determinism in Bryan Fuller’s Series
PATRICK GILL 115
Part Three: Gender and Pushing Daisies
8. The Queer, Quirky World of Pushing Daisies
DANIEL FARR 137
9. Sweet Talk in The Pie Hole: Language, Intimacy, and Public Space
TARA K. PARMITER 155
10. Fashion, Femininity, and the 1950s: Costume and Identity Negotiation in Pushing Daisies
ALISSA BURGER 174
About the Contributors 193
Index 195
About the Author
Alissa Burger is an assistant professor of English and the humanities at the State University of New York, Delhi. Her research addresses literature and popular culture, with specific focus on multiple versions of the Wizard of Oz story and American identity.
NOW IN PAPERBACK
Sherwood Schwartz
Forewords by Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6368-8
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8488-1
100 photos, appendices, index
342pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011 [1988]
Price: $19.99
About the Book
While every new TV series has to face some problems, no show had to overcome greater obstacles than Gilligan’s Island. In spite of that, no series has achieved greater success, as measured by the fact that Gilligan’s Island has given rise to three TV movies, two animated series, and is the most rerun program in the entire history of television.
Now, Sherwood Schwartz, creator, writer, and producer of Gilligan’s Island, tells the life story of the show: from the labor pains of scripting, casting, and production to its golden years of afternoon reruns. Fascinating history that could be known only by the show’s creator is enhanced by wonderful photos, sketches, and other illustrations from the author’s personal collection, as well as the guest forewords by all seven "Castaways." An appendix lists plots, writers and directors for every episode. All this behind-the-scenes information makes the book a special treat, not only for fans, but for anyone interested in an inside look at the television industry.
About the Author
Sherwood Schwartz lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Bruce K. Hanson
Foreword by Stewart Stern
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4778-7
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8619-9
352 photos (14 in color), discography, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
417pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $45.00
About the Book
Recounting the more than century-long stage and screen history of J.M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan, Bruce K. Hanson updates and expands his 1993 volume on "The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up." Hanson traces the origin of Barrie’s tale through the first London production in 1904, to various British and American theatrical and film productions up to and including the stage versions of 2010.
Included are excerpts of interviews with actresses Dinah Sheridan, Mary Martin and Sandy Duncan, all of whom portrayed Peter Pan on stage, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyricists for the 1954 Broadway musical. The book features a wealth of rare photos, posters, programs and costume designs. An appendix lists virtually every actor who has performed a featured role in a London, Broadway or Hollywood production of Peter Pan from 1904 to the present.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Stewart Stern 1
Introduction 5
1. James Barrie: The Man Who Wouldn’t Grow Up 9
2. Nina Boucicault and the First Peter Pan 24
3. Maude Adams: Peter Pan Lands in America 52
4. Cecilia Loftus and the Mermaids 74
5. Vivian Martin and the Unknown Peter Pans 82
6. Pauline Chase and an Afterthought 86
7. Marilyn Miller: The Ziegfeld Treatment 106
8. Betty Bronson: The Silent Treatment 125
9. Jean Forbes-Robertson and Other English Lasses 143
10. Eva Le Gallienne: The Civic Repertory Theatre 166
11. Jean Arthur: A Touch of Bernstein 182
Between pages 200 and 201 are 12 color plates containing 14 photographs
12. The Disney Touch 201
13. Mary Martin: A Musical Peter Pan 210
14. Margaret Lockwood and Toots: A Family Affair 257
15. Mia Farrow and Another Musical 280
16. Sandy Duncan: Back on Broadway 285
17. Cathy Rigby: Peter Pan—A Record Breaker 294
18. A Change of Gender: Peter Pan as a Real Boy 303
Afterword: The Lasting Appeal of Peter Pan 325
Appendix A: A Selected Discography 329
About the Author
A theatre instructor and a National Board Certified teacher of Visual Arts, Bruce K. Hanson has written books, plays, articles and CD liner notes. He lives in Petersburg, Virginia.
Edited by Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba
Forewords by Kevin Murphy and Robert Moses Peaslee; Afterword by Mary Jo Pehl
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4532-5
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8572-7
14 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
277pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
The award-winning television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999) has been described as "the smartest, funniest show in America," and forever changed the way we watch movies. The series featured a human host and a pair of robotic puppets who, while being subjected to some of the worst films ever made, provided ongoing hilarious and insightful commentary in a style popularly known as "riffing." These essays represent the first full-length scholarly analysis of Mystery Science Theater 3000--MST3K--which blossomed from humble beginnings as a Minnesota public-access television show into a cultural phenomenon on two major cable networks. The book includes interviews with series creator Joel Hodgson and cast members Kevin Murphy and Trace Beaulieu.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Foreword: Riffing and You (and Riffing ) by Kevin Murphy 1
Foreword by Robert Moses Peaslee 3
Introduction by Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba 7
PART ONE: DIRECTORS
1. There’s Been an Accident at the Studio: How We Made Hobgoblins! 18
RICK SLOANE
2. “Remember: Only you can prevent Roger Corman”: The King of the Bs Under Siege 29
CYNTHIA J. MILLER
PART TWO: SPECIFIC FILMS
3. Communists and Cosmonauts in Mystery Science Theater 3000: De-Camping East Germany’s First Spaceship on Venus/Silent Star 40
SEBASTIAN HEIDUSCHKE
4. The Semiotics of Spaceflight on the Satellite of Love 46
MATTHEW H. HERSCH
5. Resurrecting the Dead: Revival of Forgotten Films through Appropriation 55
CHERYL HICKS
PART THREE: FANDOM
6. Becoming “The Right People”: Fan-Generated Knowledge Building 66
KRIS M. MARKMAN and JOHN OVERHOLT
7. Converging Fan Cultures and the Labors of Fandom 76
MEGAN CONDIS
8. “Consume excrement and thus expire”: Conflict Resolution, “Fantagonism,” and alt.tv.mst3k 88
JEREMY GROSKOPF
9. Cinemasochism: Bad Movies and the People Who Love Them 101
DAVID RAY CARTER
PART FOUR: MEDIA TEXTS, AUDIENCES, AND THE CULTURE OF RIFFING
10. Double Poaching and the Subversive Operations of Riffing: “You kids with your hoola hoops and your Rosenbergs and your Communist agendas” 110
ORA MCWILLIAMS and JOSHUA RICHARDSON
11. Frame Work, Resistance and Co-optation: How Mystery Science Theater 3000 Positions Us Both In and Against Hegemonic Culture 120
MICHAEL DEAN
12. “Not too different from you or me”: The Paradox of Fiction, Joint Attention, and Longevity 127
MICHAEL DAVID ELAM
13. Mystery Science Theater 3000: A Media-Centered Exploration 135
ZACHARY GRIMM
14. Authorship and Text Remediation in Mystery Science Theater 3000 140
KALEB HAVENS
PART FIVE: MENTAL HYGIENE: THE MST3K SHORTS
15. “People were whiter back then”: Film Placement and In-Theater Commentary as Sociopolitical Dialogue 146
ERIN GIANNINI
16. The Endearing Educational Shorts 155
AMANDA R. KEELER
17. Writing History with Riffs: The Historiography of the “Shorts” 164
MIRANDA TEDHOLM
PART SIX: SATIRE AND GENDER
18. Robot Roll Call: Gypsy! (Hi Girls!) 172
MICHELE BRITTANY
19. What’s the Difference? Satire and Separation in That “Little Puppet Show” 178
ALANA HATLEY
PART SEVEN: TECHNOLOGY AND EPISODE COLLECTING
20. The Design and Speculative Technology of MST3K: Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu at MIT 184
JASON BEGY and GENEROSO FIERRO
21. “Cambot Eye”: The Synthesis of Man, Machine and Spectatorship 197
DANIELLE REAY
22. MSTies and Mastery: Circulating the Tapes in a Digital Age 209
JOSEPH S. WALKER
PART EIGHT: HISTORY AND PRE-HISTORY
23. “Hamlet will return in Thunderball”: Historical Precedents of Riffing 220
MARK MCDERMOTT
24. From Techno-Isolation to Social Reconciliation 231
E. MITCHELL
25. Fishing with Cheese on a Blood Hook: MST3K’s Unlikely Origins on a Lake in the Woods of Wisconsin 242
ROBERT G. WEINER
Afterword by Mary Jo Pehl 253
About the Contributors 255
Index 259
About the Author
Robert G. Weiner is associate humanities librarian at Texas Tech University. His works have been published in the Journal of Popular Culture, Public Library Quarterly, Journal of American Culture, International Journal of Comic Art and Popular Music and Society. He lives in Lubbock, Texas. Shelley E. Barba has written for Texas Library Journal. She is a metadata librarian at Texas Tech University.
C.W. Sullivan III Series Editor Donald E. Palumbo
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4463-2
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8717-2
appendices, bibliography
192pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Robert A. Heinlein’s early, juvenile science fiction novels appeared between 1947 and 1963, just as America was emerging from World War II and entering the space age, and are among his richest and most warmly remembered books. This comprehensive work defines the many names, terms and cultural references that appear in Heinlein’s juvenile novels, noting where they are found, explaining their sources and tracking their occurrences throughout the series. Of particular interest is the way in which Heinlein used science fiction to parallel the exploration of outer space with the settlement of the North American continent. Appendices provide a precis of the plot of each book, and speculate on some of the names and terms for which no specific reference could be found.
Table of Contents
Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels 1
Preface 3
Introduction 7
THE DICTIONARY 13
Appendix I: Plots of Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels 169
Appendix II: Some Speculations About Terms and Names Not Found 174
Works Cited 181
About the Author
C.W. Sullivan III is Distinguished Professor of arts and sciences at East Carolina University and a full member of the Welsh Academy. He is the author of numerous books and the on-line journal Celtic Cultural Studies
Donald E. Palumbo is a professor of English at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He lives in Greenville.
William H. Roberson
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6361-9
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8710-3
chronology, bibliographies, index
218pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Walter M. Miller, Jr., was one of the twentieth century’s leading science fiction writers, a two-time Hugo Award winner and author of the classic novels A Canticle for Leibowitz and Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. This comprehensive literary guide provides more than 1,500 alphabetically arranged entries on Miller’s life and body of work. It includes summaries of his two novels and all of his shorter works, character descriptions, explanations of the literary, cultural, historical, and religious allusions found in the works, as well as translations of all foreign words and phrases. This guide is meant to inform both scholarly and popular readings of Miller’s work.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
Chronology 3
The Reference Guide 5
Works by Walter M. Miller, Jr. 193
Works About Walter M. Miller, Jr. 195
General Bibliography 198
Index 201
About the Author
William H. Roberson is professor and head librarian at the Brentwood Campus of Long Island University. He is the author of a number of books and his articles have appeared in Critique, Great Lakes Review, RQ, and Bulletin of Bibliography.
Matthew R. Bradley
Foreword by Richard Matheson
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4216-4
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-5638-3
64 photos, bibliography, index
315pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2010
Price: $45.00
About the Book
Though innumerable biographies have been written about novelists, playwrights, and poets, screenwriters are rarely granted this distinction, even ones as prolific and successful as Richard Matheson. He has occupied a unique position in cinema as the writer or original author of films from The Incredible Shrinking Man in 1957 through I Am Legend in 2007. This book documents his rise to prominence, parallel literary career, and role in the horror and science fiction renaissance. In chronological order, the exhaustively indexed narrative examines each film written by Matheson or based on his work, with sections devoted to episodic television (including The Twilight Zone) and unproduced projects.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword by Richard Matheson 1
Introduction 3
THE FILMS
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) 9
The Beat Generation (1959) 17
The Twilight Zone (1959–1964) 21
Other Episodic Television 49
House of Usher (1960) 78
Master of the World (1961) 85
Pit and the Pendulum (1961) 89
Night of the Eagle (1962) 94
Tales of Terror (1962) 101
The Raven (1963) 107
The Comedy of Terrors (1963) 112
The Last Man on Earth (1964) 117
Fanatic (1965) 123
The Young Warriors (1968) 127
The Devil Rides Out (1968) 130
“It’s Alive!” (1969) 137
De Sade (1969) 141
Cold Sweat (1970) 146
The Omega Man (1971) 149
Duel (1971) 155
The Night Stalker (1972) 162
The Night Strangler (1973) 169
The Legend of Hell House (1973) 177
Dying Room Only (1973) 185
Dracula (1974) 186
Scream of the Wolf (1974) 192
The Morning After (1974) 194
Icy Breasts (1974) 197
The Stranger Within (1974) 199
Trilogy of Terror (1975) 201
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977) 207
Dead of Night (1977) 209
The Martian Chronicles (1980) 212
Somewhere in Time (1980) 219
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) 228
Twilight Zone—The Movie (1983) 231
Jaws 3-D (1983) 239
Loose Cannons (1990) 242
The Dreamer of Oz (1990) 245
Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics (1994) 248
Trilogy of Terror II (1996) 249
What Dreams May Come (1998) 252
Stir of Echoes (1999) 257
Blood Son (2006) 262
My Ambition (2006) 262
I Am Legend (2007) 265
Other Unproduced Projects 269
Bibliography 273
Index 281
About the Author
Matthew R. Bradley is a widely published authority on the work of Richard Matheson. He has written articles, interviews, and reviews for Filmfax, Fangoria, Mystery Scene, VideoScope, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Cinema Retro. The creator of the Internet film-related blog Bradley On Film, he lives in Bethel, Connecticut.
Phyllis M. Betz
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-5885-1
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8614-4
appendix, notes, bibliography, index
211pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011
Price: $40.00
About the Book
Science fiction has long been a haven for lesbian writers, allowing them to use the genre to discuss their marginalized status. This critical work examines how lesbian authors have used the structures and conventions of science fiction to embody characters, relationships and other themes that relate to their experience as the quintessential Other in the broader culture. Topics include lesbian gothic, fantasy, science fiction, mixed genre texts and historical background for the works discussed. A vital addition to the scholarship on homosexuality and culture.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Preface 1
Introduction: Reading Lesbians Reading Fantasy 5
1. Once Upon a Time: Historical Backgrounds and Contexts 27
2. Here Be Monsters: Lesbian Gothic 70
3. In a Kingdom Far Away: Lesbian Fantasy 102
4. Beyond the Known Galaxy: Lesbian Science Fiction 132
5. Blurring the Lines: Mixed Genre 158
Conclusion: Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On 172
Appendix: Why Would a Lesbian Writer Use Gay Characters Rather Than Lesbian Ones? 179
Notes 189
Works Cited 195
Index 201
About the Author
Phyllis M. Betz is an assistant professor of English at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has written three books examining genre fiction written by lesbians. She lives in Burlington, New Jersey.
Impossible Worlds, Impossible Things
Editor: Ross P. Garner, Melissa Beattie and Una McCormack
Date Of Publication: May 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-1960-2
Isbn: 1-4438-1960-3
The successful regeneration of Doctor Who in the twenty-first century has sparked unprecedented popular success and renewed interest within the academy.
The ten essays assembled in this volume draw on a variety of critical approaches—from cultural theory to audience studies, to classical reception and musicology—to form a wide-ranging interdisciplinary discussion of Doctor Who, classic and new, and its spin-off series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
With additional contributions from Andrew Pixley, Robert Shearman, Barnaby Edwards, and Matt Hills, the volume is intended to be accessible to everyone, from interested academics in relevant fields to the general public.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editors’ Acknowledgements....................................................................... ix
Foreword .................................................................................................... xi
Andrew Pixley
Introduction
Fifty Not Out: The Doctor’s Enduring Appeal........................................ xvii
Ross P. Garner, Melissa Beattie, and Una McCormack
Part I: The Ongoing Storm: The Doctor in British Society and Culture
The Regeneration Game: Doctor Who and the Changing Faces
of Heroism................................................................................................... 3
John Paul Green
The Doctor’s Burden: Racial Superiority and Panoptic Privilege
in New Doctor Who................................................................................... 25
Christine Gilroy
Army of Ghosts: Sight, Knowledge, and the Invisible Terrorist in
Doctor Who ............................................................................................... 45
Matthew Jones
Constructing a Space for the Subversive: Science Fiction, Comedy,
and Cultural Commentary in New Doctor Who ........................................ 62
Erica Moore
Part II: The Myth (Re-)Makers: Classical Tropes and Methodologies
Beware of Geeks Appropriating Greeks: Viewer Reception
of the Myth of Philoctetes in Torchwood .................................................. 79
Amanda Potter
Sideways Pompeii!: The Use of a Historical Period to Question
the Doctor’s Role in History...................................................................... 94
Antony G. Keen
A Kiss is Just a Kiss (Except When it’s Not): Life and Breath
in the Whoniverse.................................................................................... 118
Melissa Beattie
Part III: Travelling with Auntie: Institutional Debates and Framings
“Not sure if it’s Marxism in action or a West-End musical”:
Class, Citizenship, and Culture in New Doctor Who............................... 145
Lisa Kerrigan
“Don’t You Forget About Me”: Intertextuality and Generic Anchoring
in The Sarah Jane Adventures ................................................................. 161
Ross P. Garner
The Popular Electronic: Doctor Who and the BBC’s Radiophonic
Workshop ................................................................................................ 182
E. Charlotte Stevens
“Working with Daleks”: A Discussion with Robert Shearman
and Barnaby Edwards.............................................................................. 201
Afterword: Scholar-Fandom’s Different Incarnations............................. 210
Matt Hills
Contributors............................................................................................. 218
Ross P. Garner is a PhD candidate at Cardiff University researching the construction of discourses of nostalgia within twenty-first century British time-travel television dramas.
Melissa Beattie is a postgraduate research student at Cardiff University. Her areas of study cover a range of disciplines including ancient history and popular culture.
Una McCormack is a writer. Her novel Doctor Who: The King’s Dragon, featuring the eleventh Doctor, is published by BBC Books (2010).
The Fantasy Film
Katherine A. Fowkes
ISBN: 978-1-4051-6879-3
Paperback
216 pages
May 2010, Wiley-Blackwell
US $31.95
The Fantasy Film provides a clear and compelling overview of this revitalized and explosively popular film genre.
Includes analyses of a wide range of films, from early classics such as The Wizard of Oz and Harvey to Spiderman and Shrek, and blockbuster series such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Harry Potter films
Provides in-depth historical and critical overviews of the genre
Fully illustrated with screen shots from key films
List of Plates.
Acknowledgements.
1. What’s in a Name: Defining the Elusive Fantasy Genre.
2. Once upon a Time: A Brief Historical Overview.
3. A Brief Critical Overview: Literary and Film Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror.
4. The Wizard of Oz (1939): Over the Rainbow.
5. Harvey (1950): A Happy Hallucination?.
6. Always (1989): Spielberg’s Ghost from the Past.
7. Groundhog Day (1993): No Time Like the Present.
8. Big (1988): Body and Soul/“Hearts and Souls”.
9. Shrek (2001): Like an Onion.
10. Spider-Man (2002): The Karmic Web.
11. The Lord of the Rings (2001–3): Tolkien’s Trilogy or Jackson’s Thrillogy?.
12. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005): A Joyful Spell.
13. Harry Potter I–VI (2001–9): Words are Mightier than the Sword.
14. Conclusion: Imagine That!
References.
Index.
Katherine A. Fowkes is the 2011 Ruth Ridenhour Distinguished Scholar at High Point University where she is a Professor of Media Studies. She is the author of Giving Up the Ghost: Spirits, Ghosts and Angels in Mainstream Comedy Films (1998).
Zipes and The Enchanted Screen
By Jack Zipes
Published December 13th 2010 by Routledge – 442 pages
The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films offers readers a long overdue, comprehensive look at the rich history of fairy tales and their influence on film, complete with the inclusion of an extensive filmography compiled by the author. With this book, Jack Zipes not only looks at the extensive, illustrious life of fairy tales and cinema, but he also reminds us that, decades before Walt Disney made his mark on the genre, fairy tales were central to the birth of cinema as a medium, as they offered cheap, copyright-free material that could easily engage audiences not only though their familiarity but also through their dazzling special effects.
Since the story of fairy tales on film stretches far beyond Disney, this book, therefore, discusses a broad range of films silent, English and non-English, animation, live-action, puppetry, woodcut, montage (Jim Henson), cartoon, and digital. Zipes, thus, gives his readers an in depth look into the special relationship between fairy tales and cinema, and guides us through this vast array of films by tracing the adaptations of major fairy tales like "Little Red Riding Hood," "Cinderella," "Snow White," "Peter Pan," and many more, from their earliest cinematic appearances to today.
Full of insight into some of our most beloved films and stories, and boldly illustrated with numerous film stills, The Enchanted Screen, is essential reading for film buffs and fans of the fairy tale alike.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part I
1. Filmic Adaptation and Appropriation of the Fairy Tale
2. De-Disneyfying Disney: Notes on the Development of the Fairy-Tale Film
3. Georges Méliès: Pioneer of the Fairy-Tale Film and the Art of the Ridiculous
4. Animated Fairy-tale Cartoons: Celebrating the Carnival Art of the Ridiculous
5. Animated Feature Fairy-Tale Films
Part II
6. Cracking the Magic Mirror: Re-Presentations of Snow White
7. The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood Revisited and Reviewed
8. Bluebeard's Original Sin and the Rise of Serial Killing, Mass Murder, and Fascism
9. The Triumph of the Underdog: Cinderella’s Legacy
10. Abusing and Abandoning Children: "Hansel and Gretel," "Tom Thumb," "The Pied Piper," "Donkey-Skin," and "The Juniper Tree"
11. Choosing the Right Mate: Why Beasts and Frogs Make for Ideal Husbands
12. Andersen’s Cinematic Legacy: Trivialization and Innovation
Part III
13. Adapting Fairy-Tale Novels
14. Between Slave Language and Utopian Optimism: Neglected Fairy-Tale Films of Central and Eastern Europe
15. Fairy-Tale Films in Dark Times: Breaking Molds, Seeing the World Anew
Bibliography
Filmography
Jack Zipes is Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. An acclaimed translator and scholar of children's literature and culture, his most recent books include Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling; The Collected Sicilian Folk and Fairy Tales of Giuseppe Pitré; Why Fairy Tales Stick; Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller, Beautiful Angiola; and The Robber with the Witch's Head, all published by Routledge.
Fairy Tale Films
Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix, eds.
foreword by Jack Zipes
In this, the first collection of essays to address the development of fairy tale film as a genre, Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix stress, "the mirror of fairy-tale film reflects not so much what its audience members actually are but how they see themselves and their potential to develop (or, likewise, to regress)." As Jack Zipes says further in the foreword, “Folk and fairy tales pervade our lives constantly through television soap operas and commercials, in comic books and cartoons, in school plays and storytelling performances, in our superstitions and prayers for miracles, and in our dreams and daydreams. The artistic re-creations of fairy-tale plots and characters in film—the parodies, the aesthetic experimentation, and the mixing of genres to engender new insights into art and life— mirror possibilities of estranging ourselves from designated roles, along with the conventional patterns of the classical tales.”
Here, scholars from film, folklore, and cultural studies move discussion beyond the well-known Disney movies to the many other filmic adaptations of fairy tales and to the widespread use of fairy tale tropes, themes, and motifs in cinema.
Contents (from WorldCat):
Foreword: Grounding the spell : the fairy tale film and transformation / Jack Zipes --
Introduction: Envisioning ambiguity : fairy tale films / Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix --
Mixing it up : generic complexity and gender ideology in early twenty-first century fairy tale films / Cristina Bacchilega and John Rieder --
Building the perfect product : the commodification of childhood in contemporary fairy tale film / Naarah Sawers --
The parallelism of the fantastic and the real : Guillermo del Toro's Pan's labyrinth/El Laberinto del fauno and neomagical realism / Tracie D. Lukasiewicz --
Fitting the glass slipper : a comparative study of the princess's role in the Harry Potter novels and films / Ming-Hsun Lin --
The shoe still fits : Ever after and the pursuit of a feminist Cinderella / Christy Williams --
Mourning mothers and seeing siblings : feminism and place in The juniper tree / Pauline Greenhill and Anne Brydon --
Disney's Enchanted : patriarchal backlash and nostalgia in a fairy tale film / Linda Pershing with Lisa Gablehouse --
Fairy tale film in the classroom : feminist cultural pedagogy, Angela Carter, and Neil Jordan's The company of wolves / Kim Snowden --
A secret midnight ball and a magic cloak of invisibility : the cinematic folklore of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes wide shut / Sidney Eve Matrix --
Tim Burton and the idea of fairy tales / Brian Ray.
Review by Daniel P. Compora for Journal of Folklore Research (posted 2 June 2011)
New/Recent from Routledge
By Brigid Cherry
Published February 8th 2009 by Routledge – 244 pages
Series: Routledge Film Guidebooks
Horror cinema is a hugely successful, but at the same time culturally illicit genre that spans the history of cinema. It continues to flourish with recent cycles of supernatural horror and torture porn that span the full range of horror styles and aesthetics. It is enjoyed by audiences everywhere, but also seen as a malign influence by others.
In this Routledge Film Guidebook, audience researcher and film scholar Brigid Cherry provides a comprehensive overview of the horror film and explores how the genre works. Examining the way horror films create images of gore and the uncanny through film technology and effects, Cherry provides an account of the way cinematic and stylistic devices create responses of terror and disgust in the viewer.
Horror examines the way these films construct psychological and cognitive responses and how they speak to audiences on an intimate personal level, addressing their innermost fears and desires. Cherry further explores the role of horror cinema in society and culture, looking at how it represents various identity groups and engages with social anxieties, and examining the way horror sees, and is seen by, society.
A range of national cinemas both historical and recent are discussed, including canonical films such as:
The Curse of Frankenstein
Night of the Living Dead
Ginger Snaps
Halloween
The Evil Dead
Candyman
Saw
Ringu
Nosferatu
This introduction to horror cinema is the perfect guide for any student new to the genre or wishing to study in more depth.
Brigid Cherry is a senior lecturer at St Mary’s University College where she teaches courses on film and popular culture. Her research into horror film audiences and fan canons has been recently published, alongside articles on Candyman, Hellraiser, and Interview with the Vampire.
By Jennifer Fay, Justus Nieland
Published November 12th 2009 by Routledge – 288 pages
Series: Routledge Film Guidebooks
The term "film noir" still conjures images of a uniquely American malaise: hard-boiled detectives, fatal women, and the shadowy hells of urban life. But from its beginnings, film noir has been an international phenomenon, and its stylistic icons have migrated across the complex geo-political terrain of world cinema. This book traces film noir’s emergent connection to European cinema, its movement within a cosmopolitan culture of literary and cinematic translation, and its postwar consolidation in the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
The authors examine how film noir crosses national boundaries, speaks to diverse international audiences, and dramatizes local crimes and the crises of local spaces in the face of global phenomena like world-wide depression, war, political occupation, economic and cultural modernization, decolonization, and migration. This fresh study of film noir and global culture also discusses film noir’s heterogeneous style and revises important scholarly debates about this perpetually alluring genre.
Key Films discussed include:
The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
Stray Dog (Kurosawa, 1949)
Aventurera (Gout, 1950)
Out of the Past (Tourneur, 1947)
Ossessione (Visconti, 1943)
La Bête Humaine (Renoir, 1938)
C.I.D. (Khosla, 1956)
The Lady from Shanghai (Welles, 1947)
The American Friend (Wenders, 1977)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
Justus Nieland is Associate Professor of English at Michigan State University and the author of Feeling Modern: The Eccentriticies of Public Life (2008).
Jennifer Fay is Associate Professor of English and Director of Film Studies at Michigan State University and is the author of Theaters of Occupation: Hollywood and the Re-education of Postwar Germany (2008).
By John White
Published November 24th 2010 by Routledge – 216 pages
Series: Routledge Film Guidebooks
It is a common assertion that the history of America is written in its Westerns, but how true is this?
In this guidebook John White discusses the evolution of the Western through history and looks at theoretical and critical approaches to Westerns such as genre analysis, semiotics, representation, ideology, discourse analysis, narrative, realism, auteur and star theory, psychoanalytical theory, postmodernism and audience response. The book includes case studies of 8 key westerns:
Stagecoach
My Darling Clementine
Shane
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Unforgiven
Brokeback Mountain
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Including a chronology of significant events for the Western genre, a glossary and further reading, this introduction to an important genre in film studies is a great guide for students.
Selected Contents: Introduction Chapter 1. The Evolution of the Western Chapter 2. Theoretical and Critical Approaches to Westerns Chapter 3. Key Westerns Chronology Glossary Further Reading Index
John White is Lecturer in Film and Media at Anglia Ruskin University. He is co-author of AS Film Studies: The Essential Introduction (2nd edition, 2008) and A2 Film Studies: The Essential Introduction (2nd edition, 2009) and co-editor of 50 Key British Films (2008) and 50 Key American Films (2009).
By Jacqueline Furby, Claire Hines
Published September 7th 2011 by Routledge – 192 pages
Series: Routledge Film Guidebooks
Fantasy addresses a previously neglected area within Film Studies. The book looks at the key aesthetics, themes, debates and issues at work within this increasingly popular genre and examines influential films and franchises that illustrate these concerns. Recent case study film series discussed will include:
Harry Potter (Various, 2001-ongoing)
Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003)
Pirates of the Caribbean (Gore Verbinski 2003-2007)
The Chronicles of Narnia (Various, 2005-ongoing)
The authors also consider fantasy film and its relationship to myth, legend and fairytale, examining its important role in contemporary culture. The book provides an historical overview of the genre and its evolution, contextualising each fantasy film within its socio-cultural period and with reference to relevant critical theory.
This is the perfect introduction to the world of fantasy film and offers a spring board to investigations into the links and associations made between film and gender, sexuality, psychology, philosophy, religion and more.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Fantasy Genre Chapter 2: Theoretical and Critical Approaches to Fantasy Chapter 3: The History and Evolution of Fantasy Film Chapter 4: Key Fantasies and Fantasy Films
New/Recent from Berg
Lincoln Geraghty
Paperback
Oct 2009
160pp
9781845207960
American Science Fiction Film and Television presents a critical history of late 20th Century SF together with an analysis of the cultural and thematic concerns of this popular genre.
Science fiction film and television were initially inspired by the classic literature of HG Wells and Jules Verne. The potential and fears born with the Atomic age fuelled the popularity of the genre, upping the stakes for both technology and apocalypse. From the Cold War through to America's current War on Terror, science fiction has proved a subtle vehicle for the hopes, fears and preoccupations of a nation at war.
The definitive introduction to American science fiction, this is also the first study to analyse SF across both film and TV. Throughout, the discussion is illustrated with critical case studies of key films and television series, including The Day the Earth Stood Still, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files, and Battlestar Galactica.
Contents
Introduction - American Science Fiction Culture
1. Conflict and Consensus: The Cold War and the Space Race
2. Pushing the Frontiers of Reality: Science Fiction and the Counterculture
3. Unsettling Visions of America's Future Present: Dystopian Science Fiction
4. Hopes and Fears: Aliens, Cyborgs and the Science Fiction Blockbuster
5. Beyond Truth and Reason: Politics and Identity in Science Fiction
6. American Science Fiction Post 9/11
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Lincoln Geraghty is Principal Lecturer in Film Studies and Subject Leader for Media Studies in the School of Creative Arts, Film and Media at the University of Portsmouth. He is author of Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe, editor of The Influence of Star Trek on Television, Film and Culture, and co-editor of The Shifting Definitions of Genre: Essays on Labelling Films, Television Shows and Media.
James Walters
Paperback
Series: Film Genres
Jun 2011
160pp
9781847883087
Fantasy Film proposes an innovative approach to the study of this most popular cinematic genre. Engaging with the diversity of tones, forms and styles that fantasy can take in the cinema, the book examines the value and significance of fantasy across a wide range of key films. This volume extends critical understanding beyond the often narrowly defined boundaries of what is seen as "fantasy".
Fantasy Film uses key concepts in film studies - such as authorship, representation, history,genre, coherence and point of view - to interrogate the fantasy genre and establish its parameters. A wide range of films are held up to close scrutiny to illustrate the discussion.
Moving from Alfred Hitchcock's dark thrillers to Vincente Minnelli's vibrant musicals, from George Méliès' 1904 Voyage à travers l'impossible to the X-Men series, the creative dexterity and excitement of film fantasy is evoked and explored. The book will be invaluable to students and fans of the fantasy genre.
Contents
Introduction
1. Approaching Fantasy Film
2. Fantasy, History and Cinema
3. Fantasy, Authorship and Genre
4. Fantasy, Childhood and Entertainment
5. Fantasy, Imagination and Interiority
6. Fantasy, Style and Coherence
Conclusion
Annotated Guide to Further Reading
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
About the author
James Walters is Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Birmingham and author of Alternative Worlds in Hollywood Cinema and co-editor of Film Moments: Criticism, History, Theory.
Keith M. Johnston
Paperback
Series: Film Genres
Oct 2011
192pp, 9 bw illus
9781847884763
Science Fiction Film develops a historical and cultural approach to the genre that moves beyond close readings of iconography and formal conventions. It explores how this increasingly influential genre has been constructed from disparate elements into a hybrid genre.Science Fiction Film goes beyond a textual exploration of these films to place them within a larger network of influences that includes studio politics and promotional discourses. The book also challenges the perceived limits of the genre - it includes a wide range of films, from canonical SF, such as Le voyage dans la lune, Star Wars and Blade Runner, to films that stretch and reshape the definition of the genre. This expansion of generic focus offers an innovative approach for students and fans of science fiction alike.
Contents:
Section 1: What is Science Fiction?
1. Genre Theory and Science Fiction
2. Reading Science Fiction
3. Science Fiction and Technology
Section 2: Genre History
4. Pre-History, 1895-1950
5. Defining the Genre, 1950-70
6. Science Fiction as Blockbuster, 1970-90
7. Science Fiction as Mainstream, 1990-2010
Section 3: Selling Science Fiction
8. 'Adventure Dramas of the Future': Advertising Genre
9. Genre and Spectacle: The Science Fiction Trailer
10. Audience and Genre: Science Fiction and the Internet
Conclusion
Annotated Guide to Further Reading
Selected Filmography
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Keith M. Johnston is Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia and author of Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology.
New from Wallflower Press
David Butler
Short Cuts Volume 44
October 2009
144 pages
978-1-906660-16-1 (pbk) £12.99
Often dismissed as simple escapist tales of sword and sorcery or fairy stories from childhood, fantasy is one of the fundamental impulses in filmmaking, a source of some of the most vivid and memorable films ever made that reaches far beyond the confines of a single genre. As well as some of the major genres, stylistic approaches and exponents of cinematic fantasy - from Georges Méliès, Walt Disney and Andrei Tarkovsky to contemporary fantasists such as Terry Gilliam and Peter Jackson - this volume focuses on fantasy's social function with case studies including The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Excalibur (1981), the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03) and Bruce Almighty (2003). Taking in the popular and experimental, subversive desires and reactionary dreams, this book is an accessible introduction to one of the vital energies in cinema.
about the author
David Butler is Lecturer in Screen Studies at the University of Manchester.
reviews
'With keen insight and theoretical sophistication, this study examines the social functions and significance of a film genre too often dismissed as merely escapist. Addressing the stylistic, cultural and political dimensions of fantasy film, this introduction's multifaceted approach provides a model for future scholars and students of this important film genre.'
– Joshua David Bellin, La Roche College
Alison Tedman
December 2009
224 pages
978-1-905674-97-8 (pbk) £16.99
978-1-905674-98-5 (hbk) £45.00
Fairy tale is an increasingly important part of modern cinema, but has been given little consideration with film studies. This important book brings together critical approaches from fairy tale studies, film studies and feminist studies, including philosophical and psychoanalytic methodologies. It offers ways of analysing fairy tale strategies and enunciation, explores the role of fantasy in the spectatorship of fairy tale cinema, and considers its potential for offering a feminine voice. Key areas include unconscious and cultural fantasy in films of childhood or adolescence, the active heroine, glittering female masquerade, and the complex possibilities for desire offered by fairy tale film. Films include A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Night of the Hunter (1955), The Company of Wolves (1984), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Stardust (2007) and Enchanted (2007).
about the author
Alison Tedman is Senior Lecturer in Film at Buckinghamshire New University.
Daybreakers
The 2010 feature film Daybreakers, an innovative take on the vampire genre, is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray with an audio commentary by co-directors Peter and Michael Spierig and creature designer Steve Boyle. Both versions also include a featurette on the making of the film.
Dark Shadows Book
Harry M. Benshoff
Published March 2011
Size: 5 x 7, Pages: 144, Illustrations: 20
Subjects: Film and Television
Series: TV Milestones Series
Paper - 9780814334393
Price: $14.95
DESCRIPTION
While supernatural events have become fairly commonplace on daytime television in recent decades, Dark Shadows, which aired on ABC between 1966 and 1971, pioneered this format when it blended the vampires, werewolves, warlocks, and witches of fictional Collinsport, Maine, with standard soap opera fare like alcoholism, jealousy, and tangled love. In this volume, author Harry M. Benshoff examines Dark Shadows, both during its initial run and as an enduring cult phenomenon, to prove that the show was an important precursor—or even progenitor—of today’s phenomenally popular gothic and fantasy media franchises like Twilight, Harry Potter, and True Blood.
Benshoff demonstrates that viewers of all ages responded to the haunted world of Dark Shadows, making unlikely stars out of the show’s iconic characters—reluctant vampire Barnabas Collins, playboy werewolf Quentin Collins, vengeful witch Angelique DuVal, and vampire hunter Dr. Julia Hoffman. Benshoff explores the cultural and industrial contexts of the mid-1960s that gave rise to Dark Shadows and how the show adapted nineteenth-century gothic novels and twentieth-century horror films into a televised serial format. Benshoff also examines the unique aspects of the show’s casting and performance modes, its allure as a camp cult text, and the function of the show’s many secondary and tertiary texts—including novels, records, games, comic books, and the two feature films, House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971).
In the years since its cancellation, Dark Shadows’ enduring popularity has led to a prime-time NBC remake in the early 1990s, recent talk of a Tim Burton and Johnny Depp feature film, and a popular ongoing fan convention. Benshoff’s timely study of Dark Shadows will appeal to fans of the show and all film and television history scholars who are interested in the roots of one of today’s most popular genres.
Published by Wayne State University Press
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Harry M. Benshoff is an associate professor in the department of Radio, TV, and Film at the University of North Texas. He is the author of Monsters in the Closet and co-author with Sean Griffin of Queer Images and America on Film.
REVIEWS
“Dark Shadows has everything: vampire Barnabas Collinwood as romantic but doomed hero; narrative complexity that almost beats Lost; counter-hegemonic family normativity; and tangled, hyperbolic actor/character relations. Harry Benshoff’s intelligent and superbly informed account of this cult favorite teaches much about the gothic genre and the history of television. It is truly an enjoyable monograph.”
— Janet Staiger, William P. Hobby Centennial Professor in Communication and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Texas and author of Political Emotions
“Harry Benshoff’s expert dissection and historically informed analysis of the 1960s cult TV show Dark Shadows balances the ardor of a fan and the sharp insights of a seasoned scholar. A program that played daily to millions of viewers for five years was more than a fluke or oddity and Benshoff gives its popularity long overdue context and illumination. Benshoff deftly describes and applies key theoretical concepts for analysis of the show’s many facets, yet the writing remains witty, accessible, and engaging throughout.”
— Rick Worland, professor in the Division of Cinema–Television at Southern Methodist University and author of The Horror Film: An Introduction
“Benshoff provides a synoptic account of one of the most densely plotted of all daytime dramas, engages with much theoretical writing on the soap opera and Gothic genres, and provides new insights into the intersecting and often conflicting public tastes to which the program appeals. He does so with a deftness of touch that makes even complex ideas entertaining in a volume that could be enjoyed, but by no means exhausted, in a single evening.”
— Kevin Heffernan, associate professor in the Division of Cinema–Television at Southern Methodist University
Science Fiction Studies #114 Out Now
Science Fiction Studies |
#114 = Volume 38, Part 2 = July 2011 ESSAY
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