Werewolves and Other Shapeshifters in Popular Culture

by Mcmahon-coleman, Kimberley; Weaver, Roslyn; Turcotte, Gerry

• ISBN13: 9780786468164
• ISBN10: 0786468165
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-11
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

In recent years, shapeshifting characters in literature, film and television have been on the increase. This has followed the increased use of such characters as metaphors, with novelists and critics identifying specific meanings and topics behind them. This book aims to unravel the shapeshifting trope. Rather than pursue a case-based study, the works are grouped around specific themes--adolescence, gender, sexuality, race, disability, addiction, and spirituality--that are explored through the metaphor of shapeshifting. Because of its transformative possibilities and its flexibility, the shapeshifter has the potential to change how we see our world. With coverage of iconic fantasy texts and a focus on current works, this work engages with the shapeshifting figure in popular culture from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Author Biography

Kimberley McMahon-Coleman is a lecturer at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research interests include the Gothic, Indigenous literature, popular culture, and academic language and learning. Roslyn Weaver is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Her research interests include apocalypse, popular culture, children's literature, and speculative fiction.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. v
Foreword: Shapeshifters Know No Bounds (Gerry Turcotte)	p. 1
Preface	p. 3
Introduction	p. 5
Dear Diary, I Become a Monster Once a Month: Shapeshifting and Adolescence	p. 15
Wolf Boys and Wolf Girls: Shapeshifting and Gender Politics	p. 41
Till Death Do Us Part and Beyond: Shapeshifting, Desire and Sexuality	p. 68
The Alpha Race: Racial and Social Politics of Shapeshifting	p. 92
Shapeshifting and the Body: Disability, Illness and Mental Health	p. 117
Coping, Masking and Addiction: A Little Drinking Problem	p. 140
What to Do with Eternity? Shapeshifting and Spirituality	p. 161
Conclusion	p. 184
Works Cited	p. 187
Index	p. 195
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