Christian Popular Culture from The Chronicles of Narnia to Duck Dynasty
Ebook
Overview
Christian popular culture has tremendous influence on many American churchgoers. When we have a choice between studying the Bible and reading novels, downloading movies, or watching television, we become less familiar with Numbers than with Narnia. This book examines popular Christian narratives with rigorous scholarly methods and assumes that they are just as complex, fascinating, and worthy of investigation as the latest secular Netflix series or dystopian novel. While most scholars focus on the religious aspects of Christian texts, this study takes a new approach by analyzing their social responsibility in portraying the complex dynamics of race, class, and gender in a profoundly unequal America. Close readings of six case studies--The Chronicles of Narnia, Francine Rivers’s Redeeming Love, Jan Karon’s Mitford novels, Left Behind, the films of the Sherwood Baptist Church, and Duck Dynasty--uncover both harmful stereotypes and Christians serving as leaders in social justice.
“Eleanor Nickel’s Christian Popular Culture does a great
service for both creators and consumers. She looks at a variety of
popular cultural works and asks a single profound question: Does
this work represent its characters as complex, nuanced persons
created in God’s image, or does it take a denigrating shortcut by
using racist or sexist stereotypes and clichés. She is careful to
give credit where credit is due but is not shy about calling
creators to account when their works fall short. She is a
first-rate literary scholar and has a keen eye for detail. My hope
is that her work as a critic might help Christian popular culture
mature as an art form.”
—Ted Turnau, Anglo-American University, Prague
“Eleanor Hersey Nickel’s work provides a timely and much-needed
examination of Christianity and popular culture. While some of her
texts, such as Duck Dynasty and Left Behind, are
ignored or dismissed by other scholars, Hersy Nickel treats each of
her selected texts with respect, dignity, and academic rigor. Her
analysis goes beyond religion to analyze the gendered and racial
implications found in each text. Her work is essential reading for
scholars of popular culture.”
—Melanie Cattrell, Blinn College
- Title: Christian Popular Culture from The Chronicles of Narnia to Duck Dynasty
- Author: Eleanor Hersey Nickel
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2021
- Logos Release Date: 2021
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781725281226, 9781725281202, 9781725281219, 1725281228, 1725281201, 172528121X
- Resource ID: LLS:9781725281226
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-12-11T01:30:55Z
Eleanor Hersey Nickel is Professor of English at Fresno Pacific
University, where she teaches courses in American literature,
literary theory, creative writing, literature and film, and C. S.
Lewis. She has published articles and book chapters on popular
cultural texts from American Idol to The
X-Files.