The Literary Galaxy Of Star Trek

How is the android Data like Shakespeare's character Hamlet? Is the vengeful Khan (original series episode "Space Seed" and the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) an echo of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick? The links between Star Trek and literature are vast: themes and characters that reflect those in classic literature; characters that quote literature in their dialog; and an enormous body of nonfiction books, novels, articles that have grown from the saga. Finally, like literature, Star Trek seeks to help in the human endeavor of understanding the world and its place in the universe. This book explores all of those connections. The Next Generation's Captain Picard frequently quotes Shakespeare. Captain Janeway from Voyager reenacts literature in holodeck novels. Jake Sisko, son of Deep Space Nine's Commander Benjamin Sisko, becomes an award-winning writer. Beginning with Captain James T. Kirk's first appearance in the original series, then continuing through four subsequent series and ten movies, this book draws parallels between Star Trek stories and literary classics such as Hamlet, Paradise Lost, Ulysses, Dracula, and the New Testament, and works by the likes of Booker T. Washington, Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare. Appendices list the literary works discussed and the episodes and movies mentioned, each giving the chapters where references can be found.

Since it first aired in 1966, Star Trek has led American television into a more progressive era by presenting a diverse cast interacting as equals, demonstrating expertise and efficiency as they lead a starship across the galaxy. To this day, the Star Trek franchise strives to inspire viewers to find beauty in diversity and progress. In Social Movements and the Collective Identity of the Star Trek Fandom: Boldly Going Where No Fans Have Gone Before, David G. LoConto explores the development of the Star Trek fandom from its uncertain beginnings in the 1960s, to the popularity explosion in the 1990s and its triumphant return in 2017. LoConto analyzes the cultural phenomena of Star Trek through a social psychological approach, using symbolic interactionist and strategic ritualization theories, as well as ideas from Habermas and Foucault to track the fandom’s movements, values, and evolution.

First published in 1897, H.G. Wells's alien invasion narrative The War of the Worlds was a landmark work of science fiction and one that continues to be adapted and referenced in the 21st century. Chronicling the novel's contexts, its origins and its many multi-media adaptations, this book is a complete biography of the life – and the afterlives – of The War of the Worlds. Exploring the original text's compelling sense of place and vivid recreation of Wells's Woking home and the concerns of fin-de-siécle Britain, the book goes on to chart the novel's immediate international impact. Starting with the initial serialisations in US newspapers, Peter Beck goes on to examine Orson Welles's legendary 1938 radio adaptation, TV and film adaptations from George Pal to Steven Spielberg, Jeff Wayne's rock opera and the numerous other works that have taken their inspiration from Wells's original. Drawing on new archival research, this is a comprehensive account of the continuing impact of The War of the Worlds.

For 50 years, Star Trek has been an inspiration to its fans around the world, helping them to dream of a better future. This inspiration has entered our culture and helped to shape much of the technology of the early 21st Century. The contributors to this volume are researchers and teachers in a wide variety of disciplines; from Astrophysics to Ethnology, from English and History to Medicine and Video Games, and from American Studies to the study of Collective Computing Systems. What the authors have in common is that some version of Star Trek has inspired them, not only in their dreams of what may be, but in the ways in which they work - and teach others to work - here in the real world. Introduced with references to Star Trek films and television shows, and illustrated with original cartoons, each of the 15 chapters included in this volume provides insights into research and teaching in this range of academic fields.

Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction is a collection of engaging essays on some of the most significant figures who have shaped and defined the genre. Diverse groups within the science fiction community are represented, from novelists and film makers to comic book and television writers. Important and influential names discussed include: Octavia Butler George Lucas Robert Heinlein Gene Roddenberry Stan Lee Ursula K. Le Guin H.G. Wells This outstanding reference guide charts the rich and varied landscape of science fiction and includes helpful and up-to-date lists of further reading at the end of each entry. Available in an easy to use A-Z format, Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction will be of interest to students of Literature, Film Studies, and Cultural Studies.

Since the publication of Dracula in 1897, Bram Stoker's original creation has been a source of inspiration for artists, writers, and filmmakers. From Universal's early black-and-white films and Hammer's Technicolor representations that followed, iterations of Dracula have been cemented in mainstream cinema. This anthology investigates and explores the far larger body of work coming from sources beyond mainstream cinema reinventing Dracula. Draculas, Vampires and Other Undead Forms assembles provocative essays that examine Dracula films and their movement across borders of nationality, sexuality, ethnicity, gender, and genre since the 1920s. The essays analyze the complexity Dracula embodies outside the conventional landscape of films with which the vampire is typically associated. Focusing on Dracula and Dracula-type characters in film, anime, and literature from predominantly non-Anglo markets, this anthology offers unique perspectives that seek to ground depictions and experiences of Dracula within a larger political, historical, and cultural framework.

In 2016, Star Trek--arguably the most popular science fiction franchise of all time--turned 50. During that time the original series and its various offshoots have created some of the genre's most iconic characters and reiterated a vision of an egalitarian future where humans no longer discriminate against race, gender or sexuality. This collection of new essays provides a timely study of how well Star Trek has lived up to its own ideals of inclusivity and equality, and how well prepared it is to boldly go with everyone into the next half century.

Though he published just a handful of major works in his lifetime, James Joyce (1882–1941) continues to fascinate readers around the world and remains one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century. The complexity of Joyce’s style has attracted—and occasionally puzzled—generations of readers who have succumbed to the richness of his literary world. This literary companion guides readers through his four major works—Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake—with chapter-by-chapter discussions and critical inquiry. An A to Z format covers the works, people, history and context that influenced his writing. Appendices summarize notable Joycean literary criticism and biography, and also discuss significant films based on his work.