Digitally remythicised
Star Wars, modern popular mythology, and Madam and Eve
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20156590 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jessica Tiffin (University of Cape Town, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 66-80 |
| Publication date | 1999-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387 |
| Publisher | Unisa Press (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02564719908530216 |
| OpenAlex | W1995404014 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 4 |
The successful re‐release of George Lucas's Star Wars films has confirmed their popular appeal. Such an appeal can be traced to the films’ employment of popular cultural collage as much as to their investment in the initiatory scenarios of older forms such as myth, epic and folklore, which are integral to the space opera genre. Following the re‐release, the treatment of Star Wars in the popular South African comic strip Madam and Eve suggests that the films’ mythologies have some role to play in the “New South Africa”. Close analysis of a Mail and Guardian strip and five Cape Times strips reveals an acute and cynical use of the Star Wars mythologies to comment on contemporary politics. Play with the concepts of a “digitally remastered” new version of the films is used to highlight flaws in the concepts of moral reform in a “New South Africa”, and the juxtaposition of the destruction of the Death Star with the TRC allows the strip to problematise issues of moral polarity and guilt. The functioning of the films as a recognisable popular mythology is thus demonstrated
Appeal · Art · Art history · Astrophysics · Comic strip · Comics · Folklore · Hollywood · Literature · Madam · Movie theater · Mythology · Opera · Physics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Digital Games and Media · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · History · Law
| Citations per year | 0.14 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2004 - 2021 (18) |
| Highly cited | No |