Speculative Satire in Contemporary Literature and Film

Speculative Satire in Contemporary Literature and Film

Author: Kirk Combe

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-12-27

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1000289834

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Since 1980, when neoliberal and neoconservative forces began their hostile takeover of western culture, a new type of political satire has emerged that works to unmask and deter those toxic doctrines. Literary and cultural critic Kirk Combe calls this new form of satire the Rant. The Rant is grim, highly imaginative, and complex in its blending of genres. It mixes facets of satire, science fiction, and monster tale to produce widely consumed spectacles—major studio movies, popular television/streaming series, bestselling novels—designed to disturb and to provoke. The Rant targets what Combe calls the Regime. Simply put, the Regime is the sum of the dangerous social, economic, and political orthodoxies spurred on by neoliberal and neoconservative polity. Such practices include free-market capitalism, corporatism, militarism, religiosity, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and so on. In the Rant, then, we have a unique and wholly contemporary genre of political expression and protest: speculative satire.


Book Synopsis Speculative Satire in Contemporary Literature and Film by : Kirk Combe

Download or read book Speculative Satire in Contemporary Literature and Film written by Kirk Combe and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-27 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1980, when neoliberal and neoconservative forces began their hostile takeover of western culture, a new type of political satire has emerged that works to unmask and deter those toxic doctrines. Literary and cultural critic Kirk Combe calls this new form of satire the Rant. The Rant is grim, highly imaginative, and complex in its blending of genres. It mixes facets of satire, science fiction, and monster tale to produce widely consumed spectacles—major studio movies, popular television/streaming series, bestselling novels—designed to disturb and to provoke. The Rant targets what Combe calls the Regime. Simply put, the Regime is the sum of the dangerous social, economic, and political orthodoxies spurred on by neoliberal and neoconservative polity. Such practices include free-market capitalism, corporatism, militarism, religiosity, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and so on. In the Rant, then, we have a unique and wholly contemporary genre of political expression and protest: speculative satire.

Posthuman Subjectivity in the Novels of J.G. Ballard

Posthuman Subjectivity in the Novels of J.G. Ballard

Author: Carolyn Lau

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-28

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1000912345

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This book proposes that Ballard’s novels extrapolate the formation of a posthuman subjectivity that is centred around an affirmative understanding of what a human body can do. This new subjectivity transforms constraints and prescribed desires into creative openings in a hyper-mediated control society that conditions docile bodies through technology and consumerism. Set in surrealist predicaments in postwar affluent Western societies, Ballard’s novels remind us of the fragile veneer of order in the familiar every day. In these moments of crisis, complacent characters are compelled to undergo a process of defamiliarisation and transformation of their understanding of the self and the body. The ability to form new relationships with the unfamiliar is imperative to survival in a hostile environment. Ballard delineates both the possibilities and obstacles of forming these relationships. In particular, the author attributes the failure to do so to the irreconcilable contradictions of late capitalism.


Book Synopsis Posthuman Subjectivity in the Novels of J.G. Ballard by : Carolyn Lau

Download or read book Posthuman Subjectivity in the Novels of J.G. Ballard written by Carolyn Lau and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-07-28 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book proposes that Ballard’s novels extrapolate the formation of a posthuman subjectivity that is centred around an affirmative understanding of what a human body can do. This new subjectivity transforms constraints and prescribed desires into creative openings in a hyper-mediated control society that conditions docile bodies through technology and consumerism. Set in surrealist predicaments in postwar affluent Western societies, Ballard’s novels remind us of the fragile veneer of order in the familiar every day. In these moments of crisis, complacent characters are compelled to undergo a process of defamiliarisation and transformation of their understanding of the self and the body. The ability to form new relationships with the unfamiliar is imperative to survival in a hostile environment. Ballard delineates both the possibilities and obstacles of forming these relationships. In particular, the author attributes the failure to do so to the irreconcilable contradictions of late capitalism.

Lovecraft in the 21st Century

Lovecraft in the 21st Century

Author: Antonio Alcala Gonzalez

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-12-30

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1000531651

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Lovecraft in the 21st Century assembles reflections from a wide range of perspectives on the significance of Lovecraft’s influence in contemporary times. Building on a focus centered on the Anthropocene, adaptation, and visual media, the chapters in this collection focus on the following topics: Adaptation of Lovecraft’s legacy in theater, television, film, graphic narratives, video games and game artwork The connection between the writer’s legacy and his life Reading Lovecraft in light of contemporary criticism about capitalism, the posthuman, and the Anthropocene How contemporary authors have worked through the implicit racial and sexual politics in Lovecraft’s fiction Reading Lovecraft’s fiction in light of contemporary approaches to gender and sexuality


Book Synopsis Lovecraft in the 21st Century by : Antonio Alcala Gonzalez

Download or read book Lovecraft in the 21st Century written by Antonio Alcala Gonzalez and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-30 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lovecraft in the 21st Century assembles reflections from a wide range of perspectives on the significance of Lovecraft’s influence in contemporary times. Building on a focus centered on the Anthropocene, adaptation, and visual media, the chapters in this collection focus on the following topics: Adaptation of Lovecraft’s legacy in theater, television, film, graphic narratives, video games and game artwork The connection between the writer’s legacy and his life Reading Lovecraft in light of contemporary criticism about capitalism, the posthuman, and the Anthropocene How contemporary authors have worked through the implicit racial and sexual politics in Lovecraft’s fiction Reading Lovecraft’s fiction in light of contemporary approaches to gender and sexuality

Motherless Creations

Motherless Creations

Author: Wendy C. Nielsen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-05-30

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 1000582418

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This book explains the elimination of maternal characters in American, British, French, and German literature before 1890 by examining motherless creations: Pygmalion’s statue, Frankenstein’s creature, homunculi, automata, androids, golems, and steam men. These beings typify what is now called artificial life, living systems made through manufactured means. Fantasies about creating life ex-utero were built upon misconceptions about how life began, sustaining pseudoscientific beliefs about the birthing body. Physicians, inventors, and authors of literature imagined generating life without women to control the process of reproduction and generate perfect progeny. Thus, some speculative fiction before 1890 belongs to the literary genealogy of transhumanism, the belief that technology will someday transform some humans into superior, immortal beings. Female motherless creations tend to operate as sexual companions. Male ones often emerge as subaltern figures analogous to enslaved beings, illustrating that reproductive rights inform readers’ sense of who counts as human in fictions of artificial life.


Book Synopsis Motherless Creations by : Wendy C. Nielsen

Download or read book Motherless Creations written by Wendy C. Nielsen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-05-30 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains the elimination of maternal characters in American, British, French, and German literature before 1890 by examining motherless creations: Pygmalion’s statue, Frankenstein’s creature, homunculi, automata, androids, golems, and steam men. These beings typify what is now called artificial life, living systems made through manufactured means. Fantasies about creating life ex-utero were built upon misconceptions about how life began, sustaining pseudoscientific beliefs about the birthing body. Physicians, inventors, and authors of literature imagined generating life without women to control the process of reproduction and generate perfect progeny. Thus, some speculative fiction before 1890 belongs to the literary genealogy of transhumanism, the belief that technology will someday transform some humans into superior, immortal beings. Female motherless creations tend to operate as sexual companions. Male ones often emerge as subaltern figures analogous to enslaved beings, illustrating that reproductive rights inform readers’ sense of who counts as human in fictions of artificial life.

Literature and Film as Modern Mythology

Literature and Film as Modern Mythology

Author: William K. Ferrell

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2000-02-28

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 031300286X

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Novels and films record and codify the cultural experiences of their people. This book explores the relationship between contemporary literature and film of the past fifty years and the ancient myths of Judeo-Christian, Greek, Celtic, and Eastern origin. Following a detailed description and explanation of both literary and film devices, stories that inform to a mythic tradition are analyzed to identify what they reveal about modern culture. This work explores such diverse subjects as heroism, coming of age, and morality. This approach to literature and film explores how contemporary fiction and film fulfill a continuum in our never-ending search to understand how life ought to be lived. Encompassing a broad spectrum of modern film and fiction, a variety of authors and directors are represented. Included are novels from such writers as Stephen King, Alice Walker, Ken Kesey, Jerzy Kosinski, Robert Penn Warren, and Michael Ondaatje. Film directors include Stephen Spielberg, Hal Ashby, Phil Alden Robinson, George Stevens, Robert Rossen, and Milos Forman. As a valuable resource for film and literature classes alike, this work also provides suggestions for student projects.


Book Synopsis Literature and Film as Modern Mythology by : William K. Ferrell

Download or read book Literature and Film as Modern Mythology written by William K. Ferrell and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2000-02-28 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Novels and films record and codify the cultural experiences of their people. This book explores the relationship between contemporary literature and film of the past fifty years and the ancient myths of Judeo-Christian, Greek, Celtic, and Eastern origin. Following a detailed description and explanation of both literary and film devices, stories that inform to a mythic tradition are analyzed to identify what they reveal about modern culture. This work explores such diverse subjects as heroism, coming of age, and morality. This approach to literature and film explores how contemporary fiction and film fulfill a continuum in our never-ending search to understand how life ought to be lived. Encompassing a broad spectrum of modern film and fiction, a variety of authors and directors are represented. Included are novels from such writers as Stephen King, Alice Walker, Ken Kesey, Jerzy Kosinski, Robert Penn Warren, and Michael Ondaatje. Film directors include Stephen Spielberg, Hal Ashby, Phil Alden Robinson, George Stevens, Robert Rossen, and Milos Forman. As a valuable resource for film and literature classes alike, this work also provides suggestions for student projects.

The Biopolitics of Gender in Science Fiction

The Biopolitics of Gender in Science Fiction

Author: Emily Cox-Palmer-White

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-01-03

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1000329704

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Questioning essentialist forms of feminist discourse, this work develops an innovative approach to gender and feminist theory by drawing together the work of key feminist and gender theorists, such as Judith Butler and Donna Haraway, and the biopolitical philosophy of Giorgio Agamben and Gilles Deleuze. By analysing representations of the female cyborg figure, the gynoid, in science fiction literature, television, film and videogames, the work acknowledges its normative and subversive properties while also calling for a new feminist politics of selfhood and autonomy implied by the posthuman qualities of the female machine.


Book Synopsis The Biopolitics of Gender in Science Fiction by : Emily Cox-Palmer-White

Download or read book The Biopolitics of Gender in Science Fiction written by Emily Cox-Palmer-White and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-01-03 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questioning essentialist forms of feminist discourse, this work develops an innovative approach to gender and feminist theory by drawing together the work of key feminist and gender theorists, such as Judith Butler and Donna Haraway, and the biopolitical philosophy of Giorgio Agamben and Gilles Deleuze. By analysing representations of the female cyborg figure, the gynoid, in science fiction literature, television, film and videogames, the work acknowledges its normative and subversive properties while also calling for a new feminist politics of selfhood and autonomy implied by the posthuman qualities of the female machine.

Shades of Violence: Multidisciplinary Reflections on Violence in Literature, Culture and Arts

Shades of Violence: Multidisciplinary Reflections on Violence in Literature, Culture and Arts

Author: Sümeyra Buran

Publisher: Transnational Press London

Published: 2023-12-21

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 180135149X

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"Shades of Violence: Multidisciplinary Reflections on Violence in Literature, Culture, and Arts" explores the tapestry of violence across diverse forms of artistic expression, expertly edited by Sümeyra Buran, Mahinur Akşehir, Neslihan Köroğlu, and Barış Ağır. From the gripping introduction to the thought-provoking chapters contributed by an array of scholars, this collection navigates the multifaceted dimensions of violence. Muhsin Yanar's exploration of Don DeLillo's work calls for a posthumanist stance against violence, while Begüm Tuğlu Atamer questions the justification of violence in Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus." The anthology expands its reach, examining slow violence in John Burnside's "Glister" (Derya Biderci Dinç), portraying environmental violence in Bilge Karasu's "Hurt Me Not" (Özlem Akyol), and unraveling psychological violence in Kate Chopin's stories (Senem Üstün Kaya). Contributors delve into theatre violence (Gamze Şentürk Tatar), indigenous struggles against violence in Cheran, Mexico (Kristy L. Masten), and the complex interplay of power in Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange" (Şebnem Düzgün). The anthology also explores the contested space of the Black queer body (Taylor Ajowele Duckett), Nietzschean aggression (Yunus Tuncel), and various forms of violence in Giovanni Verga's short stories (Simone Pettine). "Shades of Violence" emerges as an indispensable exploration of violence's nuanced manifestations, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding through its diverse and insightful perspectives.


Book Synopsis Shades of Violence: Multidisciplinary Reflections on Violence in Literature, Culture and Arts by : Sümeyra Buran

Download or read book Shades of Violence: Multidisciplinary Reflections on Violence in Literature, Culture and Arts written by Sümeyra Buran and published by Transnational Press London. This book was released on 2023-12-21 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Shades of Violence: Multidisciplinary Reflections on Violence in Literature, Culture, and Arts" explores the tapestry of violence across diverse forms of artistic expression, expertly edited by Sümeyra Buran, Mahinur Akşehir, Neslihan Köroğlu, and Barış Ağır. From the gripping introduction to the thought-provoking chapters contributed by an array of scholars, this collection navigates the multifaceted dimensions of violence. Muhsin Yanar's exploration of Don DeLillo's work calls for a posthumanist stance against violence, while Begüm Tuğlu Atamer questions the justification of violence in Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus." The anthology expands its reach, examining slow violence in John Burnside's "Glister" (Derya Biderci Dinç), portraying environmental violence in Bilge Karasu's "Hurt Me Not" (Özlem Akyol), and unraveling psychological violence in Kate Chopin's stories (Senem Üstün Kaya). Contributors delve into theatre violence (Gamze Şentürk Tatar), indigenous struggles against violence in Cheran, Mexico (Kristy L. Masten), and the complex interplay of power in Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange" (Şebnem Düzgün). The anthology also explores the contested space of the Black queer body (Taylor Ajowele Duckett), Nietzschean aggression (Yunus Tuncel), and various forms of violence in Giovanni Verga's short stories (Simone Pettine). "Shades of Violence" emerges as an indispensable exploration of violence's nuanced manifestations, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding through its diverse and insightful perspectives.

Theorizing Satire

Theorizing Satire

Author: Kirk Combe

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 1995-01-11

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780312123024

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In its eleven essays, Theorizing Satire reexplores old issues from new perspectives and opens up new dimensions of satire for critical analysis. Adapting to its object of study, this eclectic collection brings to bear upon classical, British, continental, and American satires the insights of New Criticism, philology, rhetorical analysis, anthropology, genre theory, semiotics, deconstruction, cultural criticism, and new historicism. The writers seek useful generalizations about satire, while at the same time offering close readings of individual authors working in a variety of cultural and temporal settings. Focusing on Lucilius to Joe Bob Briggs, the collection discusses, among other things, the verse of Horace, Pope, and Swift; novels from German Enlightenment culture; the operas of W. S. Gilbert; the lyrics of John Berryman; and the postmodernist British campus novel.


Book Synopsis Theorizing Satire by : Kirk Combe

Download or read book Theorizing Satire written by Kirk Combe and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 1995-01-11 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its eleven essays, Theorizing Satire reexplores old issues from new perspectives and opens up new dimensions of satire for critical analysis. Adapting to its object of study, this eclectic collection brings to bear upon classical, British, continental, and American satires the insights of New Criticism, philology, rhetorical analysis, anthropology, genre theory, semiotics, deconstruction, cultural criticism, and new historicism. The writers seek useful generalizations about satire, while at the same time offering close readings of individual authors working in a variety of cultural and temporal settings. Focusing on Lucilius to Joe Bob Briggs, the collection discusses, among other things, the verse of Horace, Pope, and Swift; novels from German Enlightenment culture; the operas of W. S. Gilbert; the lyrics of John Berryman; and the postmodernist British campus novel.

Genre and Reception in the Gothic Parody

Genre and Reception in the Gothic Parody

Author: Kerstin-Anja Münderlein

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-29

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1000487776

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This book brings together an analysis of the theoretical connection of genre, reception, and frame theory and a practical demonstration thereof, using a set of parodies of the first wave of the Gothic novel, ranging from well-known titles such as Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, to little known and researched titles such as Mary Charlton’s Rosella. Münderlein traces the development of socio-political debates conducted in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries on female roles, behaviour, and subversion from the subtly subversive Gothic novel to the Gothic parody. Combining two major areas of research, literary criticism and Gothic studies, the book provides both a new take on an ongoing debate in literary criticism as well as an in-depth study of a virtually neglected aspect of Gothic studies, the Gothic parody.


Book Synopsis Genre and Reception in the Gothic Parody by : Kerstin-Anja Münderlein

Download or read book Genre and Reception in the Gothic Parody written by Kerstin-Anja Münderlein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together an analysis of the theoretical connection of genre, reception, and frame theory and a practical demonstration thereof, using a set of parodies of the first wave of the Gothic novel, ranging from well-known titles such as Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, to little known and researched titles such as Mary Charlton’s Rosella. Münderlein traces the development of socio-political debates conducted in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries on female roles, behaviour, and subversion from the subtly subversive Gothic novel to the Gothic parody. Combining two major areas of research, literary criticism and Gothic studies, the book provides both a new take on an ongoing debate in literary criticism as well as an in-depth study of a virtually neglected aspect of Gothic studies, the Gothic parody.

Ethnic American Literatures and Critical Race Narratology

Ethnic American Literatures and Critical Race Narratology

Author: Alexa Weik von Mossner

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-06-16

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1000625192

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Ethnic American Literatures and Critical Race Narratology explores the relationship between narrative, race, and ethnicity in the United States. Situated at the intersection of post-classical narratology and context-oriented approaches in race, ethnic, and cultural studies, the contributions to this edited volume interrogate the complex and varied ways in which ethnic American authors use narrative form to engage readers in issues related to race and ethnicity, along with other important identity markers such as class, religion, gender, and sexuality. Importantly, the book also explores how paying attention to the formal features of ethnic American literatures changes our under-standing of narrative theory and how narrative theories can help us to think about author functions and race. The international and diverse group of contributors includes top scholars in narrative theory and in race and ethnic studies, and the texts they analyze concern a wide variety of topics, from the representation of time and space to the narration of trauma and other deeply emotional memories to the importance of literary paratexts, genre structures, and author functions.


Book Synopsis Ethnic American Literatures and Critical Race Narratology by : Alexa Weik von Mossner

Download or read book Ethnic American Literatures and Critical Race Narratology written by Alexa Weik von Mossner and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-06-16 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ethnic American Literatures and Critical Race Narratology explores the relationship between narrative, race, and ethnicity in the United States. Situated at the intersection of post-classical narratology and context-oriented approaches in race, ethnic, and cultural studies, the contributions to this edited volume interrogate the complex and varied ways in which ethnic American authors use narrative form to engage readers in issues related to race and ethnicity, along with other important identity markers such as class, religion, gender, and sexuality. Importantly, the book also explores how paying attention to the formal features of ethnic American literatures changes our under-standing of narrative theory and how narrative theories can help us to think about author functions and race. The international and diverse group of contributors includes top scholars in narrative theory and in race and ethnic studies, and the texts they analyze concern a wide variety of topics, from the representation of time and space to the narration of trauma and other deeply emotional memories to the importance of literary paratexts, genre structures, and author functions.