Investigating Alias: Secrets and Spies

by Stacey Abbott, Simon Brown

Overview

First aired in 2001, "Alias" is a spy drama with a central action heroine, a complex narrative of moral twists, turns, lies and double-crosses, and an imaginative array of gadgets, gizmos and glamorous costumes. It has become a leading cult television series with a loyal fan following. In the wake of 9/11, "Alias'" themes of doubles and duplicity have been perfectly placed to comment on global relations and the personal paranoias of post 9/11 citizens. But as much as "Alias" reflects contemporary global politics, at its core are themes of family and relationships. The series is ending with a bang in 2006 and "Investigating "Alias"" is the first book to give a full and fascinating examination of the series in its entirety, with a complete episode guide. Placing the series within the wider context of American Quality Television and the spy genre, contributors consider the central role of family, race, gender and moral ambiguity in "Alias". They also focus on the creator of "Alias", JJ Abrams, and discuss the development and influence of the fan world beyond the series with in-depth studies of DVD releases, tie-in, fan and slash fiction. is the first book to give a full and fascinating examination of the series in its entirety, with a complete episode guide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755699766
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/29/2007
Series:	Investigating Cult TV
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Stacey Abbott is a Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at Roehampton University and is the editor of Reading Angel: The TV Spin-Off with a Soul (I.B. Tauris, 2005). She is General Editor of the Investigating Cult TV Series with Tauris. Simon Brown is a Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Kingston University. He has published articles on early erotica, British colour films and the Titanic and most recently was Senior Research Fellow for The London Project, mapping the growth of the film industry in London from its origins up to 1914.
Stacey Abbott is Reader in Film and Television Studies at University of Roehampton London, UK.Her most recent publications include Undead Apocalypse: Vampires and Zombies in the 21st Century (2016), TV Horror: Investigating the Dark Side of the Small Screen (I.B. Tauris,2013), co-written with Lorna Jowett, and Supernatural: TV Goes to Hell (2011), co-edited with David Lavery from Middle Tennessee State University. televisual vampire.
She was the Series Editor for the Investigating Cult TV series at I.B. Tauris, comprising sixteen books. Between 2014-2016, she was the President of the Whedon Studies Association and before joining the University of Roehampton, she worked as an Education Officer for the British Film Institute, organising lectures, seminars and conferences as part of the public cinema programme at BFI Southbank.
SIMON BROWN is Director of Studies for Film and Television at Kingston University. His work has been published in the journals Film History, Film Studies, Science Fiction Film and Television, Early Popular Visual Culture and Critical Studies in Television. He is co-editor of Color and the Moving Image: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Archive (2012) (with Sarah Street and Liz Watkins) and author of the Technical Appendix in Sarah Street's Colour Films in Britain: The Negotiation of Innovation 1900–55 (BFI, 2012).

Table of Contents

List of Chapters; 1. Introduction - By Stacey Abbott and Simon Brown (Roehampton University and Kingston University); 2. " 'Left of Real': J.J. Abrams, Alias, and Television Creativity" by David Lavery (Brunel University); 3. "The Show Must Go On...And On: Narrative and Seriality in Alias" Henrik Ornebring (Roehampton University); 4. "Endoscopic Spies: Mapping the Internal Landscape of Alias" by Sergio Angelini (British Universities Film and Video Council); 5. "Sydney Bristow's Full Disclosure: Mythic Structure and the Fear of Motherhood" by Paul Zinder (American University of Rome); 6. "Aliases, Alienation and Agency: The Physical Integrity of Sydney Bristow" by Deborah Finding (London School of Economics) and Alice MacLachlan (Boston University); 7. "Women, Humanism and Violence in Alias and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (College of William and Mary); 8. "The Multicultural Cast of Spies on Alias" by Jennifer Young (Hope College); 9. "You Can't Live With Them...You CAN Shoot Them: The (Thermo)nuclear Family in Alias" by Stacey Abbott and Simon Brown; 10. "The Reflections of Deleuze: An Alias-ed Critique of Truth" by Dyrk Ashton (University of Toledo). 11. "The Good, the Bad and the Justified: Moral Ambiguity in Alias" by Sharon Sutherland (University of British Columbia) and Sarah Swan (University of British Columbia); 12. "The Spy Genre in a post 9/11 Era" by Roz Kaveney (Independent Scholar, Editor of Reading the Vampire Slayer); 13. "The Evolution and Dissolution of the Alias Fandom: A Narrative History" by Hillary Robson-Reeder (Middle Tennesse State University); 14. "A Comparative Look at Alias Fan-Fiction and Media Tie-In Fiction" by Tricia Jenkins (Michigan State University); 15. "Slashing Alias: Viewer Appropriation of Lauren Reed as Commentary on Female/Female Desire" by Linda Baughman (Christopher Newport University) and Michaela D.E. Meyer (Christopher Newport University); 16. "Alias DVD: RE-packaging American Quality Television" by Denzell Richards (Roehampton University) Complete Episode Guide for 'Alias'; Bibliography; Index.