“Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror”: Documentary on Shudder

0 | January 31st, 2020 | Posted in horror, horror noire, race

I recently signed up for the trial period of Shudder.com because I’ve had my eye on a couple of documentaries the channel has availabler via streaming. One was Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, that addresses the black experience in horror films. This film is based upon the book of the same title by Robin R. Means Coleman, who provides some of the commentary in this production. I had the privilege of interviewing Coleman here previously.

I found this documentary fascinating, as it adds another critical dimension to the study of horror, and it includes discussion of films I’ve never seen before and perspectives never considered (as a result of my social context and biases). I highly recommend Coleman’s book and this documentary for horror fans, as well as those who want to understand how race and racism have been expressed in horror entertainment.

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Expressions of 9/11 Trauma in Popular Culture Entertaiment

0 | January 27th, 2020 | Posted in 9/11

A friend of mine recently brought a book to my attention. It is American Popular Culture in the Era of Terror: Falling Skies, Dark Knights Rising, and Collapsing Cultures by Jesse Kavadlo (Praeger, 2015). Here’s the description:

Bringing together the most popular genres of the 21st century, this book argues that Americans have entered a new era of narrative dominated by the fear―and wish fulfillment―of the breakdown of authority and terror itself.

Bringing together disparate and popular genres of the 21st century, American Popular Culture in the Era of Terror: Falling Skies, Dark Knights Rising, and Collapsing Cultures argues that popular culture has been preoccupied by fantasies and narratives dominated by the anxiety ―and, strangely, the wish fulfillment―that comes from the breakdowns of morality, family, law and order, and storytelling itself. From aging superheroes to young adult dystopias, heroic killers to lustrous vampires, the figures of our fiction, film, and television again and again reveal and revel in the imagery of terror. Kavadlo’s single-author, thesis-driven book makes the case that many of the novels and films about September 11, 2001, have been about much more than terrorism alone, while popular stories that may not seem related to September 11 are deeply connected to it.

The book examines New York novels written in response to September 11 along with the anti-heroes of television and the resurgence of zombies and vampires in film and fiction to draw a correlation between Kavadlo’s “Era of Terror” and the events of September 11, 2001. Geared toward college students, graduate students, and academics interested in popular culture, the book connects multiple topics to appeal to a wide audience.

Given my research interest on 9/11 as it relates to religion and popular culture, and after reading the preview material at Amazon, I ‘m now waiting for my copy to come in the mail. The trauma resulting from the attacks of 9/11 continue to have a dramatic impact on Americans, and it is expressed in a variety of ways. My research on its impact on religion noted how it has shaped American evangelicalism. In this area it has contributed to a stronger embrace of the narrative of Christian nationalism, and anti-immigrant stances, particularly the strong anti-Islamic immigrant feelings. On this see the fascinating research by Richard Cimino (abstract and full article), who looked at evangelical stances by evangelicals toward Islam and Muslims pre- and post-9/11. Pre-9/11 Muslims were viewed through a missiological and evangelistic lens, but post-9/11 this changed dramatically so that the lens was one of “us vs. them,” where Islam was construed as demonic, evil, and in terms of spiritual warfare.

I’ve also loooked at how the trauma of 9/11 has shaped science fiction and horror narratives. For those interested in seeing those posts, click on the “Archive for the 9/11 Category” of TheoFantastique. Kavadlo’s book includes consideration of genre in the analysis, but also expands beyond it. I’m looking forward to reading this book in order to deepen my understanding of the significance of the events of 9/11 on the national psyche as expressed in popular culture.

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Call for Papers: Jewish Zombies

0 | November 20th, 2019 | Posted in call for papers, Judaism, zombie

Jewish Zombies
Call for Papers
Workshop at the Jewish Studies Program, Penn State University
October 27-28, 2020

The Jewish Studies Program at Penn State University presents an interdisciplinary academic workshop to examine zombies in the context of Jewish history and culture.

Throughout history, Jews have often been depicted as monstrous figures, such as demons and vampires, and Jews themselves have imagined Golems, werewolves, and other fantastic creatures to address predicaments and even answer questions of Jewish thought and experience. Yet zombies, the most persistent monsters of our time, have so far mostly eluded a critical examination from scholars engaging in Jewish Studies. This workshop will explore Jewish characters, images, and perspectives in zombie films, literature, comics, etc. from the early prehistory of the genre to the present; or, conversely, use the zombie or conceptions of the undead or living dead as a category of analysis to address problems of and questions about Jewishness in modern and premodern Jewish writing and thought.

We invite participants to examine the political and cultural linkages between zombie narratives and Jewish histories through various notions of loss and reanimation. Zombie tales present situations in which individuals lose their cognitive abilities and personal memories in the face of a social breakdown, when norms, values, and laws, the very safeguards of human existence, disappear; but they also address possibilities of restoration, revenge, and continuity. We will discuss the zombie in relation to other monstrous representations of Jewish identity, to think on the relationships between dehumanization practices and posthumanism narratives, and explore diverse moments when zombies, both in the past and the present, sink their teeth, metaphorically and not, into Jewish figures, history, and imagination.

Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (300 words), institutional affiliation, and contact information. Please submit proposals to Kobi Kabalek (kabalek@psu.edu) by February 20, 2020.

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Peace, Conflict and Neuroscience: Science Fiction Helps Protect Against Genocide

0 | November 8th, 2019 | Posted in genocide, science fiction

My academic and popular interests and research overlap with the concept of monstrosity. This week I found a great website with a lot of resources that combine my interests in the Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab. One of their articles is titled “Finding Humanity in Alien Eyes: What science fiction films can tell us about protecting against genocide.” Here’s an excerpt:

I am a bit of a sci-fi junkie. I also research intergroup conflict. This pair of interests go together quite nicely: films depicting conflict between humans and non-humans are nearly as plentiful as the stars. At their highest, these films allow us to examine moral ambiguities in the safe confines of an imaginary realm. While this provides me with great entertainment, I also have a hunch that film may be able to give us insights into the forces that help drive intergroup conflict and genocide, so that we can best determine how to prevent them.

Read more here.

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“‘Carnival Row,” Fantasy and Religious Blind Spots

0 | September 29th, 2019 | Posted in Christianity, fantasy

I recently started watching Carnival Row, the Amazon Prime series. This weekend involved some binge watching, and an element in episode 5 in Season 1 caught my attention. This episode includes several instances where a religious icon is shown in an orphanage. It is the image of The Martyr, a Jesus-like figure at the center of the dominant religious tradition. The icon caught my eye as it hung high on the orphanage wall. At first I didn’t know what it was and why it was hanging there. “Why does this orphanage include the figure of a hanging dead man on its wall?” I wondered. Then it hit me: It was a take off of Christianity’s central symbol, Jesus dead after being tortured through crucifixion. Connected to this symbol in the series is a noose that is worn around the neck of those connected to The Martyr’s religious order, as in the clergyman heading the orphanage, similar to the cross or crucifix worn by Christians. For me, the interesting thing about seeing The Martyr was that it stood out for me as strange and unusual, and in so doing, after a moment’s realization, it reminded me of my own blind spot in regard to Christianity and its symbols in culture. We are so used to seeing a cross or crucifix that we don’t think twice about its “normalcy.” In reality, it is the image of first century political torture and murder adopted as a symbol of strength through weakness by a small Jewish sect that would later turn the world upside down. All of this was a reminder to me of fantasy’s power in helping us really see things that we take for granted, even if they are constantly around us.

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“Fear the Walking Dead” adds Jewish character

0 | September 11th, 2019 | Posted in horror, Judaism, zombie

Fear the Walking Dead recently introduced a Jewish character to the series, a rabbi. Alex Zalben discusses why this is important in a piece in the Decider.

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Titles of Interest – “Science Fiction and the Imitation of the Sacred”

0 | September 9th, 2019 | Posted in sacred, science fiction

Science Fiction and the Imitation of the Sacred
Richard Grigg
Bloomsberry, 2018

This book examines science fiction’s relationship to religion and the sacred through the lens of significant books, films and television shows. It provides a clear account of the larger cultural and philosophical significance of science fiction, and explores its potential sacrality in today’s secular world by analyzing material such as Ray Bradbury’s classic novel The Martian Chronicles, films The Abyss and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and also the Star Trek universe.

Richard Grigg argues that science fiction is born of nostalgia for a truly ‘Other’ reality that is no longer available to us, and that the most accurate way to see the relationship between science fiction and traditional approaches to the sacred is as an imitation of true sacrality; this, he suggests, is the best option in a secular age. He demonstrates this by setting forth five definitions of the sacred and then, in consecutive chapters, investigating particular works of science fiction and showing just how they incarnate those definitions.

Science Fiction and the Imitation of the Sacred also considers the qualifiers that suggest that science fiction can only imitate the sacred, not genuinely replicate it, and assesses the implications of this investigation for our understanding of secularity and science fiction.

Related post:

“David Hartwell and the Wonder of Science Fiction”

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Announcing a new journal and call for papers: The Journal of Gods and Monsters

0 | August 30th, 2019 | Posted in call for papers, gods, Journal of Gods and Monsters, monsters

The Journal of Gods and Monsters

Special Issue: The Monstrosity of Displacement 

We are pleased to announce the creation of a new double blind, peer-reviewed, open access journal exploring the relationships between religion, monsters, and the monstrous: The Journal of Gods and Monsters. Headed by editors Natasha Mikles, John Morehead, Michael E. Heyes, and Brandon Grafius, The Journal of Gods and Monsters will be digitally housed at Texas State University and can be accessed at journals.tdl.org/godsandmonsters.

Monsters are often defined as those unfortunate beings displaced from the “normal,” and in the inaugural issue of The Journal of Gods and Monsters, we are exploring this displacement and the role of religious traditions in its construction, maintenance, and complication. Such beings labeled as monsters might be displaced from biology, such as the cynocephalic protagonist of the Greek Life of St. Christopher. Then again, a monster’s displacement could be cultural, as seen in contemporary efforts by some Burmese Buddhists to displace and monstrosize the Rohingya minority. Or it could be soteriological, like the transhistorical phenomenon of Jews and Muslims being made into monsters via their exclusion from some structures of Christian salvation.

We seek article-length contributions that address the cross-cultural intersection of religion, monstrosity, and displacement. We specifically encourage methodologically diverse submissions that tackle the issue of monstrosity and displacement from a wide range of regional and temporal arenas, such as:

  • Literal monsters (such as the shapeshifting fox Tamamo-no-Mae exorcised by Genno Shinsho)
  • Figurative monsters (as certain violent religious extremists or immigrant groups have been branded)
  • Self-proclaimed monsters (“I am the monster” declares Eleven on Stranger Things)
  • Assigned monsters (the “demonic networks” that Paula White claimed were arrayed against Donald Trump in a 2019 campaign rally).

Details: Submissions should be scholarly in nature, between 5000 and 10000 words, and are requested by January 12th, 2020 for inclusion in the Spring issue (submissions after this date will be considered for future issues). We encourage submissions from all disciplines, geographic areas, and time periods. Articles should be submitted via the online system at https://godsandmonsters-ojs-txstate.tdl.org after registration. In the case of questions, please contact the editorial team at editorsJGM@gmail.com or at their professional email addresses.

To inquire regarding book reviews, please contact book review editor Brandon Grafius (bgrafius@etseminary.edu).

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Interview with Matthew Brake of Pop Culture and Theology

0 | August 26th, 2019 | Posted in comics, pop culture, theology


This morning I had a conversation with Matthew Brake of the Pop Culture and Theology website. I hope you enjoy our video podcast. You can visit his website here.

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ZYGON essay: “The Creation Account in Genesis and the Idea of the Artificial Humanoid

0 | August 20th, 2019 | Posted in artificial intelligence, religion, science fiction

Terry Wright of the Sacred Writings blog made me aware of the following essay in ZYGON: Journal of Religion and Science:

“CREATORS AND CREATURES: THE CREATION ACCOUNT IN GENESIS AND THE IDEA OF THE ARTIFICIAL HUMANOID”
Gábor Ambrus
First published: 19 August 2019 https://doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12534

Abstract
Science fiction, this article argues, provides an imaginative domain which can offer a unique understanding of the interaction between science and religion. Such an interaction is particularly present in the idea of the artificial humanoid as brought to life in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the recent television series Westworld. Both revolve around the theme of a moral relation between scientist creator and humanoid creature in accord with a norm that first took shape in the biblical account of God’s creation of the first human beings. At the same time, these works of fiction cast light on the contrast between the biblical account and the Mesopotamian myths of creation. In the manner of Frankenstein and Westworld, science fiction can integrate the perspective of science with that of the biblical tradition.

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