Randy Laist is a professor of English at Goodwin University and the University of Bridgeport. He has authored and edited several books on literature, popular culture, and pedagogy. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

“As befits a franchise whose protagonist is a scholar, Excavating Indiana Jones: Essays on the Film and Franchise pays close attention to the sources, craft, and afterlives of this famous archaeologist. While the essays come from a place of general appreciation, they are admirably critical in their engagement with many crucial aspects of the films, comics, video games, and theme park rides focused on Jones. In particular, this collection builds on extant critiques of the franchise's colonialism, muddled sense of history, and Spielbergian hang-up on father figures while delving into new explorations of things like the transmedia legacies of the brand and its indebtedness to real-life adventurers and filmmakers, such as John Ford. The book does not belong in a museum so much as it belongs in a library!”—Kevin M. Flanagan, George Mason University

• Table of ContentsIntroduction (Randy Laist)HistorySituating Indy: American Archaeologists, Global Ambitions and the Interwar Years (Andrew W. Bell)Fordian Knots: Indiana Jones and the Cinema of John Ford (Brian Brems)“You call this archaeology?” Indiana Jones and Hollywood’s View on the Nature of History (Ryan Staude)Cultural PoliticsTranslocations, Cultural Geography and Anthropological Imperialism in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Tatiana Prorokova)“I said no camels!” Indiana Jones and the Catalogue of Orientalism (Mat Hardy)The Temple of Orientalism (Debaditya Mukhopadhyay)The Quest for “Alien” Indigenous Knowledge in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Kasey ­Jones-Matrona)IdentityIndiana Jones and the Crusade for Authenticity (Siobhan Lyons)“I came to find my father”: Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Lost Father (Linda Wight)Indiana Jones as Educated Swashbuckler (Jennifer Crumley)“It belongs in a museum,” or Does It? Indiana Jones, Artifactology and the Afterlives of Objects (Kerry Dodd)Extended FranchiseRaiders of the Lost Longbox: Rediscovering The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Joseph S. Walker)The Shadow of the Archaeologist: Archetypes of Evil in Marvel’s The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Brian A. Dixon)“We’ll always have Iceland, Indy”: Indiana Jones and His Adventures in Video Games (Carl Wilson)Indiana Jones and the Theme Park Adventure (Sabrina Mittermeier)About the ContributorsIndex

Randy Laist is a professor of English at Goodwin University and the University of Bridgeport. He has authored and edited several books on literature, popular culture, and pedagogy. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

“As befits a franchise whose protagonist is a scholar, Excavating Indiana Jones: Essays on the Film and Franchise pays close attention to the sources, craft, and afterlives of this famous archaeologist. While the essays come from a place of general appreciation, they are admirably critical in their engagement with many crucial aspects of the films, comics, video games, and theme park rides focused on Jones. In particular, this collection builds on extant critiques of the franchise's colonialism, muddled sense of history, and Spielbergian hang-up on father figures while delving into new explorations of things like the transmedia legacies of the brand and its indebtedness to real-life adventurers and filmmakers, such as John Ford. The book does not belong in a museum so much as it belongs in a library!”—Kevin M. Flanagan, George Mason University

• Table of ContentsIntroduction (Randy Laist)HistorySituating Indy: American Archaeologists, Global Ambitions and the Interwar Years (Andrew W. Bell)Fordian Knots: Indiana Jones and the Cinema of John Ford (Brian Brems)“You call this archaeology?” Indiana Jones and Hollywood’s View on the Nature of History (Ryan Staude)Cultural PoliticsTranslocations, Cultural Geography and Anthropological Imperialism in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Tatiana Prorokova)“I said no camels!” Indiana Jones and the Catalogue of Orientalism (Mat Hardy)The Temple of Orientalism (Debaditya Mukhopadhyay)The Quest for “Alien” Indigenous Knowledge in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Kasey ­Jones-Matrona)IdentityIndiana Jones and the Crusade for Authenticity (Siobhan Lyons)“I came to find my father”: Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Lost Father (Linda Wight)Indiana Jones as Educated Swashbuckler (Jennifer Crumley)“It belongs in a museum,” or Does It? Indiana Jones, Artifactology and the Afterlives of Objects (Kerry Dodd)Extended FranchiseRaiders of the Lost Longbox: Rediscovering The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Joseph S. Walker)The Shadow of the Archaeologist: Archetypes of Evil in Marvel’s The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Brian A. Dixon)“We’ll always have Iceland, Indy”: Indiana Jones and His Adventures in Video Games (Carl Wilson)Indiana Jones and the Theme Park Adventure (Sabrina Mittermeier)About the ContributorsIndex

Randy Laist is a professor of English at Goodwin University and the University of Bridgeport. He has authored and edited several books on literature, popular culture, and pedagogy. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

“As befits a franchise whose protagonist is a scholar, Excavating Indiana Jones: Essays on the Film and Franchise pays close attention to the sources, craft, and afterlives of this famous archaeologist. While the essays come from a place of general appreciation, they are admirably critical in their engagement with many crucial aspects of the films, comics, video games, and theme park rides focused on Jones. In particular, this collection builds on extant critiques of the franchise's colonialism, muddled sense of history, and Spielbergian hang-up on father figures while delving into new explorations of things like the transmedia legacies of the brand and its indebtedness to real-life adventurers and filmmakers, such as John Ford. The book does not belong in a museum so much as it belongs in a library!”—Kevin M. Flanagan, George Mason University

• Table of ContentsIntroduction (Randy Laist)HistorySituating Indy: American Archaeologists, Global Ambitions and the Interwar Years (Andrew W. Bell)Fordian Knots: Indiana Jones and the Cinema of John Ford (Brian Brems)“You call this archaeology?” Indiana Jones and Hollywood’s View on the Nature of History (Ryan Staude)Cultural PoliticsTranslocations, Cultural Geography and Anthropological Imperialism in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Tatiana Prorokova)“I said no camels!” Indiana Jones and the Catalogue of Orientalism (Mat Hardy)The Temple of Orientalism (Debaditya Mukhopadhyay)The Quest for “Alien” Indigenous Knowledge in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Kasey ­Jones-Matrona)IdentityIndiana Jones and the Crusade for Authenticity (Siobhan Lyons)“I came to find my father”: Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Lost Father (Linda Wight)Indiana Jones as Educated Swashbuckler (Jennifer Crumley)“It belongs in a museum,” or Does It? Indiana Jones, Artifactology and the Afterlives of Objects (Kerry Dodd)Extended FranchiseRaiders of the Lost Longbox: Rediscovering The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Joseph S. Walker)The Shadow of the Archaeologist: Archetypes of Evil in Marvel’s The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Brian A. Dixon)“We’ll always have Iceland, Indy”: Indiana Jones and His Adventures in Video Games (Carl Wilson)Indiana Jones and the Theme Park Adventure (Sabrina Mittermeier)About the ContributorsIndex