The Child in Post-Apocalyptic Cinema
Contributions by Eduardo Barros-Grela, María Bobadilla Pérez, Tarah Brookfield, Jennifer Brown, Glen Donnar, Aryak Guha, Mark Heimermann, James M. Hodapp, Frank Jacob, Cassandra L. Jones, Betül Ateşçi Koçak, Eric D. Miller, Debbie Olson, Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon Edited by Debbie Olson
Not available to order
Publication date:
06 March 2015Length of book:
262 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksISBN-13: 9780739194294
The Child in Post-Apocalyptic Cinema interrogates notions of the child as a symbol of futurity and also loss. By exploring the ways children function discursively within a dystopian framework we may better understand how and why traditional notions of childhood are repeatedly tethered to sites of adult conflict and disaster, a connection that often functions to reaffirm the “rightness” of past systems of social order. This collection features critical articles that explore the role of the child character in post-apocalyptic cinema, including classic, recent, and international films, approached from a variety of theoretical, methodological, and cultural perspectives.
The essays in this valuable collection highlight the central but under examined trope of the child in post-apocalyptic cinema as a symbol caught between the competing tensions of nostalgia and futurity. Drawing upon a rich critical tradition, The Child in Post Apocalyptic Cinema theorizes this common figure, considering the child’s role as instrument and agent within this genre and demonstrating the narrative, ethical, and philosophical stakes of its deployment. This is a welcome contribution in the areas of media studies and childhood studies.