A History of Evil in Popular Culture - What Hannibal Lecter, Stephen King, and Vampires Reveal About America

Informationen zum Autor Sharon Packer , MD, is assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY. Jody Pennington , PhD, is associate professor in media and culture studies at University of Aarhus, Denmark. Klappentext Evil isn't simply an abstract theological or philosophical talking point. In our society, the idea of evil feeds entertainment, manifests in all sorts of media, and is a root concept in our collective psyche. This accessible and appealing book examines what evil means to us. Evil has been with us since the Garden of Eden, when Eve unleashed evil by biting the apple. Outside of theology, evil remains a highly relevant concept in contemporary times: evil villains in films and literature make these stories entertaining; our criminal justice system decides the fate of convicted criminals based on the determination of their status as "evil" or "insane." This book examines the many manifestations of "evil" in modern media, making it clear how this idea pervades nearly all aspects of life and helping us to reconsider some of the notions about evil that pop culture perpetuates and promotes. Covering screen media such as film, television, and video games; print media that include novels and poetry; visual media like art and comics; music; and political polemics, the essays in this book address an eclectic range of topics. The diverse authors include Americans who left the United States during the Vietnam War era, conservative Christian political pundits, rock musicians, classical linguists, Disney fans, scholars of American slavery, and experts on Holocaust literature and films. From portrayals of evil in the television shows The Wire and 24 to the violent lyrics of the rap duo Insane Clown Posse to the storylines of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter books, readers will find themselves rethinking what evil is-and how they came to hold their beliefs. Zusammenfassung Evil isn't simply an abstract theological or philosophical talking point. In our society, the idea of evil feeds entertainment, manifests in all sorts of media, and is a root concept in our collective psyche. This accessible and appealing book examines what evil means to us. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction PART I: NOVELS, POEMS, AND SHORT STORIES Chapter 1: Gender, Goth, and Gore: Evil in the Horror Fiction of Poppy Z. Brite Aalya Ahmad Chapter 2: Inviting the Devil to "Cross Over" the Threshold: The Short Stories of Joyce Carol Oates, Iteration, and American Fears of Precariousness in the 21st Century Jennifer S. Carlberg Chapter 3: Stephen King: Evil in Its Many Forms-Children Beware! Laura Colmenero-Chilberg Chapter 4: Evil Monsters in Horror Fiction: An Evolutionary Perspective on Form and Function Mathias Clasen Chapter 5: The Evils of Slavery and Their Legacy in American Literature Carol Colatrella Chapter 6: Hannibal: His History and His Heirs Sharon Packer Chapter 7: The Man of the Crowd: Following Poe and Finding Evil in Popular Culture Caleb Puckett Chapter 8: "Like Rats behind the Wainscoting": Evil in American Hardboiled Fiction Eric Sandberg Chapter 9: "Is It Safe?": Evil and the Escaped Nazi War Criminal in American Novels in the 1970s Christoph Schiessl Chapter 10: What American Vampire Literature Teaches Us about Dangerous Consumption Andrea Siegel PART II: COMICS, ANIMATION, VIDEO GAMES, MURDERABILIA, AND ART Chapter 11: "The Sanitation Man": Erasing Evil in Walt Disney Li Cornfeld Chapter 12: From Pogo to Pennywise: The Rise of the Evil Clown in American Pop Culture since 1978 Adam W. Darlage Chapter 13: Marks of Cain: Physical Manifestations of Human Evil in Virtual Narratives Shawn Edrei...

Product details

• Authors: Sharon/ Pennington Packer
• Assisted by: Sharon Packer (Editor), Jody Pennington (Editor)
• Publisher: Greenwood Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.07.2014
• EAN: 9780313397707
• ISBN: 978-0-313-39770-7
• No. of pages: 870
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Art > General, dictionaries