Women of Ice and Fire: Gender, Game of Thrones and Multiple Media Engagements

by Anne Gjelsvik (Editor), Rikke Schubart (Editor)

Overview

George R.R. Martin's acclaimed seven-book fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire is unique for its strong and multi-faceted female protagonists, from teen queen Daenerys, scheming Queen Cersei, child avenger Arya, knight Brienne, Red Witch Melisandre, and many more. The Game of Thrones universe challenges, exploits, yet also changes how we think of women and gender, not only in fantasy, but in Western culture in general.

Divided into three sections addressing questions of adaptation from novel to television, female characters, and politics and female audience engagement within the GoT universe, the interdisciplinary and international lineup of contributors analyze gender in relation to female characters and topics such as genre, sex, violence, adaptation, as well as fan reviews. The genre of fantasy was once considered a primarily male territory with male heroes. Women of Ice and Fire shows how the GoT universe challenges, exploits, and reimagines gender and why it holds strong appeal to female readers, audiences, and online participants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501302893
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/07/2016
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Anne Gjelsvik is Professor in Film Studies in the Department of Art and Media Studies at Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. Her research includes popular cinema, film violence, representation of gender in the media, and adaptation studies. Among her recent publications are Eastwood's Iwo Jima: A Critical Engagement with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima (2013, co-edited with Rikke Schubart) and Adaptation Studies: New Challenges, New Directions (2013).

Rikke Schubart is Associate Professor in Media Studies at the Institute for the Study of Culture, University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark. Her research focuses on gender, genre, and emotions in cinema and media. Schubart's publications include Mastering Fear: Women, Emotions, and Contemporary Horror (forthcoming), Eastwood's Iwo Jima: A Critical Engagement with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima (2013, co-edited with Anne Gjelsvik), and Super Bitches and Action Babes: The Female Hero in Popular Cinema, 1970-2006 (2007).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Rikke Schubart, University of Southern Denmark, & Anne Gjelsvik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Adapting Sex: Cultural Conceptions of Sexuality in Words and Images
Mariah Larsson, Stockholm University, Sweden

Adapting Desire: Wives, Prostitutes, and Smallfolk
Shannon Wells-Lassagne, Université de Bretagne Sud, France

Unspeakable Acts of (Sexual) Terror as/in Quality Television
Anne Gjelsvik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Sworn Swords and Noble Ladies: Female Characters in Game of Thrones Video Games
Felix Schröter, Universität Hamburg, Germany

Woman With Dragons: Daenerys, Pride, and Postfeminist Possibilities
Rikke Schubart, University of Southern Denmark

Power Play and Family Ties: Hybrid Fantasy, Network Narrative, and Female Characters
Helle Kannik Haastrup, Roskilde University, Denmark

Mother, Maiden, Crone: Motherhood in Westeros
Marta Eidsvåg, freelance writer, UK

Women Warriors From Chivalry to Vengeance
Yvonne Tasker, University of East Anglia, UK, & Lindsay Steenberg, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Female Machiavellians in Westeros
Elizabeth Beaton, Australian National University, Australia

The Expert Female Fan Recap on YouTube
Susana Tosca, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, & Lisbeth Klastrup, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

“I'm Not Going to Fight Them, I'm Going to Fuck Them”: Sexist Liberalism and Gender (A)Politics in Game of Thrones
Stéphanie Genz, Edge Hill University, UK

About the Contributors

Full Bibliography

Index