Memory, Space and Sound presents a collection of essays from scholars in a range of disciplines that together explore the social, spatial and temporal contexts that shape different forms of music and sonic practice. The contributors deploy different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches from musicology, ethnomusicology, popular music studies, cultural history, media studies and cultural studies as they analyse an array of examples, including live performances, mus...

English pop music was a dominant force on the global cultural scene in the decades after World War II – and it served a key role in defining, constructing and challenging various ideas about Englishness in the period. Kari Kallioniemi covers a stunning range of styles of pop – from punk, reggae and psychedelia to jazz, rock, Brit Pop and beyond – as he explores the question of how various artists (including such major figures as David Bowie and Morrissey), genres and pieces of music contri...

Frontiers of Screen History provides an insightful exploration into the depiction and imagination of European borders in cinema after the Second World War. While films have explored national and political borders, they have also attempted to identify, challenge and imagine frontiers of another kind: social, ethnic, religious and gendered. The book investigates all these perspectives. Its unique focus on the representation of European borders and frontiers via film is groundbreaking, openin...

Zombies, vampires and mummies are frequent stars of American horror films. But what does their cinematic omnipresence and audiences’ hunger for such films tell us about American views of death? Here, Outi Hakola investigates the ways in which American living-dead films have addressed death through different narrative and rhetorical solutions during the twentieth century. She focuses on films from the 1930s, including Dracula, The Mummy and White Zombie, films of ...

There is no question that celebrities these days are some of the most prominent faces of philanthropic activity – yet their participation raises questions about efficacy, motivations and activism overall. This book presents case studies of celebrity philanthropy from around the globe – including such figures as Shakira, Arundhati Roy, Zhang Ziyi, Bono and Madonna – looking at the tensions between celebrity activism and ground-level work and the relationship between celebrity philanthropy a...

Horror cinema is a hugely successful, but at the same time culturally illicit genre that spans the history of cinema. It continues to flourish with recent cycles of supernatural horror and torture porn that span the full range of horror styles and aesthetics. It is enjoyed by audiences everywhere, but also seen as a malign influence by others.In this Routledge Film Guidebook, audience researcher and film scholar Brigid Cherry provides a comprehensive overview of the horror film and...

Since 1968's Night of the Living Dead, zombie culture has steadily limped and clawed its way into the center of popular culture. Today, zombies and vampires have taken over TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games, and movies. Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy drags the theories of famous philosophers like Socrates and Descartes into the territory of the undead, exploring questions like: Why do vampires and vegetarians share a similar worldview? Why is understanding z...

Sitting on pins and needles, anxiously waiting to see what will happen next, horror audiences crave the fear and exhilaration generated by a terrifying story; their anticipation is palpable. But they also breathe a sigh of relief when the action is over, when they are able to close their books or leave the movie theater. Whether serious, kitschy, frightening, or ridiculous, horror not only arouses the senses but also raises profound questions about fear, safety, justice, and suffering. Fro...

Noel Carroll, film scholar and philosopher, offers the first serious look at the aesthetics of horror. In this book he discusses the nature and narrative structures of the genre, dealing with horror as a "transmedia" phenomenon. A fan and serious student of the horror genre, Carroll brings to bear his comprehensive knowledge of obscure and forgotten works, as well as of the horror masterpieces. Working from a philosophical perspective, he tries to account for how people can find pleasure i...

Zombie stories are peculiarly American, as the creature was born in the New World and functions as a reminder of the atrocities of colonialism and slavery. The voodoo-based zombie films of the 1930s and '40s reveal deep-seated racist attitudes and imperialist paranoia, but the contagious, cannibalistic zombie horde invasion narrative established by George A. Romero has even greater singularity. This book provides a cultural and critical analysis of the cinematic zombie tradition, starting ...

From vampire apocalypses, shark attacks, witches, and ghosts, to murderous dolls bent on revenge, horror has been part of the American cinematic imagination for almost as long as pictures have moved on screens. But why do they captivate us so? What is the drive to be frightened, and why is it so perennially popular? Why Horror Seduces addresses these questions through evolutionary social sciences. Explaining the functional seduction of horror entertainment, this book draws on cutt...

THINKING THROUGH FILMThinking Through Film provides the best introduction available to the diverse relationships between film and philosophy. Clearly written and persuasively argued, it will benefit students of both film and philosophy.Thomas E. Wartenberg, Mount Holyoke College, author of Thinking on Screen: Film as PhilosophyCox and Levine’s admirable Thinking Through Film picks up where Philosophy Goes to th...