Escape Into the Future
Cultural Pessimism and Its Religious Dimension in Contemporary American Popular Culture
John M Stroup author Glenn W Shuck author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Baylor University Press
Published:15th Oct '07
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Escape into the Future analyzes the power of pessimism, showing links between present-day religious pessimism and the nihilism of popular culture. Stroup and Shuck rummage through an interesting and eclectic body of pop culture--from Fight Club to X-Files to the Left Behind series--pointing out the presence of pessimistic themes throughout. This volume identifies and illuminates the religious language used in these works to articulate America's need to escape from its present cultural path and, ultimately, provide hope that it might do so.
From X-Files and Left Behind to Fight Club and New Age writing, Stroup and Shuck map out a trajectory of growing cultural cynicism embedded within escape fantasies. Such cultural-political pessimism might still be a minority viewpoint in America, but as a variety of real-world correlatives hint, it could also be "near-term cultural prophecy." Here is provocative and engaged reading at its best. --Robert K. Johnston, Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary
The strength of the volume lies in the popular culture material that the authors cover, much of which still has resonance with undergraduate students... Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through graduate students. -- CHOICE
ISBN: 9781932792522
Dimensions: 227mm x 153mm x 24mm
Weight: 490g
333 pages