Transmediating the Whedonverse(s)

Transmediating the Whedonverse(s)
Author: Juliette C. Kitchens
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2019-10-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030246167

This book explores the transmedial nature of the storyworlds created by and/or affiliated with television auteur, writer, and filmmaker, Joss Whedon. As such, the book addresses the ways in which Whedon’s storyworlds, or ‘verses, employ transmedia, both intrinsically as texts and extrinsically as these texts are consumed and, in some cases, reworked, by audiences. This collection walks readers through fan and scholar-fan engagement, intrinsic textual transmediality, and Whedon’s lasting influence on televisual and transmedia texts. In closing, the editors argue for the need to continue research into how the Whedonverse(s) lend themselves to transmedial study, engage audiences in ways that take advantage of multiple media, and encourage textual internalization of these engagements within audiences.

Blood, Body and Soul

Blood, Body and Soul
Author: Tamy Burnett
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2022-04-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476646279

The ever-popular "Whedonverse" television shows--Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse--have inspired hundreds of articles and dozens of books. Curiously, the focus of much of the scholarship invokes philosophical, ethical, metaphysical and other cerebral perspectives. Yet, these shows are action-adventure shows, telling stories through physical bodies of many varied and unique forms. Characters fight and die, suffer grave injuries and traumas, and are physically transformed. Their bodies bear the brunt of their battles against evil, corruption and injustice. Through 17 insightful and captivating essays, this collection centers the physical spectacle of these televisual series. Chapters examine how both disabled and super-powered individuals navigate their differing levels of ability; how the practice of medicine and medical practitioners are represented; and how wellness is understood and depicted, both physically and mentally. Other essays focus on storylines involving specific body parts, the intersection of literal and metaphorical trauma and the processes of recovery from injury, illness and impairment. Each author offers a unique and thought-provoking analysis in an area previously under-explored or altogether missing from existing scholarship on the Whedonverse.

Re-Entering the Dollhouse

Re-Entering the Dollhouse
Author: Heather M. Porter
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2022-05-11
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476645698

Premiering on Fox in 2009, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse was an innovative, contentious and short-lived science fiction series whose themes were challenging for viewers from the outset. A vast global corporation operates establishments (Dollhouses) that program individuals with temporary personalities and abilities. The protagonist assumes a different identity each episode--her defining characteristic a lack of individuality. Through this obtuse premise, the show interrogated free will, morality and sex, and in the process its own construction of fantasy and its audience. A decade on, the world is--for better or worse--catching up with Dollhouse's provocative vision. This collection of new essays examines the series' relevance in the context of today's social and political issues and media landscape.

Slaying Is Hell

Slaying Is Hell
Author: Alyson R. Buckman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2022-12-16
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 147664750X

The films, television shows, and graphic novel series that comprise the Whedonverse continually show that there is a high price to be paid for love, rebellion, heroism, anger, death, betrayal, friendship, and saving the world. This collection of essays reveals the ways in which the Whedonverse treats the trauma of ordinary life with similar gravitas as trauma created by the supernatural, illustrating how memories are lost, transformed, utilized, celebrated, revered, questioned, feared, and rebuffed within the storyworlds created by Joss Whedon and his collaborators. Through a variety of approaches and examinations, the essays in this book seek to understand how the themes of trauma, memory, and identity enrich one another in the Whedonverse and beyond. As the authors present different arguments and focus on various texts, the essays work to build a mosaic of the trauma found in beloved works like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and more. The book concludes with a meta-analysis that explores the allegations of various traumas made against Joss Whedon himself.

Stories of Becoming

Stories of Becoming
Author: Claire Lutkewitte
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2022-01-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1646421647

Based on findings from a multiyear, nationwide study of new faculty in the field of rhetoric and composition, Stories of Becoming provides graduate students—and those who train them—with specific strategies for preparing for a career in the professoriate. Through the use of stories, the authors invite readers to experience their collaborative research processes for conducting a nationwide survey, qualitative interviews, and textual analysis of professional documents. Using data from the study, the authors offer six specific strategies—including how to manage time, how to create a work/life balance, and how to collaborate with others—that readers can use to prepare for the composition and rhetoric job market and to begin their careers as full-time faculty members. Readers will learn about the possible responsibilities they may take on as new faculty, particularly those that go beyond teaching, research, service, and administration to include navigating the politics of higher education and negotiating professional identity construction. And they will also engage in activities and answer questions designed to deepen their understanding of the field and help them identify their own values and desired career trajectory. Stories of Becoming demystifies the professoriate, compares what current new faculty have to say of their job expectations with the realities that students might face when on the job, and brings to light the invisible, behind-the-scenes work done by new faculty. It will be invaluable to graduate students, those who teach graduate students, new faculty, and hiring administrators in composition and rhetoric.

Security-First Compliance for Small Businesses

Security-First Compliance for Small Businesses
Author: Karen Walsh
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2023-08-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000926087

Organizations of all sizes struggle to secure their data in a constantly evolving digital landscape. Expanding digital footprints and the rapid expansion of cloud strategies arising from the COVID-19 pandemic increase an organization’s attack surface. When combined with limited resources caused by the cybersecurity skills gap, securing small and mid-sized business IT infrastructures becomes more complicated. With limited staffing and budgetary restrictions, small businesses need to create cost-effective, security-driven programs that protect data while also meeting increasingly stringent compliance requirements. This book bridges the gap between complex technical language and business objectives to create a security-first review of the security and compliance landscapes. Starting from the premise that “with security comes compliance,” this book starts by defining “security-first” and then walking readers through the process of creating a holistic security and compliance program. Looking at security and privacy through the lens of zero trust, this overview of regulations and industry standards provides both background about and implications drawn from modern security practices. Rather than focusing solely on individual cybersecurity frameworks, this book offers insights into best practices based on the commonalities between regulations and industry standards, highlighting some of the primary differences to show the nuances. Woven throughout are practical examples of solutions that enable small and mid-sized businesses to create “cybersustainable” security-focused policies, processes, and controls that protect today’s future for tomorrow’s digital ecosystem.

Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Author: Cori Mathis
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2023-04-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1666929794

This book presents interdisciplinary perspectives on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, situating the series within contemporary discourses of genre, form, historical place, ideology, and aesthetics. The essays in this collection argue that the series’ unique blend of horror, the Gothic, and melodrama offers a compelling approach to the coming-of-age narrative and makes CAoS a significant part of the teen television canon.

At Home in the Whedonverse

At Home in the Whedonverse
Author: Juliette C. Kitchens
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2017-06-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 147662982X

From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Joss Whedon's work presents various representations of home spaces that give depth to his stories and storytelling. Through the spaceship in Firefly, a farmhouse in Avengers: Age of Ultron or Whedon's own house in Much Ado About Nothing, his work collectively offers audiences the opportunity to question the ways we relate to and inhabit homes. Focusing on his television series, films and comics, this collection of new essays explores the diversity of home spaces in Whedon's many 'verses, and the complexity these spaces afford the narratives, characters, objects and relationships within them.

Transmedia Archaeology

Transmedia Archaeology
Author: C. Scolari
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2014-11-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137434376

In this book, the authors examine manifestations of transmedia storytelling in different historical periods and countries, spanning the UK, the US and Argentina. It takes us into the worlds of Conan the Barbarian, Superman and El Eternauta, introduces us to the archaeology of transmedia, and reinstates the fact that it's not a new phenomenon.