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Culture Identities And Technology In The Star Wars Films
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Book Synopsis Culture, Identities and Technology in the Star Wars Films by : Carl Silvio
Download or read book Culture, Identities and Technology in the Star Wars Films written by Carl Silvio and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-06-09 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Released in May 1977, the original Star Wars movie inaugurated the age of the movie blockbuster. It also redefined the use of cinematic special effects, creating a new textual universe that now stretches through three decades, two trilogies and generations of fascinated viewers. The body of critical analysis that has developed from this epic focuses primarily on the Star Wars universe as a contemporary myth. However, like any fiction, it must also be viewed—and consequently analyzed—as a product of the culture which created it. The essays in this book analyze the Star Wars trilogies as a culturally and historically specific phenomenon. Moving away from the traditional myth-based criticism of the films, the essayists employ a cultural studies model to examine how this phenomenon intersects with social formations such as economics, technology, race and gender. Critical approaches are varied and include political and economic analysis informed by feminism, contemporary race theory, Marxism, new media studies and post-humanism. Among the topics covered are the connections between the trilogies and our own cultural landscape; the problematic issues of race and gender; and the thematic implications of Lucas’ presentation of technology. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
Book Synopsis Identity Politics in George Lucas' Star Wars by : John C. McDowell
Download or read book Identity Politics in George Lucas' Star Wars written by John C. McDowell and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-03-04 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Lucas spoke about the didactic role of cinema and about his own work being presented through the "moral megaphone" of the film industry. A considerable body of scholarship on the six-part Star Wars series argues (unconvincingly) that the franchise promoted neo-conservatism in American culture from the late 1970s onward. But there is much in Lucas' grand space opera to suggest something more ideologically complex is going on. This book challenges the view of the saga as an unambiguously violent text exemplifying reactionary politics, and discusses the films' identity politics with regard to race and gender.
Book Synopsis Science Fiction and the Two Cultures by : Gary Westfahl
Download or read book Science Fiction and the Two Cultures written by Gary Westfahl and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays in this volume demonstrate how science fiction can serve as a bridge between the sciences and the humanities. The essays show how early writers like Dante and Mary Shelley revealed a gradual shift toward a genuine understanding of science; how H.G. Wells first showed the possibilities of combining scientific and humanistic perspectives; how writers influenced by Gernsback's ideas, like Isaac Asimov, illustrated the ways that literature could interact with science and assist in its progress; and how more recent writers offer critiques of science and its practitioners.
Book Synopsis Ambiguity in »Star Wars« and »Harry Potter« by : Christina Flotmann
Download or read book Ambiguity in »Star Wars« and »Harry Potter« written by Christina Flotmann and published by transcript Verlag. This book was released on 2014-03-31 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study combines theories of myth, popular culture, structuralism and poststructuralism to explain the enormous appeal of »Star Wars« and »Harry Potter«. Although much research already exists on both stories individually, this book is the first to explicitly bring them together in order to explore their set-up and the ways in which their structures help produce ideologies on gender and ethnicity. Hereby, the comparison yields central insights into the workings of modern myth and uncovers structure as integral to the success of the popular genre. It addresses academic audiences and all those wishing to approach the tales from a fresh angle.
Book Synopsis Interpreting Star Wars by : Miles Booy
Download or read book Interpreting Star Wars written by Miles Booy and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2021-01-14 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Upon its initial release in 1977, many critics regarded Star Wars as a childish retort to the mature American cinema of the seventies. Though full of sound and fury, some felt that it signified nothing. Four decades later, the significations are multiple as interpretations of the film's strange imagery and metaphoric potential continue to pile up. Interpreting Star Wars analyses and contextualises the dominant trends in Star Wars interpretation from the earliest reviews, through Lucasfilm's attempts to use its position as copyright holder to promote a single meaning, to the 21st century where the internet has rendered such authorial control impossible and new entries to the canon present new twists on old hopes.
Book Synopsis The Politics of Big Fantasy by : John C. McDowell
Download or read book The Politics of Big Fantasy written by John C. McDowell and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-07-02 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing critical attention to a particular set of science fiction and fantasy films--Larry and Andy Wachowski's The Matrix, George Lucas' Star Wars saga, and Joss Whedon's Avengers--this book utilizes a wide-ranging set of critical tools to illuminate their political ideologies, while also examining any resistant and complicating turns or byways the films may provide. What they all have in common ideologically is that they--or at least the genres they belong to--tend to be regarded as belonging to politically conservative frames of sociocultural reference. With the Star Wars saga, however, this idea is shown to be superficial and weak.
Book Synopsis Disney's Star Wars by : William Proctor
Download or read book Disney's Star Wars written by William Proctor and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2019-07-01 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm, which meant it also inherited the beloved Star Wars franchise. This corporate marriage sent media critics and fans into a frenzy of speculation about what would happen next with the hugely popular series. Disney’s Star Wars gathers twenty-one noted fan and media studies scholars from around the world to examine Disney’s revival of the franchise. Covering the period from Disney’s purchase through the release of The Force Awakens, the book reveals how fans anticipated, interpreted, and responded to the steady stream of production stories, gossip, marketing materials, merchandise, and other sources in the build-up to the movie’s release. From fears that Princess Leia would be turned into a “Disney princess” to collaborative brand management, the authors explore the shifting relationship between fans, texts, and media industries in the context of a crucial rebranding campaign. The result is a fascinating examination of a critical moment in the iconic series’ history.
Book Synopsis Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism by : Valerie Estelle Frankel
Download or read book Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism written by Valerie Estelle Frankel and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-10-15 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the changing representation of female characters in the Star Wars franchise through the lens of the four feminist waves, arguing that while the original trilogy reflects the second wave of feminism, the prequels mirror the girl power era that followed, and the sequels are helping define a new fourth wave of inclusion and diversity.
Book Synopsis The Gospel according to Star Wars, Second Edition by : John C. McDowell
Download or read book The Gospel according to Star Wars, Second Edition written by John C. McDowell and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2017-09-07 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a new and updated version of this best-selling book, John McDowell explores the many spiritual themes that weave throughout the Star Wars films. From the Force to the dark side, the issues discussed in the films have a moral and spiritual complexity that, if paid attention to, can help us better understand our place in the world and our relation to others and to God. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, did not intend for his films to be mere entertainment, McDowell argues. Rather, he hoped his films would be used as a vehicle for moral education. This new version has been thoroughly revised to include discussion of The Force Awakens and other new developments in the Star Wars universe.
Book Synopsis Understanding Religion and Popular Culture by : Terry Ray Clark
Download or read book Understanding Religion and Popular Culture written by Terry Ray Clark and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introductory text provides students with an extremely useful 'toolbox' of approaches for analyzing religion and popular culture.
Book Synopsis Star Wars in the Public Square by : Derek R. Sweet
Download or read book Star Wars in the Public Square written by Derek R. Sweet and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Speculative science fiction, with its underlying socio-political dialogue, represents an important intersection of popular culture and public discourse. As a pop culture text, the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars offers critical commentary on contemporary issues, marking a moment of interplay whereby author and audience come together in what Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin called collaborative meaning making. This book critically examines the series as a voice in the political dialogues concerning human cloning, torture, just war theory, peace and drone warfare.
Book Synopsis Muslims in the Western Imagination by : Sophia Rose Arjana
Download or read book Muslims in the Western Imagination written by Sophia Rose Arjana and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Choice 2015 Outstanding Academic Title Throughout history, Muslim men have been depicted as monsters. The portrayal of humans as monsters helps a society delineate who belongs and who, or what, is excluded. Even when symbolic, as in post-9/11 zombie films, Muslim monsters still function to define Muslims as non-human entities. These are not depictions of Muslim men as malevolent human characters, but rather as creatures that occupy the imagination -- non-humans that exhibit their wickedness outwardly on the skin. They populate medieval tales, Renaissance paintings, Shakespearean dramas, Gothic horror novels, and Hollywood films. Through an exhaustive survey of medieval, early modern, and contemporary literature, art, and cinema, Muslims in the Western Imagination examines the dehumanizing ways in which Muslim men have been constructed and represented as monsters, and the impact such representations have on perceptions of Muslims today. The study is the first to present a genealogy of these creatures, from the demons and giants of the Middle Ages to the hunchbacks with filed teeth that are featured in the 2007 film 300, arguing that constructions of Muslim monsters constitute a recurring theme, first formulated in medieval Christian thought. Sophia Rose Arjana shows how Muslim monsters are often related to Jewish monsters, and more broadly to Christian anti-Semitism and anxieties surrounding African and other foreign bodies, which involves both religious bigotry and fears surrounding bodily difference. Arjana argues persuasively that these dehumanizing constructions are deeply embedded in Western consciousness, existing today as internalized beliefs and practices that contribute to the culture of violence--both rhetorical and physical--against Muslims.
Book Synopsis René Girard, Theology, and Pop Culture by : Ryan G. Duns
Download or read book René Girard, Theology, and Pop Culture written by Ryan G. Duns and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2021-08-10 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In René Girard, Theology, and Popular Culture, fifteen contributors consider how Girard’s mimetic theory can be used to uncover and probe the theological depths of popular culture. Creative and critical engagement with Girard’s theory enables the contributors to offer fresh and exciting interpretations of movies (The Devil Wears Prada, Mean Girls, Star Wars), television (Hoarders, Cobra Kai), classical literature and graphic novels, and issues ranging from anorexia to social media. The result is a volume that establishes Girard as an innovative interpreter of culture and shows him as an invaluable guide for theologically reflecting on desire, violence, redemption, and forgiveness. Written in fresh and lively prose, the contributors demonstrate not only that Girard provides a powerful lens through which to view culture but also—and more provocatively—challenge readers to consider what popular culture reveals about them. Readers looking for an accessible introduction to mimetic theory and exploring its theological application will find this a welcome resource.
Book Synopsis The Science Fiction Film in Contemporary Hollywood by : Evdokia Stefanopoulou
Download or read book The Science Fiction Film in Contemporary Hollywood written by Evdokia Stefanopoulou and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2023-07-27 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Science Fiction Film in Contemporary Hollywood focuses on the American science fiction (SF) film during the period 2001-2020, in order to provide a theoretical mapping of the genre in the context of Conglomerate Hollywood. Using a social semiotics approach in a systematic corpus of films, the book argues that the SF film can be delineated by two semiotic squares -the first one centering on the genre's more-than-human ontologies (SF bodies), and the second one focusing on its imaginative worlds (SF worlds). Based on this theoretical framework, the book examines the genre in six cycles, which are placed in their historical context, and are analyzed in relation to cultural discourses, such as technological embodiment, race, animal-human relations, environmentalism, global capitalism, and the techno-scientific Empire. By considering these cycles -which include superhero films, creature films, space operas, among others-as expressions of the genre's basic oppositions, the book facilitates the comparison and juxtaposition of films that have rarely been discussed in tandem, offering a new perspective on the multiple articulations of the SF film in the new millennium.
Book Synopsis Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars by : Douglas Brode
Download or read book Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars written by Douglas Brode and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2012-06-14 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1977, Star Wars blazed across the screen to become one of the highest grossing and most beloved movies of all time. It was followed by two sequels and three prequels, all of which became blockbusters. Comic books, novels, graphic novels, and magazines devoted to the films have added to the mythology of George Lucas’s creation. Despite the impact of the franchise on popular culture, however, discussion of the films from a scholarly perspective has not kept pace with the films. In Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars: An Anthology, Douglas Brode and Leah Deyneka have assembled an intriguing collection of essays addressing the influences that shaped the films, as well as the impact the franchise has had on popular culture. Contributors to this volume discuss the Star Wars universe and what its connection to various cultural touchstones—from fairy tales and Joseph Campbell to Disneyland and Marvel comics—mean to viewers. Essays examine the films in the franchise as well as incarnations of the Star Wars universe in video games, comic books, and television programs, including the films’ influence on new generations of filmmakers. A companion volume to Sex, Politics, and Culture in Star Wars, Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars is a diverse collection of criticism that investigates the dynamic force that Star Wars has become in popular culture, from every imaginable angle.
Book Synopsis Film as Religion, Second Edition by : John C. Lyden
Download or read book Film as Religion, Second Edition written by John C. Lyden and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that popular films perform a religious function in our culture The first edition of Film as Religion was one of the first texts to develop a framework for the analysis of the religious function of films for audiences. Like more formal religious institutions, films can provide us with ways to view the world and the values to confront it. Lyden argues that the cultural influence of films is analogous to that of religions, so that films can be understood as representing a “religious” worldview in their own right. Thoroughly updating his examples, Lyden examines a range of film genres and individual films, from The Godfather to The Hunger Games to Frozen, to show how film can function religiously.
Book Synopsis Our Blessed Rebel Queen by : Linda Mizejewski
Download or read book Our Blessed Rebel Queen written by Linda Mizejewski and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploration of Carrie Fisher as star, author, comedian, and iconic personification of Princess Leia.
