American Popular Culture in the Era of Terror: Falling Skies, Dark Knights Rising, and Collapsing Cultures

Bringing together the most popular genres of the 21st century, this book argues that Americans have entered a new era of narrative dominated by the fear?and wish fulfillment?of the breakdown of authority and terror itself.

• Provides an interesting new framework in which to examine popular culture
• Examines films, television shows, and primary texts such as novels for evidence of cultural anxiety and a preoccupation with terror
• Offers insightful and original interpretations of primary texts
• Suggests possible conclusions about cultural anxiety regarding breakdowns of tradition and authority