Aliens

A Companion

Author: Simon Bacon and Elana Gomel Series: Genre Fiction and Film Companions

Paperback

This book is the first of its kind to explore the role of aliens in popular culture from a global and multidisciplinary perspective. Exploring topics such as gender, posthumanity, religion and more, ranging from India to Latin America, Africa to China, the book offers a fresh look at our intriguing fascination with extraterrestrial life.

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Summary

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This book is the first of its kind to explore the role of aliens in popular culture from a global and multidisciplinary perspective. Space aliens are everywhere: from cinematic franchises, such as Star Wars, to bestselling novels; from religious cults to conspiracy theories; from UFO subcultures to SETI deep-space explorations. But until now, there has never been a comprehensive analysis of the role and significance of alien representations in popular culture across the globe. This book fills this gap. It discusses images of extraterrestrial intelligence in science fiction literature, cinema and video games. It addresses issues such aliens and media, the relationship between aliens and posthumanity, aliens and gender, and aliens in/as religion. Ranging from The War of the Worlds to Star Trek, and from India to Latin America, Africa to China, this collection offers a fresh look at the intriguing cultural phenomenon of our growing fascination with extraterrestrial life.

About the Author

Elana Gomel is an academic, specialising in narratology of speculative fiction, and an award-winning fiction writer. Her academic books include Science Fiction, Alien Encounters, and the Ethics of Posthumanism: Beyond the Golden Rule (2014), The Palgrave Handbook of Global Fantasy (2023), and Serial Killers and Serial Spectators (2024).

Simon Bacon is a writer and film critic based in Poznań, Poland. He has written and edited over thirty books, including Horror: A Companion (2019), Eco-Vampires (2020), The Undead in the 21st Century: A Companion (2022) and The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire (2024). He is the Series Editor for Genre Fiction and Film Companions and Vampire Studies: New Perspectives on the Undead with Peter Lang.