A History and Theory of the Post-Apocalyptic Genre In
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VISIONS OF AFTER THE END: A HISTORY AND THEORY OF THE POST-APOCALYPTIC GENRE IN LITERATURE AND FILM by BRETT SAMUEL STIFFLEMIRE JEREMY BUTLER, COMMITTEE CHAIR JASON BLACK SUZANNE HORSLEY KRISTEN WARNER FRED WHITING A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication & Information Sciences in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2017 Copyright Brett Samuel Stifflemire 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT Textual genre criticism and close readings of novels and films reveal that, in addition to chronicling catastrophes’ aftermaths, the post-apocalyptic genre envisions a future world in which traditional apocalyptic ideology is inadequate and unsatisfactory. While the full apocalyptic trajectory traditionally includes an end met by a new beginning, moments of cultural crisis have questioned the efficacy of apocalyptic metanarratives, allowing for a divergent, post- apocalyptic imagination that has been reflected in various fictional forms. The post-apocalyptic genre imagines a post-cataclysmic world cobbled together from the remnants of our world and invites complicated participation as readers and viewers engage with a world that resembles our own yet is bereft of our world’s meaning-making structures. The cultural history of the genre is traced through early nineteenth-century concerns about plagues and revolutions; fin-de-siècle anxieties and the devastation of the First World War; the post- apocalyptic turn in the cultural imagination following the Second World War, the atomic bombs, and the Holocaust; the Cold War and societal tensions of the 1960s and 1970s; late twentieth- century nationalism and relaxation of Cold War tension; and renewed interest in post- apocalypticism following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Textual analysis reveals that the genre is particularly interested in formal experimentation and other postmodernist ideas, carnivalesque transgression, and concerns about survivorship and community. The mobilization of these themes is examined in case studies of the novella “A Boy and His Dog,” the novels The Quiet Earth and The Road, and the films Idaho Transfer, Night of the Comet, and Mad Max: Fury Road. ii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to Nana, Grandma, and Grandpa, who passed from this life while I was working on this project. Thank you for always being sunshine, even during times of shadow. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to have these few words to thank those who helped bring this dissertation to fruition. I would not have made it to this point without the encouragement of family, friends, and numerous faculty members. I would like to thank Jeremy Butler, my dissertation committee chair, for his guidance through this process and for his suggestions as my cloud of thoughts began to take shape on the page. I also express my appreciation to my other committee members for their individual contributions: Jason Black, Suzanne Horsley, Kristen Warner, and Fred Whiting. I am grateful to each committee member for bringing a unique perspective to this project. I would also like to thank Darl Larsen for introducing me to several of the texts that I discuss in this dissertation, texts that sowed the seeds for this study. Most importantly, I must thank my family, whose love, support, and encouragement have sustained me. I extend my sincerest love and gratitude to my parents, especially, for all they have done for me. Mom and Dad, I could not have done this without you. Thank you. iv CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vi CHAPTER 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: Review of Literature and Approaching a Definition of the Post-apocalyptic Genre ................................................................................................................................ 22 CHAPTER 3: A History of the Post-apocalyptic Genre ............................................................. 95 CHAPTER 4: Postmodernism and the Post-apocalyptic Genre ................................................ 180 CHAPTER 5: The Carnivalesque and the Post-apocalyptic World as the Carnival Square ..... 208 CHAPTER 6: Survivorship and Community in the Post-apocalyptic Genre ............................ 239 CHAPTER 7: Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 266 NOTES ....................................................................................................................................... 283 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 286 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................ 294 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Timeline of Post-apocalyptic Texts and Turning Points of the Post-apocalyptic Genre .............................................................................................................................. 294 vi CHAPTER 1: Introduction With the recent release of films such as World War Z (2013), The Hunger Games series (2012-2015), and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and television series like The Walking Dead (2010-present) and Revolution (2012-2014), 21st-century entertainment media (including film, television, print media, and video games) have demonstrated interests in zombies, end-of-the- world themes, dystopian futures, and societal regeneration. These interests have often been labeled as “apocalyptic” and/or “post-apocalyptic,” with little discrimination between the two. This lack of distinct categorization may convey a general idea that all of these texts are concerned with dread, survivalism, and societal transition; however, grouping apocalyptic, post- apocalyptic, and dystopian futuristic texts together in indistinct, ambiguous categories fails to acknowledge their differences. The aim of this dissertation is to undertake a close examination of the common themes and ideology of the post-apocalyptic genre as well as its history. Additionally, as it examines post-apocalyptic as a distinct classification, this study separates the post-apocalyptic genre not only from apocalyptic and futuristic texts but also from the broader science-fiction genre. By so doing, the term “post-apocalyptic” will be given greater critical and generic utility to describe a group of texts that have specific, common themes and concerns. Further, distinguishing post- apocalyptic from apocalyptic will provide the latter term with its own power to identify and describe a group of texts, rather than merely being an ambiguous term applied to any text with a relation to the end of the world. Bounding the post-apocalyptic genre will allow for meaningful 1 discussion with a mutually understood vocabulary and based on a specific definition of the genre. While attempting to narrowly bound the post-apocalyptic genre, I acknowledge that this endeavor is far from the definitive approach to studying these texts. Much of the work currently being done in genre studies seeks to broaden the approach to genre, rather than to delimit it. These more inclusive notions of genre are often offered as attempts to reconcile narrow definitions of genre and arguments that such formulations are subjective and fail to recognize that genres are constantly evolving. The trend in recent genre scholarship toward more expansive and inclusive views of genre formation and definition is necessarily dependent upon the work (as well as the debates and discussion) of those scholars who sought to definitively bound genres. The attempts at narrow definition and characterization have allowed for continued discussion as scholars agree with and/or argue against such definitions. Since there is to date relatively little work that has narrowly defined the post-apocalyptic genre, it is my intention to offer an examination of the genre that, although perhaps not definitive, will contribute to the discussion and scholarship in this area of study. Just as the medium of film has evolved and endured in response to aesthetic, economic, cultural, and technological influences, genres themselves have also changed in response to these influences, and further, genres may be defined differently depending upon which influences are emphasized. Genres can be defined by scholars in an attempt to examine common elements across texts, by distributors to attract audiences by comparing a new text to a previously successful one, and by media producers to create a sort of shorthand relating aspects of a new production to those of previous ones. Therefore, it is difficult to establish definitive generic boundaries that serve all groups equally. For example, an examination of the film musical genre 2 is challenged by a film starring Elvis Presley. A scholar may categorize Jailhouse Rock (1957) as