Book chapter
Horror, Crisis, and Control: Tales of Facing Evils
The Politics of Horror, pp.17-31
Springer International Publishing
06/27/2020
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-42015-4_2
Abstract
Crisis theory comes from diverse politics. All warn of political illegitimacy, dystopian society, or civilizational collapse. So encompassing are these troubles that we typically fail to sense our jeopardy straightforwardly. Crisis theory connects historical dynamics with everyday realities to reveal what monstrous developments await us ordinary people. Popular horror joins crisis theory in facing realities gone radically wrong. The stakes are ultimate: often the soul, even the world. The challenge is to face and defeat evils. Horror seeks to recognize our evils soon and skillfully enough to thwart them. Stephen King and Peter Straub are especially good at this. They sideline theoretical abstractions of crisis theory with provocative details and potent symbols for our everyday lives. Thus they do crisis theory by other, better means. They face ours as times of terrible troubles, yet with figures more engaging and practical than many theories of civilizational crisis.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Horror, Crisis, and Control: Tales of Facing Evils
- Creators
- John S Nelson
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- The Politics of Horror, pp.17-31
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-030-42015-4_2
- Publisher
- Springer International Publishing; Cham
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/27/2020
- Academic Unit
- International Programs; Graduate College Operations Distr; Political Science
- Record Identifier
- 9984077375802771
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