Tag Archives: cultural studies

Scientific journal article: “Possession myth as a lens for understanding cultural and psychological evolution”

April 21st, 2020 | Posted in cultural studies, evolutionary psychology, possession

Boutwell, Brian B., Mathias Clasen & Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen. 2020. “We are legion”: Possession myth as a lens for understanding cultural and psychological evolution. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. doi:10.1037/ebs0000197. In most religious traditions, there exists the conception that human beings can lose their freedom of will to an invading consciousness. We argue that possession myths emerge from […]

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Titles of Interest – Monsters of Film, Fiction, and Fable: The Cultural Link Between the Human and the Inhuman

June 28th, 2019 | Posted in cultural studies, cultures, film, monster theory, monsters, monstrous, Titles of Interest

Monsters of Film, Fiction, and Fable: The Cultural Link Between the Human and the Inhuman Edited by Lisa Wenger Bro, Crystal O’Leary-Davidson, and Mary Ann Gareis Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018 Monsters are a part of every society, and ours is no exception. They are deeply embedded in our history, our mythos, and our culture. However, […]

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Titles of Interest – Beyond the Monstrous: Reading from the Cultural Imaginary

August 2nd, 2015 | Posted in cultural studies, cultures, monsters, monstrous, Titles of Interest

Beyond the Monstrous: Reading from the Cultural Imaginary (Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2013), edited by Janice Zehentbauer and Eva Gledhill Twenty-first century’s fascination with monsters in popular culture is not new. Throughout history, many of the world’s cultures have created beings they deem ‘other’ and ‘monstrous,’ beings which, many scholars agree, ultimately reveal humans’ own fears about […]

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Social Research: An International Quarterly and Horror in Society

February 12th, 2015 | Posted in cultural studies, horror, social commentary, social dynamics

Kevin Wetmore, who I have interviewed on this blog previously on his book Post-9/11 Horror in American Cinema, let me know that the forthcoming issue of Social Research: An International Quarterly 84.1 (Winter 2014) has an interesting focus. It will explore horror in society.   Here is the Table of Contents: Endangered Scholars Worldwide pp. […]

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Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture

October 2nd, 2013 | Posted in cultural studies, fantasy, race, science fiction

In the past I have written on various aspects of African American work in genre, including African science fiction and horror. Not long ago I also posted a link on the TheoFantastique page to the discussion of why African Americans tend not to involve themselves in more mainstream aspects of genre that tends to see […]

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Why Does the West Love Science Fiction?: Sci-Fi, Culture, and Disenchantment

June 16th, 2013 | Posted in cultural studies, cultures, fantasy, science fiction, wonder

Given the immense popularity and box office success of science fiction and fantasy films in the West it might be natural to assume that these genres are also very popular in non-Western cultures. But that is not the case. A recent essay by Christine Folch in The Atlantic titled “Why the West Loves Sci-Fi and […]

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Interview with Emily McAvan on The Postmodern Sacred

May 5th, 2013 | Posted in cultural studies, fantasy, postmodernism, sacred, science fiction

Emily McAvan has been on my radar since I first encountered her research in the sacred aspects of science fiction and fantasy. She teaches cultural, media and gender studies at Murdoch University and Curtin University, both in Perth, Australia. In the interview that follows we discuss aspects of her fine book The Postmodern Sacred: Popular […]

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Para*Doxa: African Science Fiction

July 6th, 2012 | Posted in call for papers, cultural studies, race, science fiction

Para*Doxa is seeking submissions of previously unpublished essays on subjects related to AFRICAN SCIENCE FICTION In 2010, Pumzi, the first Kenyan science fiction movie, won the best short film award at the Cannes Independent Film Festival, and the South African co-production District 9 was nominated for multiple Oscars. In 2011, Nigerian-American Nnedi Okorafor became the […]

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Interview with Robin R. Means Coleman on Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present

November 27th, 2011 | Posted in cultural studies, George Romero, horror, race

It is a great privilege to read and reflect on horror in its multiple manifestations and layers of meaning. Not all of this is pleasant, but it is nevertheless enjoyable. This is the case with the book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present (Routledge, 2011) by Robin R. Means […]

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Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films

June 29th, 2011 | Posted in cultural studies, horror, race

There is a new book that explores an important facet of horror. The book is Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from 1890 to the Present (Routledge, 2011), by Robin R. Means Coleman. From King Kong to Candyman, the boundary-pushing genre of the horror film has always been a site for provocative explorations of […]

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