The Science Fiction Film in Contemporary Hollywood: A Social Semiotics of Bodies and Worlds (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781501380204)

The Science Fiction Film in Contemporary Hollywoodfocuses on the American science fiction (SF) film during the period 2001-2020, in order to provide a theoretical mapping of the genre in the context of Conglomerate Hollywood. Using a social semiotics approach in a systematic corpus of films, the book argues that the SF film can be delineated by two semiotic squares -the first one centering on the genre's more-than-human ontologies (SF bodies), and the second one focusing on its imaginative worlds (SF worlds). Based on this theoretical framework, the book examines the genre in six cycles, which are placed in their historical context, and are analyzed in relation to cultural discourses, such as technological embodiment, race, animal-human relations, environmentalism, global capitalism, and the techno-scientific Empire. By considering these cycles -which include superhero films, creature films, space operas, among others-as expressions of the genre's basic oppositions, the book facilitates the comparison and juxtaposition of films that have rarely been discussed in tandem, offering a new perspective on the multiple articulations of the SF film in the new millennium.

Author: Evdokia Stefanopoulou
ISBN-10: 1501380206
ISBN-13: 9781501380204
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Language: English
Published: 02/20/2025
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.71lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.50d