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Giant Creatures in Our World
Essays on Kaiju and American Popular Culture
Edited by Camille D.G. Mustachio and Jason Barr
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Book Presentation:
Dismissed as camp by critics but revered by fans, the kaiju or “strange creature” film has become an iconic element of both Japanese and American pop culture. From homage to parody to advertising, references to Godzilla—and to a lesser extent Gamera, Rodan, Ultraman and others—abound in entertainment media. Godzilla in particular is so ubiquitous, his name is synonymous with immensity and destruction. In this collection of new essays, contributors examine kaiju representations in a range of contexts and attempt to define this at times ambiguous genre.
About the authors:
Camille D.G. Mustachio is an assistant professor of English at Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She is a specialist in medieval and Renaissance literature with research interests in cultural studies, popular culture, and higher education pedagogy. She lives in Richmond, Virginia.
Jason Barr is an associate professor at Blue Ridge Community College. His work has appeared in African American Review, Explicator, The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, and The Journal of Caribbean Literatures, among others. He lives in Weyers Cave, Virginia.
Press Reviews:
"Rampaging monsters are to be taken seriously, and this collection does just that, examining these cultural giants with the gravity they deserve, but also the fun audiences expect"—Bookgasm
"Solid"—popcultureshelf.com
"As Godzilla proved in his ’54 debut, rampaging monsters are to be taken seriously. This collection does just that, examining these cultural giants with the gravity they deserve, but also the fun audiences expect."—Rod Lott, Flick Attack
"An inherently fascinating and impressively informative read"—Midwest Book Review
"A collection of essays as big and impressive as the monsters and heroes it concerns. This anthology will be required reading for fans who love Kaiju, and for scholars who are curious about how our culture views these giant creatures."—John Kenneth Muir, author, The Encyclopedia of Superheroes of Film and Television
See the publisher website: McFarland & Co
> From the same authors:
> On a related topic:
Japan's Green Monsters (2018)
Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema
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21st Century Kaiju (2023)
The Resurgence of Giant Monster Movies
The Truths of Monsters (2021)
Coming of Age with Fantastic Media
Magic, Monsters, and Make-Believe Heroes (2019)
How Myth and Religion Shape Fantasy Culture
Dinosaurs Ever Evolving (2016)
The Changing Face of Prehistoric Animals in Popular Culture
Prehistoric Monsters (2009)
The Real and Imagined Creatures of the Past That We Love to Fear
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