From angels to aliens : teenagers, the media, and the supernatural
- Title
- From angels to aliens : teenagers, the media, and the supernatural / Lynn Schofield Clark.
- Published by
- New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Author
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Status | Format | Access | Call number | Item location |
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Status | FormatBook/Text | AccessUse in library | Call numberBL2527.S68 C57 2003 | Item locationOff-site |
Details
- Description
- xii, 292 p. : ill.; 25 cm.
- Summary
- "Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Left Behind series are but the latest manifestations of American teenagers' long-standing fascination with the supernatural and the paranormal. In this groundbreaking book, Lynn Schofield Clark explores the implications of this fascination for contemporary religious and spiritual practices. Relying on stories gleaned from more than 250 in-depth interviews with teens and their families, Clark seeks to discover what today's teens really believe and why.
- She finds that as adherence to formal religious bodies declines, interest in alternative spiritualities as well as belief in "superstition" grow accordingly. Ironically, she argues, fundamentalist Christian alarmism about the forces of evil has also fed belief in a wider array of supernatural entities."--BOOK JACKET.
- Subject
- Contents
- Pt. I. The Supernatural Today: Why the Fascination? -- Introduction: From Angels to Aliens -- 1. Angels, Aliens, and the Dark Side of Evangelicalism -- 2. Touched by a Vampire Named Angel: The Supernatural in Contemporary Teen Popular Culture -- Pt. II. Ethnographic Stories: Teens and their Approaches to Media, Religion, and Supernatural Beliefs -- 3. The Resisters: Loving Supernatural Legends and Hating Organized Religion -- 4. The Mystical Teens: Blurring the Boundaries between Religious and Fictional Legends -- 5. The Experimenters: Appreciating Both Religion and the Legends of the Supernatural -- 6. The Traditionalists: Affirming the Boundary between Religion and the Media -- 7. The Intrigued Teens (and the Issue of Angels): Wishing to Separate Religion and Legend, but Having Difficulty Doing So -- Pt. III. Contexts and Conclusions -- 8. Baby Boomers and Their Millennial Kids: Parental Intentions Regarding the Media, Religion, and Beliefs in the Supernatural --
- 9. Religion, Class, and Politics: Discussing Aliens and Angels in the Family and in Society -- 10. Conclusion: The Dark Side of Evangelicalism and the Religion of the Possible -- App. A. Comments on Methodology -- App. B. Sample Information.
- Owning institution
- Columbia University Libraries
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-284) and index.