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Description

A Critical Companion to Steven Spielberg offers a comprehensive, detailed study of the works of Steven Spielberg. Spielberg's early productions stand as landmarks in contemporary cinema, and his involvement with film spans all cinematic genres. Today, Spielberg enjoys an immense and enduring popularity around the globe, and his productions have attracted (and continue to attract) both public and critical attention. This book investigates several distinct areas of Spielberg's works and addresses the different approaches and the range of topics invited by the multidimensionality of his oeuvre. The eighteen chapters in this book use different methodologies, offering a variegated and compelling picture of Spielberg's films, from his earliest works such as Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974) to his most recent productions, such as The BFG (2016), The Post (2017), and Ready Player One (2018).

Table of Contents

Part I: The Artist and Philosopher


Chapter 1: “One of the Phenomenal Debut Films in the History of Movies”: The Sugarland Express as Expression of Spielberg’s ‘Movie Sense’ and as Contribution to a Genre Cycle, David LaRocca

Chapter 2: Adapting Objects: Spielberg and the Art of Making Strange, Paul Johnson

Chapter 3: Fear and Wonder: The Lived-Body Experience of Spielberg’s Cinema, Adam Daniel

Chapter 4: Galloping into the Jaws of Death: The Psychology of Animal Symbolism in Jaws and War Horse, Jennifer L. McMahon

Chapter 5: A Million Light Years from Home: Spielberg’s Extraterrestrials, Transhumanism, and Constructions of Alterity, Elizabeth Lowry

Chapter 6: Of Children and Redrums: The Influence of Stanley Kubrick on A.I. and Minority Report, Elsa Colombani


Part II: The Dreamer


Chapter 7: Poiesis and Miracles: From Something Evil to “The Mission,” Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Mariana Soledad Zárate, and Eduardo Veteri

Chapter 8: Deus ex Machina: Spielberg’s Fantastic Visions of Tragedy and Grace, Joshua Sikora

Chapter 9: A Modern Pythia: The Oracle in Minority Report, Sabine Planka

Chapter 10: The Politics of Nostalgia: Reconstructing Epic Heroism in Spielberg’s Amblin’ and Always, Christian Jimenez

Chapter 11: Piracy, Boy Heroes, and the Importance of Playing the Game in Spielberg’s Hook and The Adventures of Tintin, Sue Matheson

Chapter 12: Categorizing E.T., Christopher H. Ketcham


Part III: The Historian


Chapter 13: “I Thought You Were an American”: Spielberg, 1941, and Saving Private Ryan, Sean O’Reilly

Chapter 14: Testimonies of the Past: Spielberg’s Moral Exploration of Racial Discrimination,” Michael Versteeg

Chapter 15: Writing Postmodern Histories in Hollywood: The Portrayal of the Male Characters in Catch Me If You Can, Bridge of Spies, and The Post, Orsolya Karacsony

Chapter 16: Dignified Professor and Intrepid Adventurer: Two Facets of Indiana Jones, Carl Sobocinski

Chapter 17: “We Spared No Expense”: Practical Utopias in Jurassic Park, The Terminal, and Ready Player One,” Carl Sweeney

Chapter 18: Trivialization, Displacement, and Historical Amnesia: The Work of Innocence and Embrace in Empire of the Sun and War of the Worlds, Naaman K. Wood and David J. Strickler

Product details

Published Mar 04 2022
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 294
ISBN 9781498593618
Imprint Lexington Books
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Directors
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Adam Barkman

Anthology Editor

Antonio Sanna

Contributor

Adam Barkman

Contributor

Elsa Colombani

Contributor

Adam Daniel

Contributor

Paul Johnson

Contributor

David LaRocca

Contributor

Elizabeth Lowry

Contributor

Sue Matheson

Sue Matheson is Full Professor of English at the U…

Contributor

Sean O’Reilly

Contributor

Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns

Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns is Professor in the…

Contributor

Sabine Planka

Contributor

Antonio Sanna

Contributor

Joshua Sikora

Contributor

Carl Sobocinski

Contributor

Carl Sweeney

Contributor

Eduardo Veteri

Contributor

Naaman Wood

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