Joss Whedon vs. the Horror Tradition: The Production of Genre in Buffy & Beyond by ed. Woofter & Jowett

38 in stock

215mm x 139mm x 20mm

Pages: 344

Although ostensibly presented as Gǣlight entertainment,Gǥ the work of writer-director-producer Joss Whedon takes much dark inspiration from the horror genre to create a unique aesthetic and perform a cultural critique. Featuring monsters, the undead, as well as drawing upon folklore and fairy tales, his many productions both celebrate and masterfully repurpose the traditions of horror for their own means. Woofter and Jowetts collection looks at how Whedon revisits existing feminist tropes in the 70s and 80s GǣslasherGǥ craze via Buffy the Vampire Slayer to create a feminist saga; the innovative use of silent cinema tropes to produce a new fear-laden, film-television intertext; postmodernist reflexivity in Cabin in the Woods; as well as exploring new concepts on Gǣcosmic dreadGǥ and the sublime for a richer understanding of programmes Dollhouse and Firefly. Chapters provide the historical context of horror as well as the particular production backgrounds that by turns support, constrain or transform this mode of filmmaking. Informed by a wide range of theory from within philosophy, film studies, queer studies, psychoanalysis, feminism and other fields, the expert contributions to this volume prove the enduring relevance of Whedons genre-based universe to the study of film, television, popular culture and beyond.