Fictional Worlds - a Book on the Synergy of Myth, Literature, Film, and Interactive Narrative
Please note that the electronic editions are available in most countries via amazon as Kindle books and on iBookstore. The print edition is available in North America and Europe.
For the readers from other countries and regions, we recommend the digital editions in the Kindle and iBook formats. Please check out the new illustrated, expanded and interactive edition on iTunes. More interactive volumes are in the works.
The link below will take you to the amazon page of the print volume. This page shows Table of Contents for the 1st print edition of Fictional Worlds (Author: Lily Alexander, October 2013), with a complete list of chapters, sections and case studies. This 428-page volume has all four parts under one cover. If you wish to download the Table of Contents in PDF, please click here.
For the digital editions we split the original book into four parts. A set of four digital books is published on Kindle (2014), and is forthcoming on iTunes (Part One is already released). The new expanded, illustrated, and multi-touch iBook set will have new sections and more than 25% additional materials in each volume.
Contents
Preface
Fictional Worlds I. The Symbolic Journey & The Genre System
1. Roots of Symbolic Storytelling
Creative Imagination and the Symbolic Construction of Community 1
Family as a Symbolic Community and the Language of Culture 3
Storytelling – Community – Experience 5
"Are You Talking to Me?" – Stories as Signal Systems and Behavioral Codes 7
Birth of Mass Society, Propaganda, and Visual Culture 17
Antagonists to the Symbolic Community 19
The Symbolic Family in Propaganda Films 20
Case Studies: The Birth of a Nation (1915), Battleship Potemkin (1925),
Triumph of the Will (1935) 20
Brady Bunch and The Wild Bunch 22
Culture’s Symbolic Protagonist: Odysseus/Ulysses 25
The Myth of the Returning Father: Odysseus Must Come Home 25
The Importance of Odysseus for Storytelling 27
Case Studies. The Odyssey on Screen: L’Odissea (1968),
Homer’s Odyssey (1997), Ulysses (1954) 30
2. The Family Tree of Genres
Anthropological Theory of Genres 37
Action Movies 37
Romantic Drama and Comedy 38
Science Fiction: Utopia and Dystopia 39
Historical Drama 42
Film as Ritual and Ceremony 44
Fairytale and Melodrama 46
Spectrum of Genres: Court Drama, Mystery, Coming of Age, and Comedy 50
Genres-as-Rituals: the Table and Conclusions 53
Case Study: Roman Holiday (1953) 55
Screwball Comedy: A Comic-Erotic Duel 57
Case Study: Seven Samurai (1954) 60
3. Sons of Prometheus and the Paradigm of Death-Rebirth
The Hero’s Journey Begins: From Breach to Abyss 65
Code of Transformation: Symbolic Death-Rebirth 65
The Masterplot: Ten Phases of the Hero's Journey 69
Phase One: Beginning and Breach 69
Topography of the Journey. The Homeworld and the Wonderworld 69
Phase Two: Departure 73
Phase Three: "You Are Not in Kansas Anymore!" Crossing into the Wonderworld 74
Phase Four: Secret Society – Games, Tests and Riddles 79
Phase Five: Taboo and Violation 87
Case Studies: Cast Away (2000) and The Polar Express (2004) 91
4. From Abyss to Reward: The Hero’s Journey Completed
Phase Six: Punishment – Devouring Dragon and Symbolic Dismemberment 96
From Symbolic Death to Symbolic Rebirth 100
Phase Seven: Dreams and Alternative States of Consciousness 101
Phase Eight: Sacred Knowledge – The Journey Goal. Great Teachers’ Gift 104
Phases Nine and Ten: Reward and Return – Incorporation and Bliss 110
The Structure of Masterplot as a Logical Sequence 112
What If the Journey Fails? 114
ET Go Home: Failed Journeys as Politics 116
"Dos and Don'ts": Creative Solutions for the Formulaic Plot 118
Politics and Gender Demographics of the Hero’s Journey 121
Mothers and Daughters as Road Warriors 122
Ordeals of the Fathers: The Second Hero’s Journey and The Art of Film 123
Case Study: The Green Mile (1999) 125
Pathos: Narrator’s Helping Hand and Rising Voice 128
Fictional Worlds II. Dramatic Characters & Dramatic Action
5. Character Dynamics: The Social Worlds of Drama
Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before? Character Patterns and Systems 130
Astonishment and The Grey Wolf Effect 133
Drama: Conflict within Community 136
Case Study: 12 Angry Men (1957) 137
Protagonist, Cast of Characters, and Chorus 141
Types of Protagonist and Antagonist 146
The Protagonist’s Communal Goal and Story Purpose 148
Penelopes: Women and Water. The Islands of Isolation 153
Case Studies. The Piano (1993), The Widow of Saint Pierre (2000), Deeply (2000), The Weight of Water (2000), The Day I Became a Woman (2000), Whale Rider (2003), Water (2005), Bliss (2007), Ponyo (2008) 153
What Went Wrong? The Tragic Flaw and the Hero’s Missteps 160
6. Action: The Art of Dramatic Storytelling
Drama as Change: Plot Reversal and Reversal of Fortune 165
Consequences: The Ripple Effect and the Butterfly Effect 170
Secrets of the Arc: The Phases and Elements of Dramatic Action 171
Rising Action: Conflict Development and Accumulation of Tension 173
The Crown of Drama – The Midpoint Shift: Crossroad and Choice 180
The Gods at the Crossroads 181
Falling Action: Catastrophe – “Something Bad Is Going to Happen” 183
Dramatic Resolution: Recognition-Catharsis-Denouement 186
Relief and Transformation: Vital Dramatic Experience 189
Resistance to Catharsis 192
Untying all the Knots 194
What is Climax? Midpoint/Resolution as Cause/Effect 197
Drama as Ritual 197
Case Study: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 198
Fictional Worlds III. Tragedy & Mystery
7. High Tragedy from Scapegoats to Screen Culture
Ritual Roots of Tragedy and Its Cultural Functions 203
Birth of Tragedy: the Tragic Hero is One of Us 204
Tragedy as Optimization of Community 205
The Nasty Girl: Revolt of Oedipus’ Daughter 206
The Dignity of Tragedy 208
The Ways of Love: Bonding in Tragedy 209
Lame Tyrants and Fallen Heroes 210
Tragedy of Fate and Tragedy of Choice 211
Family Curse or Role Confusion? 212
Generations, Time, and God’s Eye View in Drama 216
Hamlet and Hecuba: What is Hecuba to Us? 218
Case Study: The Trojan Women (1971) 221
A Grieving Mother or a Mad Dog? 223
Case Study: Troy (2004) 224
Symbolic Fathers and Sons on the Paths of Revenge and War 230
Case Studies: Ivan’s Childhood (1962), The Son (2002), Dry Season (2006) 230
Ballad of a Soldier (1959), The Thief (1997) 232
8. Tales of Intolerance as Modern Tragedy
Stories of Ostracism on Screen 235
The Mechanisms of Bias 238
Unity-Building by Exclusion: Stories about the Social Dynamics of Ostracism 240
The Nuremberg Principles on Screen 241
Diaries of Isolation: the Daughters’ Memories 242
Case Study: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) 243
Many Faces of Joan of Arc 245
Case Study: Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery 248
Case Study: Checkpoints on the Roads (1971) 250
Case Study: The Reader (2008) 253
Symbolism of the Devouring Mother 256
9. Murder Mystery and Suspense: Narrative Maze from Ritual Riddle to Pop Culture
Mystery as Tragedy 258
Murder Mystery and a Knowledge Process 260
Famous Detectives 262
Crime Investigation as Recognition 263
Magic Objects: Secret Signs and Silent Witnesses 264
Crime Drama, Purity and Danger 265
Case Study: Gosford Park (2001) 266
Thrill, Fear and Horror: Mystery as Symbolic Death 268
Subgenres: Whodunit, Thriller and Film Noir 270
Case Study: Road to Perdition (2002) 272
10. Film Noir – A New Genre? The Bladerunner, the Woman, the Night, and the City
Ritual Code of Mystery 274
Pathos and Suspense 275
Ulysses as an International Man of Mystery 278
Case Studies: Pepe le Moko (1937), Port of Shadows (1938), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Contempt (1963), The Stranger (1967), The Passenger (1975), Nostalgia (1983), Paris, Texas (1984), Voyager (1991), The Return (2003), The Good Shepherd (2006) 278
The Bladerunner: Private Detective as a Cultural Hero 287
The Femme Fatale, the Night, and the City 291
Case Study: The Departed (2006) 295
Fictional Worlds IV. Comedy & the Extraordinary
11. Fools on Top in Reversible Worlds: The Paradox of the Topsy-Turvy
Upside-Down Worlds and the Genre of Comedy 300
Comic Reversals and Their Cultural Functions 303
Laughing through Tears, at Ourselves, with the Coen Brothers 309
Case Studies: Fargo (1996), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Burn after Reading (2008), The Big Lebowski (1998) 309
Sacred Bond between Tragedy and Farce: Symbolic Inversions in King Lear 312
12. The Stories of Extraordinary Ordinary People
The Naked Man, the Little Man, the Mass-Man, and the Everyman 316
Everyman and Mass Society 317
“Laugh at Me!” – The Poor Old Fools 218
The Munchausen Effect 220
The Right to Pursue Happiness 222
The Little Man: Compassion or Pity? 224
The Underdog Wins and the Guy/Girl Next Door 326
Stories of Unforgiving Fate and the Reverse Pathos Technique 326
Case Study: Leo (2002) 325
Case Study: The Big Kahuna (1999) 330
Case Study: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 332
Odysseus-Ulysses-Bloom: Everyman as Mythic Hero 334
Everyman’s Cunning Intelligence: Escaping Like/As Ulysses 336
Borges: Joyce is Ulysses – The Author as Hero 337
Can Everyman Survive by Escaping from History into Myth? 339
Case Studies: Russian Ark (2002), Bloom (2003) 339
Checkpoints on the Roads in the Garden of Forking Paths 345
Techniques of Elevating the Ordinary to the Extraordinary 346
Conclusion. The Future of Storytelling: Homer and Hamlet on the Holodeck
The Key Points of the Book: Summary 349
Symbolic Community as a Self-Organizing System via Storytelling 351
Twenty Effective Narrative Strategies and Story Types 353
Symbolic Family as a Modeling System 356
Poetics of Tomorrow 359
Symbolic Crossroads: Infinite Possibilities and Moral Choice 363
Symbolic Community as Media-ted Experimentation 363
Glossary 365
Bibliography 370
Indexed Filmography and General Index 377
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