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Wounded Masculinity and the Search for (Father) Self in American Film
by Susan Mackey-Kallis and Brian Johnston
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Book Presentation:
Drawing on texts and theorists of Greek myth, psychoanalysis, and masculinities, Susan Mackey-Kallis and Brian Johnston develop and offer a model of rhetorical and mythic criticism to analyze popular American film. In this book, Mackey-Kallis and Johnston focus their analysis on films that point to the need for father atonement, ego-decentering, and the resurrection of the lost feminine to heal our collective gendered cultural wounds. Many of these “mystic” films, they contend, affirm the role of meaningful suffering, compassion, integration of the feminine, self-sacrifice, and transcendence as antidotes to the inevitable woundedness of the human condition. Ultimately, the authors argue for the importance of digging into the substance of cultural wounds – rather than superficially suturing them over – to change the conversation about woundedness and provide a roadmap for healing gendered relations in contemporary American culture. The book concludes with a discussion of Joseph Campbell’s interpretation of the metaphorical power of myth and its transcendent function to argue for a theory of “us”, rather than a theory of “us versus them.” Scholars of film, gender studies, American studies, cultural studies, gender studies, and psychology will find this book of particular interest.
About the authors:
Susan Mackey-Kallis is professor in the Department of Communication at Villanova University.Brian Johnston is assistant professor of communication in the Department of Language and Literature at Glenville State University.
Press Reviews:
Offering vivid critique throughout the volume, Susan Mackey-Kallis and Brian Johnston acutely analyze how gender, race, and class intersect to create complex identities via narrative film. Sophisticated theory and savvy use of current events allows the authors to offer both rich insights into the films analyzed—films that range from Marvel movies to art house classics—as well as ideas about how viewers might respond to those films individually and culturally. The authors’ engaging style and thoughtful analysis of each film made me want to jump immediately to the next chapter.
-- Jimmie Manning, University of Nevada
Drawing upon the works of Robert Johnson, Emma Jung, Kenneth Burke, and Joseph Campbell, Wounded Masculinity takes a critical look at the crisis of masculinity in America through film. Susan Mackey-Kallis and Brian Johnston unpack stories of male trauma, the search for a father figure, and the potential of healing, transformation, and transcendence in popular movies such as There will be Blood (2007), Moonlight (2016), Iron Man (2008), and Ad Astra (2019). Overall, an insightful exploration of masculinity in film that combines psychoanalysis, rhetorical theory, and myth.
-- Stephanie L. Young, University of Southern Indiana
See the publisher website: Lexington Books
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