Living with Star Trek : American culture and the Star Trek universe / Lincoln Geraghty.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Geraghty, Lincoln, 1977-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Star Trek fiction--Social aspects--United States.

Star Trek fiction.

Star Trek films--Social aspects--United States.

Star Trek films.

Star Trek television programs--Social aspects--United States.

Star Trek television programs.

Science fiction fans--United States.

Science fiction fans.

Social aspects.

United States.

Genre:

Star Trek fiction.

Physical Description:

viii, 232 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris ; New York : Distributed in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Summary:

Lincoln Geraghty has written an original and revelatory contribution to the world of Star Trek. He sets Star Trek in dialogue with ideas and stories of utopia, community and self-improvement that are central to American culture and history. He goes on to examine the ways in which these are taken up and used by fans, who engage with Star Trek's different series and films in complex and significant ways.

The book first examines Star Trek's use of history, narrative and myth to tell its futuristic stories: referring back to the past to prophesy a better future. It reveals in particular how Star Trek has used the Puritan American Jeremiad, one of the American nation's foundational texts, to create a narrative that relates how through communal effort and personal change, utopia can be attained. The book goes on to discuss how fans, informed by these stories and myths, tap into Star Trek to fulfil needs and desires in their own daily lives - to cope, for example, with personal trauma. They relate, too, to characters like Data and Seven of Nine in moments of personal transformation. Fans also truly engage in a reciprocal relationship with the programme, where they can criticise it as well as use it as a form of motivation, and they go outside their own lives to define the series as a blueprint for the solution of such social problems in America as racism and war. This is an enjoyable and very revealing book on Star Trek's active relationship with its many thoughtful fans.

Contents:

Introduction: Living with Star Trek 1

Part I 'Carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives': History, Myth, and Star Trek's Exemplary Narratives 17

1 A Look to the Past: Reality and Star Trek's Multiple Histories 21

2 Telling Tales of the Future: Star Trek's Exemplary Narratives 39

3 Creating and Comparing Myth: Star Trek and Star Wars 55

4 'For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us': The American Jeremiad and Star Trek's Puritan Legacy 68

Part II A Network of Support: Identification and Emotion in Star Trek Fan Letters 87

5 'A reason to live': Star Trek's Utopia and Social Change 91

6 Help When Times are Hard: Coping with Trauma through the Star Trek Community 103

7 The Pleasure of the Trek: Confessions of Self-Improvement and Individualism 116

Part III Fans on Film: Explorations of Future History and Star Trek Fan Culture 129

8 Poles Apart: Future Time, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise's 'Faith of the Heart' 133

9 'Oh my God, it's real!': Crossing the Frontiers of Star Trek Fandom in Galaxy Quest 146

Epilogue: Bringing the Memory to Life 165.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [206]-222) and index.

Includes filmography.

ISBN:

1845114213

9781845114213

1845112652

9781845112653

OCLC:

74525330