Culture, Identities and Technology in the Star Wars Films: Essays on the Two Trilogies

Released in May 1977, the original Star Wars movie inaugurated the age of the movie blockbuster. It also redefined the use of cinematic special effects, creating a new textual universe that now stretches through three decades, two trilogies and generations of fascinated viewers. The body of critical analysis that has developed from this epic focuses primarily on the Star Wars universe as a contemporary myth. However, like any fiction, it must also be viewed--and consequently analyzed--as a product of the culture which created it.

The essays in this book analyze the Star Wars trilogies as a culturally and historically specific phenomenon. Moving away from the traditional myth-based criticism of the films, the essayists employ a cultural studies model to examine how this phenomenon intersects with social formations such as economics, technology, race and gender. Critical approaches are varied and include political and economic analysis informed by feminism, contemporary race theory, Marxism, new media studies and post-humanism. Among the topics covered are the connections between the trilogies and our own cultural landscape; the problematic issues of race and gender; and the thematic implications of Lucas' presentation of technology.

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Carl Silvio is an assistant professor of English at Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. He lives in Rochester.

Tony M. Vinci is an associate professor of English at Ohio University, where he teaches literature and popular culture. His research interests include twentieth- and twenty-first-century American literature and culture, ethics, trauma studies, critical posthumanisms, and speculative fiction and film.

Donald E. Palumbo is a professor of English at East Carolina University. He lives in Greenville, North Carolina.