Supernatural, humanity, and the soul : on the highway to hell and back / edited by Susan A. George and Regina M. Hansen.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

George, Susan A., 1959- editor.

Hansen, Regina, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Supernatural (Television program : 2005-2020).

Religion on television.

Physical Description:

xii, 223 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Summary:

Throughout its run the television show Supernatural has delved into social, philosophical, literary, and theological themes - as well as issues related to gender, family, capitalism, and post-modernism - that not only contextualize and add depth to the show's ongoing plot, but also reflect our era's intellectual concerns. The contributors in this collection analyze the ways in which the series represents humanity, the human soul, and will. The show constantly plays with the line between human and monster, between justice and vigilantism, reflecting post-9/11 America's simultaneous acceptance of and unease with issues such as torture and pre-emptive violence. This book both contextualizes Supernatural within the current pop cultural fascination/renaissance of the fantastic and traces its roots in folklore and Biblical narrative, in particular the overarching apocalyptic narrative based in (but also challenging) Judeo-Christian scripture. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction / Regina M. Hansen and Susan A. George

Religion, theology, and philosophy through a Supernatural lens. Deconstructing the apocalypse?: Supernatural's appropriation of angelic hierarchies / Regina M. Hansen

The greatest of these: the theological virtues and the problem of an absent God in Supernatural / Elisabeth G. Wolfe

Suffering nuclear reactors: depictions of the soul from Plato to Supernatural / Patricia Grosse

"We're just . . . food and perverse entertainment": Supernatural's new gods and the narrative objectification of Sam and Dean / K T Torrey

"Killing evil things" or not? Supernatural's complex considerations of monstrosity. All dogs come from hell: Supernatural's canine connection / Sharon D. King

This isn't Wall Street, this is Hell!: corporate America as the biggest Supernatural bad of all / Erin Giannini

The hunter hunted: the portrayal of the fan as predator in Supernatural / Cait Coker and Candace Benefiel

"A shot on the devil": women hunters and the identification of evil in Supernatural / Ralph Beliveau and Laura bolf-Beliveau

All that glitters: the Winchester boys and fairy tales / Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario

Men, women, and Supernatural. A man and his 1967 Impala: Supernatural, U.S. car culture, and the masculinity of Dean Winchester / Susan A. George

"How is that not rape-y": Dean as the anti-bella and feminism without women in Supernatural / Rhonda Nicol

God, the devil, and John Winchester: failed patriarchal families in Supernatural / Charlotte E. Howell

Who's your daddy?: father trumps fate in Supernatural / Lugene Rosen

Metal and rust: postindustrial white masculinity and Supernatural's classic rock canon / Gregory J. Robinson.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781137412553

1137412550

OCLC:

880349764