Politics in Fantasy Media

Essays on Ideology and Gender in Fiction, Film, Television and Games

Häftad, Engelska, 2014

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Beskrivning

Fantasy is often condemned as escapist, unsophisticated and superficial. This collection of new essays puts such easy dismissals to the test by examining the ways in which Fantasy narratives present diverse, politically relevant discourses--gender, race, religion or consumerism--and thereby serve as indicators of their real-world contexts.Through their depiction of other worlds allegedly disconnected from our own, these texts are able to actualize political attitudes. Instead of categorizing Fantasy either as conservative or progressive, the essays suggest that its generic peculiarity allows the emergence of productive forms of oscillation between these extremes. Covered are J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire sequence, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, the vampire TV series True Blood, and the dystopian computer game Fallout 3.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2014-10-28
Mått:152 x 229 x 11 mm
Vikt:308 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:224
Förlag:McFarland & Co Inc
ISBN:9780786495108

Utforska kategorier

Kulturvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik
Litteraturvetenskap inom Skönlitteratur
Television inom Kultur

Mer om författaren

Gerold Sedlmayr is professor of British cultural studies at TU Dortmund University, Germany. He lives in Kamen. Nicole Waller is professor of American studies at Potsdam University, Germany. She lives in Berlin.

Recensioner i media

“The 13 essays in this volume cover the whole range of present-day forms of fantasy...a valuable contribution to the discussion of contemporary fantasy by demonstrating in great detail that there is much more to this often reviled form of dealing with the complexities of our world than meets the eye”—Inklings Jahrbuch.

Innehållsförteckning

Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Politics of Fantasy • Gerold Sedlmayr and Nicole Waller I. Identity“It’s all a big show”: Constructing Identity in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games Trilogy • Stefanie FrickeGender and Racial Roles in Computer Role-Playing Games • Andreas BlümlII. The Politics of FantasyConservative and Countercultural Elements in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas • Beatrix HesseSubversive or Conservative? Vampires and Ideology in the Twilight Series and True Blood • Christian KnirschFrom Hyper-Male Aardvarks to the Female Void: Gender Politics in Cerebus • Sebastian DomschFantasy as Politics: George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire • Rainer EmigThe Politics of Post-Apocalypse: Interactivity, Narrative Framing and Ethics in Fallout 3 • Matthias KemmerThe Atheist Believer: Harry Potter and the Politics of Religion • Bärbel HöttgesPolitical Rhetoric as a Structural and Ideological Instrument in Star Wars and Harry Potter • Christina FlotmannHaven’t I Been Here Before? China Miéville’s Uncanny Cities • Dirk VanderbekeIII. The Fantasy of PoliticsFantastic Body Politics in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law Trilogy • Gerold SedlmayrThe Fantasy of Politics: The Past and the Future of Object-Related Fantasy • Sladja BlažanTolkien’s Baits: Agonism, Essentialism and the Visible in The Lord of the Rings • Dirk WiemannAbout the Contributors Index