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(Re)Mediating The Spirit: Evangelical Christian Young Adult Media, Tamara Watkins Jan 2017

(Re)Mediating The Spirit: Evangelical Christian Young Adult Media, Tamara Watkins

Theses and Dissertations

"We are in the world, but not of the world," a maxim frequently spoken in evangelical Christian culture, provides insight into how these individuals view their relationship with secular culture. They presume to share the same temporal plane with secular culture, but do not participate in it. In this dissertation, I explore whether the division between evangelical Christian culture and secular culture is as clear as this aphorism implies. To facilitate this investigation, I examine media Christian content creators created for an American evangelical Christian young adult audience in the early twenty-first century, specifically focusing on novel-length fiction, comics and …


The New Gatekeepers: How Blogs Subverted Mainstream Book Reviews, Rebecca E. Johnson Jan 2016

The New Gatekeepers: How Blogs Subverted Mainstream Book Reviews, Rebecca E. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Book reviewing has a fraught history in the United States. Reviewers have long been accused of not being analytical enough. It should be no wonder then with the emergence of social media that online book reviewing has become increasingly popular. Online reviewers, especially book bloggers, are no literary gatekeepers in their own right, shaping the tastes of readers across the world. Book blogs in particular pay special attention to titles which have long been derided by institutions such as libraries, academia, publishers, and bookstores. These literary gatekeepers typically ignore romance, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, young adult fiction, comic books, and …


Life, The Multiverse, And Everything: How Crisis On Infinite Earths Changed Dc Comics, Kate Simonsen Apr 2012

Life, The Multiverse, And Everything: How Crisis On Infinite Earths Changed Dc Comics, Kate Simonsen

Theses and Dissertations

Published from 1985 to 1986, DC Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths created the expectation that each crossover will result in numerous deaths and alter the structure or history of the DC Universe. Since many of these changes, such as the death of a popular or iconic character, cannot be sustained long term, the success and influence of Crisis on Infinite Earths led to the erosion of the very elements that made it shocking. Entire worlds can be destroyed, but superreaders eventually suspect that no change is ever permanent and, as more iconic characters are revived or rebooted, death is no …


Cultural Stereotypes: From Dracula's Myth To Contemporary Diasporic Productions, Ileana F. Popa Jan 2006

Cultural Stereotypes: From Dracula's Myth To Contemporary Diasporic Productions, Ileana F. Popa

Theses and Dissertations

This study is focused on a highly topical theme, which belongs to the pluralist practice of cultural studies, and aims at investigating a remarkable phenomenon of identity-shaping and cross-cultural exchange. Starting from an analysis of Dracula as the epitomized image of the Balkans (and of Romania, more specifically) abroad, this paper provides a comprehensive historical and (con)textual analysis of the myth, enlarged to incorporate it into the fictions of exile and to draw the reader's attention to the "demonic" dimension of the Balkan area in general, and the Romanian area in particular. The first chapter provides a theoretical overview meant …


The Internet World Of Fan Fiction, Melissa Jean Herzing Jan 2005

The Internet World Of Fan Fiction, Melissa Jean Herzing

Theses and Dissertations

Fan fiction, the most popular creative outlet for fans, allows the amateur writer an opportunity to be published and receive immediate feedback from peers. As educators, we can learn from the fan communities as they participate in online activities, especially fan fiction. Students are more likely to embrace entertaining and creative assignments. And since much of the world is linked to the Internet in one way or another, we can allow students an opportunity to not only improve their writing skills, but also enhance their knowledge of the Internet and its capabilities. My study included online interviews with fan fiction …