Religious Science Fiction in Battlestar Galactica and Caprica: Women as Mediators of the Sacred and Profane

by Jutta Wimmler

Overview

Why did it seem strange when Battlestar Galactica ended its narrative on a religious note instead of providing a scientific explanation? And what does this have to do with gender? This book explores the connection between the triumph of religion and the dominance of femininity in Battlestar Galactica and its prequel series Caprica. Both series breached science fiction's convention of representing the "irrationality" of femininity and religion. Analyzing the connections (and disconnections) between women and men, and theology and technology, the author argues that the "Battlestarverse" depicts women as zones of contact between the seemingly contradictory spheres of science and religion by simultaneously employing and breaking gender stereotypes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476662534
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	09/08/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jutta Wimmler is a historian and scholar of religion at the European-University Viadrina in Frankfurt, Germany. Her research on religion and popular culture has been published in the Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments delete ix
Introduction delete 1
1. Religious Science Fiction delete 9
2. Saviors: Women Bring Salvation delete 34
3. With God’s Voice: Angels and Prophets delete 56
4. The Religious Machine delete 78
5. “Fallen” Women: Razors and Delusions delete 101
6. Men Without God(s) delete 123
7. Violence and Crisis: Religious Men delete 145
8. The Ambiguity of Dr. Baltar delete 167
Conclusion delete 185
Episode Guide delete 191
Chapter Notes delete 195
Bibliography delete 199
Index delete 211