Apocalyptic Genre 2016

76 Pages·2016·1.34 MB·English

by  Tomáš Pospíšil

Masaryk University
Faculty of Arts

Department of English
and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Veronika Mishina

Imagining the End: Analysis of Post-
Apocalyptic Genre

Master’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr.

2016
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

……………………………………………
Author’s signature

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I would like to thank my family for supporting me during this journey, and my mom, in particular, for
constantly reminding me what I need to aspire to. I would also like to thank my supervisor, doc. PhDr.
Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr., for helpful advice and constructive criticism. And, finally, Masaryk University, and
the Faculty of Arts central library in particular, for providing with extraordinary study resources.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5
1. Post-apocalypse as a genre ........................................................................................ 7
1.1 “Post” in the post-apocalypse ............................................................................. 7
1.2 Science fiction and horror as precursors of post-apocalypse ........................... 11
1.2.1 Repetitive nature of the genre: iconography of post-apocalypse .............. 12
1.2.2 Symbolic usage of key elements ............................................................... 30
2. Social function of the genre: post-apocalypse as reflection of social anxieties and
post-traumatic symptoms ................................................................................................ 41
2.1 Synopsis of I Am Legend and The Last Man on Earth .................................... 47
2.2 Post-World War Two and Cold War anxieties ................................................ 51
2.3 Counterculture movements .............................................................................. 54
2.4 Post-apocalyptic hero and the survivalist fantasy ............................................ 58
2.5 Post-apocalyptic as post-traumatic ................................................................... 61
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 67
Works cited and consulted .............................................................................................. 69
Primary sources ........................................................................................................... 69
Secondary sources ....................................................................................................... 69
Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 72
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 76

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Introduction
Post-apocalyptic genre is, in a sense, the underdog of genre studies. Despite the
fact that post-apocalyptic fiction dates as far back as the nineteenth century, and its
appeal to the audience grows every year, the genre lacks considerably in scholarly and
critical appraisal. Some still consider it to be a mere subgenre of science fiction, others -
of horror, but not many think of it as a distinct genre in itself. Moreover, it is
disregarded as being a mere entertainment not worthy of thorough examination, which,
I believe, is undeserved. The recent increase of its popularity among writers,
filmmakers, video game developers, even musicians, and, of course, viewers and
readers, has caused an escalation in academic research as well, which is why, coupled
with its unmatched peculiarity, the subject is of great interest to me. In this thesis I will
attempt to outline what constitutes post-apocalyptic genre and what makes world-end
scenarios so appealing to general public. Considering that it is still more often than not
thought of as a science fiction or horror subgenre, the first chapter of this thesis will be
devoted to its main properties that establish it a descendent of rather than an affiliation
to science fiction and horror genres. Since Geoff King proclaims that to be considered a
distinct genre it needs to resonate, have depth, and be more than “a passing fad” (King
119), then post-apocalyptic genre definitely deserves to be regarded as a distinct one.
The second part of the thesis will be devoted to discussing post-apocalyptic
representations as reflections of the sociohistorical context of the time of their creation.
Furthermore, I will discuss post-apocalyptic theory of trauma proposed by James Berger
who suggests looking at post-apocalyptic representations as containing, and being
themselves, symptoms of post-traumatic experiences. To do so I have chosen to do a
close reading of a novel by Richard Matheson - I Am Legend (1954) and its first film
adaptation – The Last Man on Earth (1964), directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney
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Salkow. The novel and its adaptation are of interest for the analysis mostly because they
have been largely overlooked by scholars, despite the fact that Richard Matheson wrote
the novel back in the time when zombie apocalypses have not yet become the staple of
post-apocalyptic fiction, for which Matheson’s novel, in fact, served as an inspiration
source. Its depth and appeal have transcended trough time, since it has been subject to
being adapted to the big screen at least three times since the time of its publication, with
the latest adaptation being released in 2007. Furthermore, I Am Legend and its first
adaptation have been produced during a very peculiar time in American history, which
should provide evidence to support the premise that post-apocalyptic genre is, in fact,
reflective of its social, historical, and cultural contexts; and that it supposedly bears
symptoms of past traumatic experiences.

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1. Post-apocalypse as a genre
1.1 “Post” in the post-apocalypse
Temperatures rising, massive earthquakes, enormous tsunamis and floods
washing the cities away, gigantic meteors entering the atmosphere and colliding with
Earth, atomic or hydrogen bombs exploding, contagious diseases escalating, or viruses
escaping laboratories, aliens invading and subjugating mankind – all these scenarios of
possible world destruction are numerous, and range from natural disasters, such as
climatic changes or threats from outer space, to man-made, like nuclear warfare or
plagues gone amok. What comes as a result of such global catastrophes – mass
destruction of the world’s population and remnants of former cities turned into
wastelands – have gained an uncanny (in the sense of strange and surprising) popularity
over the years in literature, film, television productions, video games, even music. The
number of books and films depicting the world after global cataclysmic events of
various sorts that destroy the world as we know it is staggering. In 2015 alone there has
been published a large amount of books employing such scenarios (The Borrowed
World by F. Horton, Dark New World by J.J. Holden, Plague Wars trilogy by D.
VanDyke, Dust by H. Howey, et al.), and a number of films released on the big screen
(Terminator: Genisys (dir. Alan Taylor), Maggie (dir. Henry Hobson), Extinction (dir.
Miguel Ángel Vivas), et al.), one of which even got an Academy Awards nomination
for Best Picture - the third installment in the Mad Max series - Mad Max: Fury Road
(dir. George Miller). And that is just to name a few examples from one year, whereas
the total number comprising this sort of fiction would be enormous. What, then, unites
the above-mentioned examples into one category is the commonly used term - post-
apocalyptic.
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Word composition suggests that it describes something that takes place after an
apocalypse or an apocalyptic-like event. At least that is what post in it implies. The
prevailing definition of the word apocalypse, then, would be that of relating to a disaster
of global proportions that most likely has destroyed the whole world. This definition,
however, would be only the third provided in dictionaries. The Oxford English
Dictionary, for instance, first defines it as a “‘revelation’ of the future granted to St.
John in the isle of Patmos”, then, as any kind of “revelation or disclosure”, and only
after that as a “disaster resulting in drastic, irreversible damage to human society or the
environment, especially on a global scale; a cataclysm” (“apocalypse”). However, even
though the first definition is referring to Jewish and Christian religious writings, the
etymology of the word takes it way back to Latin ‘apocalypsis’, derived from a Greek
word ‘ἀποκάλυψις’, meaning “to uncover, disclose”, which in its turn can be further
divided into ‘ἀπό’ meaning “off”, and ‘καλύπτειν’ – “to cover”.
Viewed in this light, an apocalypse is something that uncovers or discloses;
reveals what has been covered or hidden. Post-apocalypse, then, should relate to the
state when the cover has been lifted, something has been revealed, disclosed. Drawing
from this, the most commonly used definition of post-apocalypse, i.e. of an immense
disaster, should correlate, then, with the meaning of an uncovering, a disclosure. Some
scholars consider post-apocalyptic fiction to hold its main meaning in what exactly has
been revealed by the apocalyptic event rather than what has come afterwards. As does
Eric Dodson, for instance, draws parallels between post-apocalyptic films and “Martin
Heidegger's notion of truth as alhqeia (unconcealment)” that, according to him, hold
true both for the fictional characters and the viewers of the said films (Dodson).
Similarly, James Berger in his study of post-apocalyptic representations infers that what
post-apocalypse actually represents is not what has become but what has been before;
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that an apocalyptic event has an interpretive function and must “illuminate the true
nature of what has been brought to an end” (Berger 5). Such propositions hold
especially true when viewed in relation to the origins of eschatological fiction in
religious texts, such as the Book of Revelation or the Quran, in which instead of an
actual end various eschatological prophecies of the end of the world promise to bring
salvation, redemption, end of sufferings, a chance to reestablish the order of things, and
start anew. The old order must end so that the new one can begin, and that is what the
apocalypse is for.
Although the origins of the notion “apocalypse” may be traced back to ancient
times and religious writings, the modern commonly used term of “post-apocalypse” in
relation to fiction is yet to be outlined. While some of the first works of post-
apocalyptic fiction date back to the seventeenth century, Mary Shelley’s novel The Last
Man of 1826 being referred to as the very first one in particular, and numerous various
examples of contemporary fiction would spring to mind at the mention of the word
“post-apocalyptic”, it should be clarified what exactly enables to list them under the
said title, what constitutes the post-apocalyptic genre in fiction, if there is one, and what
entitles, then, a work of either literature or film to belong to that genre.
Drawing on the above-mentioned definitions and distinctions between the terms
“apocalyptic” and “post-apocalyptic”, i.e. the former meaning a disastrous event itself,
and the latter what follows the said event, it should be clarified that the works of fiction
that have at the core of their narratives what precedes the possible apocalypse or
attempts to prevent it, would be accredited as referring to a different, even if closely
related, genre, i.e. apocalyptic. Therefore such works as, for instance, H.G. Wells’ 1898
novel The War of the Worlds and its film adaptations, or the 2008 remake of The Day
the Earth Stood Still (dir. Scott Derrickson) and its literary source - Farewell to the
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Master (1940) - a short story by Harry Bates, would not relate since they depict the
world before, not after a disastrous event that is the apocalypse.
While for general public at the present moment it would not be difficult to
determine whether or not a particular work of fiction of any medium belongs to post-
apocalyptic genre based on the commonly understood conventions characteristic of it, it
would be nearly impossible to pinpoint the time of its formation into a distinctive genre,
that is to say, place it within genre history. The difficulties arise mostly out of its
timespan, considering that ancient religious eschatological texts date back to the time
BC, while the flourishing of post-apocalyptic fiction and its fast expansion into various
media, as well as its popularity among the audience and readers, is prevalent only since
the second half of the twentieth century, which is quite recent. What, then, qualifies
post-apocalyptic fiction to be a distinctive genre with its own characteristics and
properties that “allows a large audience to become established” and remain
“enthusiastic about a genre”? (Moine 99)
Naturally, literary sources for post-apocalyptic genre conventions are primary.
However, the main focus of the analysis of this thesis is on a literary source together
with its film adaptation, so it would be beneficial to concentrate on genre properties
attributed both to literature and films. Moreover, as it is proposed by literary and film
scholar Rick Altman, “in many ways, the study of film genre is no more than an
extension of literary genre study”, which of course does not negate the fact that a film
genre has “its own assumptions, its own modus operandi, and its own objects of study”
(Altman 13).
In his study of Hollywood film genres Altman proposes several characteristic
properties that distinguish one genre from another and help the audience to recognize
one within a given narrative. These properties would include a dualistic structure and/or
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