The New Peplum

Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s

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Edited by Nicholas Diak

Type: Studies
Subject: Genre > Historical films
Keywords: peplum, historical films, modernism
Publishing date: 2018
Publisher: McFarland & Co
Collection: McFarland Classics
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 242 pages
6 x 9 inches (15 x 23 cm)

ISBN

978-1-4766-6762-1

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Book Presentation:
Peplum or “sword-and-sandal” films—an Italian genre of the late 1950s through the 1960s—featured ancient Greek, Roman and Biblical stories with gladiators, mythological monsters and legendary quests. The new wave of historic epics, known as neo-pepla, is distinctly different, embracing new technologies and storytelling techniques to create an immersive experience unattainable in the earlier films. This collection of new essays explores the neo-peplum phenomenon through a range of topics, including comic book adaptations like Hercules, the expansion of genre boundaries in Jupiter Ascending and John Carter, depictions of Romans and slaves in Spartacus, and The Eagle and Centurion as metaphors for America’s involvement in the Iraq War.

About the Author:
Nicholas Diak is a pop culture scholar specializing in Italian spy films, post-industrial and synthwave music, and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. He has contributed essays, editorials and reviews to a variety of books, journals, and pop culture websites. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Press Reviews:
“Remarkable…each chapter is a scholastic adventure featuring fresh and provocative topics…detailed historical context and insightful close-readings of the films and television episodes…a welcomed addition”—Journal of American Culture
“[The genre] has seen a major revitalization on screens both large and small…brings much-needed scholarly attention to the titular genre”—Journal of Popular Film and Television
“The peplum genre fulfilled my classic mythological niche…it’s relevant to look back on these movies now”—Steven L. Sears, writer and co-executive producer, Xena: Warrior Princess

See the publisher website: McFarland & Co

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