The following is the second of a two-part series. The first can be found here. In the reaction to the photographs of Innes and Kardashian, both of which fit only tangentially within the boundaries of selfie, the meaning of “selfie” overruled and defined the means of production by which the…
The following is the first of a two-part series. Epistemologically, recognizing the importance of routines for media use, means that text and context cannot always be distinguished from one another.” —Joke Hermes (1993) Introduction When I think of the selfie, I am always drawn to a particular moment in my…
The following is republished from Religious Theory. It is the last of a three-part series. The first can be found here, the second here. End Times fiction must be distinguished from other literary genres by its conspicuous absence of local color, its lifeless mise-en-scène and, in particular, writing that relays no vivid…
The following is republished from Religious Theory. It is the second of a three-part series. The first can be found here. End Times fiction’s unrelenting focus on human sinfulness and unworthiness, a focus that reflects the defining tenet of fundamentalist anthropology, leaves out of account the doctrine of the Imago Dei.…
The following is republished from Religious Theory. A flaw at the heart of End Times fiction gravely weakens its credibility as Christian literature. Its stock characters lack the degree of interiority required for convincing narratives of encounters with the transcendent. The formulaic style of characterization eviscerates Christian experience. This deficiency…
This article is republished from The New Polis, Dec. 23, 2019. Neil Jordan’s film Byzantium (2012), which tells the story of a pair of mother/daughter vampires on the run from a male-only secret society of vampires known as Brotherhood, has been widely read as a feminist approach to the literary convention of…
A version of this article appeared in Image & Text, Number 31, September 2018. In 2015 Pixar Animation and Disney released Inside Out, a clever, moving film depicting the science of emotion and workings of the inner mind. The film translates cognitive aspects of being human, feeling and memory into…
The following is the second installment of a two-part series. The first can be found here. An abridged version of this text was previously published in Spanish as “Reflexiones sobre las estructuras y estéticas anarquistas en los colectivos culturales”, in Sitesize, ¡Cataluña termina aquí! ¡Aquí empieza Murcia!, Barcelona: Sitesize, 2014The featured…
An abridged version of this text was previously published in Spanish as “Reflexiones sobre las estructuras y estéticas anarquistas en los colectivos culturales”, in Sitesize, ¡Cataluña termina aquí! ¡Aquí empieza Murcia!, Barcelona: Sitesize, 2014 The following is the first installment of a two-part series. The use of the “anarchist” label…
The following is the second installment of a two-part series. The first installment can be found here. The article is published simultaneously with Religious Theory. What specifically sets horror apart from other genres such as fantasy and science fiction? The distinction can be distilled down to the genre’s affect of fear.…