The New Peplum

Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s

Buch | Softcover

242 Seiten

2017
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-6762-1 (ISBN)

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Are you not entertained?” These are the prophetic words of Gladiator's Maximus Decimus Meridius, signifying that a new era of sword and sandal films and television shows that began in the 1990s, had officially arrived. This collection of essays examines the neo-peplum phenomenon, taking a critical look at a variety of topics.

Peplum or "sword-and-sandal" films--an Italian genre of the late 1950s through the 1960s--featured ancient Greek, Roman and Biblical stories with gladiators, mythological monsters and legendary quests. The new wave of historic epics, known as neo-pepla, is distinctly different, embracing new technologies and storytelling techniques to create an immersive experience unattainable in the earlier films.

This collection of new essays explores the neo-peplum phenomenon through a range of topics, including comic book adaptations like Hercules, the expansion of genre boundaries in Jupiter Ascending and John Carter, depictions of Romans and slaves in Spartacus, and The Eagle and Centurion as metaphors for America's involvement in the Iraq War.

Nicholas Diak is a pop culture scholar specializing in Italian spy films, post-industrial and synthwave music, and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. He has contributed essays, editorials and reviews to a variety of books, journals, and pop culture websites. He lives in Glendale, Arizona.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword (David R. Coon)

Introduction (Nicholas Diak)

Part One: Crossing the Rubicon: Expanding the Neo-Peplum Boundaries

Adapting to New Spaces: Swords and Planets and the Neo-Peplum (Paul Johnson)

Hercules: Transmedia Superhero Mythology (Djoymi Baker)

From Crowds to Swarms: Movement and Bodies in Neo-Peplum Films (Kevin M. Flanagan)

Part Two: Wisdom from the Gods: Mythological Adaptations

There Are No Boundaries for Our Boats: Vikings and the Westernization of the Norse Saga (Steve Nash)

Sounds of Swords and Sandals: Music in Neo-Peplum BBC Television Docudramas (Nick Poulakis)

Hercules, Xena and Genre: The Methodology Behind the Mashup (Valerie Estelle Frankel)

Part Three: The “Glory” of Rome: Depictions of the Empire

Male Nudity, Violence and the Disruption of Voyeuristic

Pleasure in Starz’s Spartacus (Hannah Mueller)

Sex, Lies and Denarii: Roman Depravity and Oppression in Starz’s Spartacus (Jerry B. Pierce)

In the Green Zone with the Ninth Legion: The Post-Iraq Roman Film (Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.)

Part Four: Sculpted in Marble: Gender and Representation

Laughing at the Body: The Imitation of Masculinity in Peplum Parody Films (Tatiana Prorokova)

Queering the Quest: Neo-Peplum and the Neo-Femme in Xena: Warrior Princess (Haydee Smith)

Afterword (Steven L. Sears)

About the Contributors

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	16.03.2018
Zusatzinfo	notes, bibliographies, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	318 g
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett
ISBN-10	1-4766-6762-4 / 1476667624
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-6762-1 / 9781476667621
Zustand	Neuware