The Afterlife in Popular Culture: Heaven, Hell, and the Underworld in the American Imagination
byKevin O'Neill is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Redlands. In 1969, he cofounded the Johnston Center for Individualized Study.
20220630
Greenwood
Pages | 392 |
Topics | Afterlife;Near Death Experiences;Hell;Heaven;American Gods;Beetlejuice;Black Mirror – "San Junipero";Coco;The Good Place;Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory;Near-Death Experiences;The OA;Resurrection;Souls;The Walking Dead;Popular Culture: Media, Television, and Radio |
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eBook
9781440868597
MLA
O'Neill, Kevin. The Afterlife in Popular Culture: Heaven, Hell, and the Underworld in the American Imagination. Greenwood, 2022. ABC-CLIO, publisher.abc-clio.com/9781440868597.
Chicago Manual of Style
O'Neill, Kevin. The Afterlife in Popular Culture: Heaven, Hell, and the Underworld in the American Imagination. Greenwood, 2022. http://publisher.abc-clio.com/9781440868597
APA
O'Neill, Kevin. (2022). The Afterlife in Popular Culture: Heaven, Hell, and the Underworld in the American Imagination. Retrieved from http://publisher.abc-clio.com/9781440868597
- Description
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The Afterlife in Popular Culture: Heaven, Hell, and the Underworld in the American Imagination</i> gives students a fresh look at how Americans view the afterlife, helping readers understand how it's depicted in popular culture.
What happens to us when we die? The book seeks to explore how that question has been answered in American popular culture. It begins with five framing essays that provide historical and intellectual background on ideas about the afterlife in Western culture. These essays are followed by over 100 entries, each focusing on specific cultural products or authors that feature the afterlife front and center. Entries topics include novels, film, television shows, plays, works of nonfiction, graphic novels, and more, all of which address some aspect of what may await us after our passing.
This book is unique in marrying a historical overview of the afterlife with detailed analyses of particular cultural products, such as films and novels. In addition, it covers these topics in nonspecialist language, written with a high school and college audience in mind. The book provides historical context for contemporary depictions of the afterlife addressed in the entries, which deal specifically with work produced in the 20th and 21st centuries.
- Provides readers with an encyclopedic treatment of the afterlife in American popular culture, without any religious or moral biases</li>
- Connects depictions of the afterlife with general social trends</li>
- Contests the idea that Americans fear death by showing the plethora of examples of the afterlife shown in film, television, and more</li>
- Presents a serious analysis of vampires, zombies, and other fictional archetypes without becoming hyper-academic or humorous</li>
</ul>
- Provides readers with an encyclopedic treatment of the afterlife in American popular culture, without any religious or moral biases</li>
- Table of Contents
-
Table of Contents
The Afterlife in Popular Culture: Heaven, Hell, and the Underworld in the American Imagination
Author(s): O'Neill, Kevin;Contributors: O'Neill, Kevin;Abstract:The Afterlife in Popular Culture: Heaven, Hell, and the Underworld in the American Imagination</i> gives students a fresh look at how Americans view the afterlife, helping readers understand how it's depicted in popular culture.
What happens to us when we die? The book seeks to explore how that question has been answered in American popular culture. It begins with five framing essays that provide historical and intellectual background on ideas about the afterlife in Western culture. These essays are followed by over 100 entries, each focusing on specific cultural products or authors that feature the afterlife front and center. Entries topics include novels, film, television shows, plays, works of nonfiction, graphic novels, and more, all of which address some aspect of what may await us after our passing.
This book is unique in marrying a historical overview of the afterlife with detailed analyses of particular cultural products, such as films and novels. In addition, it covers these topics in nonspecialist language, written with a high school and college audience in mind. The book provides historical context for contemporary depictions of the afterlife addressed in the entries, which deal specifically with work produced in the 20th and 21st centuries.
- Provides readers with an encyclopedic treatment of the afterlife in American popular culture, without any religious or moral biases</li>
- Connects depictions of the afterlife with general social trends</li>
- Contests the idea that Americans fear death by showing the plethora of examples of the afterlife shown in film, television, and more</li>
- Presents a serious analysis of vampires, zombies, and other fictional archetypes without becoming hyper-academic or humorous</li>
</ul>
SortTitle: afterlife in popular culture: heaven, hell, and the underworld in the american imaginationAuthor Info:Kevin O'NeillauthorKevin O'Neill is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Redlands. In 1969, he cofounded the Johnston Center for Individualized Study.
eISBN-13: 9781440868597Cover Image URL: ~~FreeAttachments/9781440868597.jpgPrint ISBN-13: 9781440868580Imprint: GreenwoodPages: 392Publication Date: 20220630- Cover Cover11
- Title Page iii4
- Copyright iv5
- Table of Contents v6
- Preface xi12
- Introduction xiii14
- Thematic Essays 128
- Plato and Soul/Body Dualism 330
- Resurrection 1340
- The Undead, Ghosts, Angels, Demons, and Spirits 2552
- Digital Afterlife 4168
- A–Z Entries 5380
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 5582
- “Afterlife“ 5784
- “The Afterlife“ 5986
- The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There’s Life after Death 6188
- All Dogs Go to Heaven 6390
- Always 6693
- American Gods 6895
- Anderson, George 7198
- Angels in America 73100
- Angels in the Outfield 76103
- Beetlejuice 81108
- Before I Fall 84111
- The Bishop’s Wife 86113
- Black Panther 88115
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer 91118
- Cabin in the Sky 95122
- Camille 97124
- Carousel 99126
- City of Angels 101128
- Coco 104131
- Constantine 107134
- Dead Like Me 109136
- Defending Your Life 111138
- Dracula 113140
- Edward, John 117144
- Elsewhere 119146
- Everlost 121148
- Every Day 123150
- Field of Dreams 127154
- The Five People You Meet in Heaven 129156
- Flatliners 131158
- For One More Day 133160
- Forever 135162
- Ghost 139166
- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 141168
- A Ghost Story 143170
- Ghost Town 145172
- Ghost Whisperer 147174
- The Good Place 149176
- Grace: A Novel 152179
- The Green Pastures 155182
- Groundhog Day 156183
- Heaven Can Wait (1943) 161188
- Heaven Can Wait (1978) 162189
- Heaven Is for Real 164191
- Henry, Tyler 167194
- Here Comes Mr. Jordan 169196
- Hereafter 171198
- The Horn Blows at Midnight 174201
- I Am Legend 177204
- I Married an Angel 180207
- I Walked with a Zombie 182209
- If I Stay 184211
- In Heaven as on Earth: A Vision of the Afterlife 186213
- It’s a Wonderful Death 190217
- It’s a Wonderful Life 191218
- The Kominsky Method 195222
- Left Behind (Book Series) 199226
- Left Behind (Film Franchise) 203230
- “Let the Mystery Be 206233
- Let There Be Light 208235
- Life after Death 210237
- Lincoln in the Bardo 212239
- Long Island Medium 215242
- The Lovely Bones 217244
- Lucifer 220247
- Medium 223250
- Michael 225252
- Moody, Raymond 226253
- My Life after Death 229256
- Neal, Mary 233260
- “A Nice Place to Visit" 235262
- 90 Minutes in Heaven 237264
- The OA 241268
- On the Transmigration of Souls 244271
- The Originals 246273
- Outward Bound/Between Two Worlds 248275
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 253280
- Proof of Heaven 255282
- The Rapture 259286
- Rapture-Palooza 261288
- Revival (Comic Book Series) 263290
- Revival (Stephen King) 265292
- Riverworld 268295
- Romero, George 271298
- A Rumor of Angels 274301
- The Shack 277304
- Six Feet Under 279306
- The Sixth Man 281308
- The Sixth Sense 283310
- Sunday Morning Rapture 285312
- Thirteen Reasons Why 289316
- This Is the End 291318
- Touched by an Angel 293320
- True Blood 295322
- Tuck Everlasting 298325
- Twilight 300327
- Unlikely Angel 305332
- The Vampire Chronicles, Part 1 309336
- The Vampire Chronicles, Part 2 312339
- The Vampire Diaries 315342
- Van Praagh, James 317344
- The Walking Dead 321348
- Warm Bodies 324351
- What Dreams May Come 326353
- Where I Want to Be 328355
- White Tears 330357
- White Zombie 332359
- World War Z 335362
- Wristcutters: A Love Story 336363
- Zombieland 339366
- Index 343370
- About the Author 361388
- Provides readers with an encyclopedic treatment of the afterlife in American popular culture, without any religious or moral biases</li>