Bringing Light to Twilight Perspectives on a

The astounding commercial success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, not just with adolescent girls (as originally intended), but with a large and diverse audience, makes interpreting their underlying themes vital for understanding the ways that we perceive and interact with each other in contemporary society. #xA0;Literary critics have interpreted vampires from Stoker's Dracula to Rice's Lestat in numerous ways - as symbols of deviant sexuality; as transgressive figures of sexual empowerment; as xenophobic representations of foreigners; as pop culture figures that reveal the attitudes of the masses better than any scholarly writing - and the Twilight saga is no exception. The essays in this collection use these interpretative lens and others to interrogate the meanings of Meyer's books, making a compelling case for the cultural relevance of Twilight and providing insights on how we can "read" popular culture to our best advantage. #xA0;The volume will be of interest to academic and lay readers alike: undergraduates, graduate students, and instructors of children's and young adult literature, contemporary U.S. literature, gothic literature, and popular culture, as well as the myriad Twilight fans who seek to explore and re-explore the novels from a variety of angles.

Giselle Liza Anatol is Associate Professor of English at the University of Kansas and the editor of two previous books, Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays (Praeger 2003) and Reading Harry Potter Again: New Critical Essays (Praeger 2009). She has published extensively on representations of motherhood in contemporary Caribbean literature, and representations of race and ethnicity in contemporary children's literature. She has blogged about her research into the Twilight phenomenon for the University of Stirling’s web forum, “The Gothic Imagination.”

“A timely collection of scholarly essays on Stephanie Meyer’s enormously popular Twilight series which, for better or for worse, has fundamentally altered our reading and understanding of vampires . . .a valuable resource for academics and non-academics alike, not only to trace the cultural and literary impact of the Twilight series, but also to help provide clear literary analysis and cultural contextualization.”--Franz J. Potter, Associate Professor, National University

“Shattering the notion that Twilight is not worthy of academic study, Bringing Light to Twilight offers diverse array of approaches to the saga from a wide range of disciplines. An illuminating analysis of the series, this anthology is a discerning response to the Twilight phenomenon and a must-read for scholars of popular culture, media studies, and literature.”--Natalie Wilson, author of Seduced by Twilight: The Allure and Contradictory Messages of the Popular Saga

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Bringing Light to Twilight Perspectives on a Pop Culture Phenomenon

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials