| American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate and Beyond Contributor(s): Johnson-Smith, Jan (Author) |
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ISBN: 0819567388 ISBN-13: 9780819567383 Publisher: Wesleyan University Press OUR PRICE: $22.46 Product Type: Paperback Published: January 2005 Annotation: From "The Next Generation" and "The X-Files" to "Farscape" and "Enterprise," science fiction television shows have millions of devoted fans. American Science Fiction TV is the first full-length study of this popular genre. Writing with the clarity of a scholar and the enthusiasm of a fan, Jan Johnson-Smith shows how science fiction television has displaced the Western in the American cultural imagination. As advances in special effects have made science fiction television technically feasible on a more lavish scale than ever before, visual style has become as important as narrative--sometimes even more important--in expressing the meaning of the genre. The main part of the book uses case studies of several key science fiction series, including "Space: Above and Beyond," "StarGate SG-1," and "Babylon 5," to exemplify particular narrative patterns and visual styles. The case studies explore themes such as politics, ideology, race and ethnicity, gender difference, militarism, and the use of science fiction narratives as allegories of present-day social and political concerns. American Science Fiction TV opens an important new area of genre studies and will be of interest to scholars and fans alike. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Television - History & Criticism - Social Science | Popular Culture - Performing Arts | Film - General |
| Dewey: 791.456 |
| LCCN: 2005295657 |
| Physical Information: 0.93" H x 5.5" W x 8.52" (0.90 lbs) 308 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Science fiction TV and the American psyche. From "The Next Generation" and "The X-Files" to "Farscape" and "Enterprise," science fiction television shows have millions of devoted fans. American Science Fiction TV is the first full-length study of this popular genre. Writing with the clarity of a scholar and the enthusiasm of a fan, Jan Johnson-Smith shows how science fiction television has displaced the Western in the American cultural imagination. As advances in special effects have made science fiction television technically feasible on a more lavish scale than ever before, visual style has become as important as narrative--sometimes even more important--in expressing the meaning of the genre. The main part of the book uses case studies of several key science fiction series, including "Space: Above and Beyond," "StarGate SG-1," and "Babylon 5," to exemplify particular narrative patterns and visual styles. The case studies explore themes such as politics, ideology, race and ethnicity, gender difference, militarism, and the use of science fiction narratives as allegories of present-day social and political concerns. American Science Fiction TV opens an important new area of genre studies and will be of interest to scholars and fans alike. |