Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe

by Lincoln Geraghty

Overview

There is a wealth of literature on "Star Trek", and this book is a welcome and original contribution to it. The book not only sets "Star Trek" in dialogue with ideas and stories of utopia, community, self-improvement, that are central to American culture and history, but goes further to examine the ways in which these are taken up and used by 'ordinary' fans, who engage with "Star Trek" in complex and significant ways. Lincoln Geraghty explores, for example, "Star Trek's" multiple histories and how "Star Trek" has used the Puritan American Jeremiad, one of the nation's foundational texts to create a narrative that relates how through communal effort and personal change, utopia can be achieved. He discusses how fans define the series as a blueprint for the solution of such social problems in America as racism and war and shows how they have used the series to cope with personal trauma and relate to such characters as Data and Seven of Nine in moments of personal transformation. This is all in all an enjoyable and revealing book on "Star Trek's" active relationship with its many thoughtful fans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845112653
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/15/2007
Edition description:	ANN
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Senior Lecturer in Film Studies in the Department of Creative Arts, Film and Media, University of Portsmouth.

Table of Contents

Contents*Introduction: Living with Star Trek*Part One: "Carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives": History, Myth, and 'Star Trek's*Exemplary Narratives*1. A Look to the Past: Reality and 'Star Trek's Multiple Histories*2. Telling Tales of the Future: 'Star Trek's Exemplary Narratives*3. Creating and Comparing Myth: 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars'*Part Two: "For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us": The American Jeremiad and 'Star Trek's Puritan Legacy*4. "The shifting signs of the
times": The Jeremiad and American Culture*5. A Change in the City: 'Star Trek's Puritan Legacy and the Politics of the Cold War*Part Three: A Network of Support: Identification and Emotion in 'Star Trek' Fan Letters*
6. "A Reason to Live": 'Star Trek's Utopia and Social Change*7. Help when Times are Hard: Coping with Trauma through the 'Star Trek' Community*8. The Pleasure of the 'Trek': Confessions of Self-Improvement and Individualism*Part Four: Fans on Film: Explorations of Future History and 'Star Trek' Fan Culture*9. Poles Apart: Future Time, 'Deep Space Nine' and 'Enterprise's "Faith of the Heart"*10. "Oh my God, it's Real!": Crossing the Frontiers of 'Star Trek' Fandom in 'Galaxy Quest'