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The End of the World: Apocalypse and its Aftermath in Western Culture

The End of the World: Apocalypse and its Aftermath in Western Culture Maria Manuel Lisboa
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This book is a tour de force, full of wonderful insights [...] Professor Lisboa is equally at ease when discussing a film like King Kong as when considering a fine point by Derrida, a dramatic passage from Beckett or a picture by Hieronymus Bosch. This is a timely book for the uncertain times in which we live. Its scholarly credentials are unquestionable, its erudition impressive, its analysis sharp and illuminating, and its expression elegant.
— Prof Peter W. Evans, Queen Mary, University of London

Our fear of the world ending, like our fear of the dark, is ancient, deep-seated and perennial. It crosses boundaries of space and time, recurs in all human communities and finds expression in every aspect of cultural production – from pre-historic cave paintings to high-tech computer games.

This book examines historical and imaginary scenarios of Apocalypse, the depiction of its likely triggers, and imagined landscapes in the aftermath of global destruction. Its discussion moves effortlessly from classic novels including Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, to blockbuster films such as Blade Runner, Armageddon and The Terminator. The author also takes into account religious doctrine, scientific research and the visual arts to create a penetrating, multi-disciplinary study that provides profound insight into one of Western culture’s darkest and most enduring preoccupations.

St. John's College, University of Cambridge, has generously contributed towards the publication of this volume.


The End of the World: Apocalypse and its Aftermath in Western Culture
Maria Manuel Lisboa | October 2011
xxv + 194 | 24 black and white illustrations | 6.14" x 9.21" (234 x 156 mm)
ISBN Paperback: 9781906924508
ISBN Hardback: 9781906924515
ISBN Digital (PDF): 9781906924522
ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 9781906924614
ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 9781906924621
DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0015
BIC subject codes: JFC (Cultural Studies), DS (Literature: History and criticism), AP (Film, TV and Radio)


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Prologue

Chapter 1
Apocalypse Now and Again

Chapter 2
The World Gone M.A.D.

Chapter 3
And Then There Was Nothing: Is The End Ever Really The End?

Chapter 4
Falling out with Hal and Hester

Chapter 5
Dying of Happiness: Utopia at the End of this World

Afterword
Libera Me, Domine, De Vita Æterna

Maria Manuel Lisboa is Professor of Portuguese Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge. She is the author of seven books and of articles on Portuguese, Brazilian and Lusophone African and comparative literature, film and the visual arts. Her work focuses on themes of gender and national identity and has been awarded two prizes: the Prémio do Grémio Literário in Portugal for a monograph on the nineteenth-century writer José Maria Eça de Queirós, and the Itamaraty Prize in Brazil for an essay on the Brazilian author Lygia Fagundes Telles. The End of the World: Apocalypse and its Aftermath in Western Culture is her first book to focus on literature and film in English. With OBP she has also published Essays on Paula Rego: Smile When You Think About Hell.