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Performing Against Annihilation

Identity and Consciousness in J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Wagner and George R.R. Martin

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  • © 2022

Overview

Authors:
  1. Lukas Schepp

    1. English Literature, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munchen, Germany

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  • Provides philosophical analysis on "The Lord of the Rings", "Game of Thrones" and "The Nibelung's Ring"
  • Employs interdisciplinary approaches from film studies musicology and philosophy
  • Writes with a clear style and many practical examples

  • 887 Accesses

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. The Philosophy of Identity in the Three Works

    • Lukas Schepp
    Pages 1-45

  3. The Performative Language of Identity

    • Lukas Schepp
    Pages 47-76

  4. Identity in Action

    • Lukas Schepp
    Pages 77-126

  5. The Philosophy of Consciousness

    • Lukas Schepp
    Pages 127-159

  6. The Performative Language of Consciousness

    • Lukas Schepp
    Pages 161-193

  7. Consciousness in Action

    • Lukas Schepp
    Pages 195-276

  8. Performative Identification in the Three Works

    • Lukas Schepp
    Pages 277-307

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 309-327
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Keywords

About this book

This book outlines how the protagonists in The Nibelung's Ring, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones attempt to construct identities and expand their consciousness manifestations. As the characters in the three works face the ends of their respective worlds, they must find answers to their mortality, and to the threat it implies: the loss of identity and consciousness. Moreover, it details how this process is depicted performatively. In a hands-on and interdisciplinary approach, this book seeks to unveil the underlying philosophical concepts of identity and consciousness in the three works as they are represented audio-visually on stage and screen. Through the use of many practical examples, this book offers both academic scholars and any interested readers a completely new perspective on three enduringly popular and interrelated works.

Reviews

“Schepp’s fascinating study analyses the existential quest for identity in performative versions of three ‘apocalyptic narratives’ (Wagner’s Nibelung’s Ring, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire). The author succeeds in combining approaches from such diverse fields as psychoanalysis, philosophy, musicology, and film studies into an innovative framework for assessing the protagonists’ performance and provides a blueprint for doing the same with other works.” (Thomas Honegger, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany)

“A stunning benchmark publication not only in Film Studies, but also in the wider field of performance-oriented Cultural Studies: as Musicologist, Film Studies expert, and Eng.Lit. major, Lukas Schepp (a screenwriter and composer in his own right) is supremely qualified to read the movie adaptations of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire as well as two paradigmatic productions of Wagner's Ring. Displaying a gripping combination of analytic skills with an eye and ear for telling detail, Schepp walks the reader through these multi-dimensional semiotic universes with an ease that betrays the new Wunderkind of Performance Studies. Also drawing on expert knowledge in Philosophy, Religious Studies and Psychology, Performing Against Annihilation shows the different ways in which these three mega-oeuvres stage performative fights against the threat of annihilation – both of personal identity and of the (story) world we know. Without a doubt, the new gold standard in Film Studies.” (Christoph Bode, Department of English and American Studies, LMU Munich, Germany)

Authors and Affiliations

  • English Literature, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munchen, Germany

    Lukas Schepp

About the author

Lukas Schepp completed his PhD in English Literature at LMU Munich: "Performing Against Annihilation: Identity and Consciousness in J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Wagner and George R.R. Martin." Lukas Schepp specializes in film and media studies, interdisciplinary studies, and philosophical approaches to literature and film. Among others, he has published the essays "Kubrick's Ambiguous Intermedial Translation of Thackeray's The Luck of Barry Lyndon" and "Identity and Consciousness in Black Mirror - Be Right Back" in "East-West Dialogues on the Humanities: Literature, Language, and Culture." He also coedited this volume together with Prof. Dr. Christoph Bode, Prof. Dr. Michael O'Sullivan, and Prof. Dr. Eli Park. Moreover, he published the chapter "Toward Sphere Theory: Redefining the Narrative Genres of the Novel and the TV Drama Series" in "Television Series as Literature: From the Ordinary to the Unthinkable" (Palgrave Macmillan, eds. Dr. Reto Winckler and Dr. Víctor Huertas). Lukas Schepp is also a working filmmaker. He has written the episode Horrorclown for the German primetime procedural series The Criminologist (ZDF, 4.58 million viewers), and the episode Mayday for Wismar Homicide (ZDF, 4.53 million viewers). His sci-fi podcast series Lifepoints is currently in production at Random House. Furthermore, Lukas Schepp has composed numerous film scores for short films as well as symphonic poems for various Munich orchestras.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Performing Against Annihilation

  • Book Subtitle: Identity and Consciousness in J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Wagner and George R.R. Martin

  • Authors: Lukas Schepp

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1500-0

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-19-1499-7Published: 10 May 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-19-1502-4Published: 11 May 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-19-1500-0Published: 09 May 2022

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 327

  • Number of Illustrations: 21 b/w illustrations, 61 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Screen Studies, Philosophy, general, Cultural Studies, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Music

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