Apocalypse in Literature

Certain questions naturally arise about those who literally expect the end of the world in our time: Why do they think this? Why do some people believe them? How do their exhortations work to persuade an audience and to mobilize that audience to actions and commitments? These are the motivating questions of this unique volume, which describes apocalyptic as a rhetorical genre of discourse. Brummett first recasts insights drawn from past scholarly and theological studies to feature their relevance to contemporary apocalyptic, then examines a variety of "real" apocalyptic to illustrate the ways in which these rhetorical discourses actually work.

This interesting and unusual collection of essays explores the post-holocaust theme as it has been treated in science fiction and fantasy literature. Seen in a positive mode, this theme offers a powerful metaphor for exploring man's relationship to his social structure. The post-holocaust motif, the editor contends, literally permits the exploration of many sub-topics, such as rebirth, social patterns, evolution, devolution, entropy, history, ecology, ethics, medicine, personal values, and so on.

In this exploration of the relationship between biblical apocalypse and black fiction, Maxine Montgomery argues that American writers see apocalyptic events in an intermediate and secular sense, as a tenable response to racial oppression. This work analyzes the characters, plots, and themes of seven novels that rely on the apocalyptic trope.

This valuable new addition to Melville studies offers a ground-breaking interpretation of Melville's last published novel, one of the most complex texts in American literature and a work that has long been noted for the divergent critical views it has elicited. Reading the novel as a generic hybrid of narrative satire and apolyptic vision, Cook situates the novel in its implicit theological, historical, and biographical contexts: he examines the novel's relation to Melville's heterodox ideas of the deity, to the increasingly commercialized cultural milieu of antebellum America, and to Melville's own life and literary career. Uncovering a wealth of new data on the novel's satirical applications, including its covert use of Melville's friends and family for character models, Cook offers a compelling reading of The Confidence-Man - one that is sure to influence our future conception of its creator.

Fyodor Dostoevsky has often been regarded as a prophet who foretold the rise of totalitarian socialism in Russia. But his political vision had deep spiritual roots. Dostoevsky's searing struggle with the question of God is famously presented in the legend of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov.

This examination and comprehensive assessment of apocalyptic cinema studies fifty films that illustrate the variety, range and different categories of the genre. Apocalyptic films are those that depict, on screen as part of the story, an event threatening the extinction of mankind. A brief overview identifies seven major categories of apocalyptic films: the religious or supernatural, celestial collision, solar or orbital disruption, nuclear war and radioactive fallout, germ warfare or pestilence, alien device or invasion, and scientific miscalculation. Alphabetically arranged entries rate the films and provide production information, an annotated cast listing, a synopsis of the film, a critique, and representative quotes.

In the "twinkling of an eye" Jesus secretly returns to earth and gathers to him all believers. As they are taken to heaven, the world they leave behind is plunged into chaos. Cars and airplanes crash and people search in vain for loved ones. Plagues, famine, and suffering follow. The antichrist emerges to rule the world and to destroy those who oppose him. Finally, Christ comes again in glory, defeats the antichrist and reigns over the earth. This apocalyptic scenario is anticipated by millions of Americans. These millions have made the Left Behind series--novels that depict the rapture and apocalypse--perennial bestsellers, with over 40 million copies now in print. In Rapture Culture, Amy Johnson Frykholm explores this remarkable phenomenon, seeking to understand why American evangelicals find the idea of the rapture so compelling. What is the secret behind the remarkable popularity of the apocalyptic genre? One answer, she argues, is that the books provide a sense of identification and communal belonging that counters the "social atomization" that characterizes modern life. This also helps explain why they appeal to female readers, despite the deeply patriarchal worldview they promote. Tracing the evolution of the genre of rapture fiction, Frykholm notes that at one time such narratives expressed a sense of alienation from modern life and protest against the loss of tradition and the marginalization of conservative religious views. Now, however, evangelicalism's renewed popular appeal has rendered such themes obsolete. Left Behind evinces a new embrace of technology and consumer goods as tools for God's work, while retaining a protest against modernity's transformation of traditional family life. Drawing on extensive interviews with readers of the novels, Rapture Culture sheds light on a mindset that is little understood and far more common than many of us suppose.