{"product_id":"american-fantastic-myths-of-violence-and-redemption-hardback-9780299355104","title":"American Fantastic; Myths of Violence and Redemption (Hardback) 9780299355104","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eAmerican Fantastic\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eMyths of Violence and Redemption\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eDerek J. Thiess (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780299355104\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 2 December 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e206 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.399 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e“Offers an original contribution to American, folklore, and fantastic studies. The selections analyzed are eclectic but the argument that surfing, pirates, John Henry, and rags-to-riches stories actually do have something in common is convincing. All are expressions of the American colonialist impulse and all involve transformative (perhaps ritualized) violence. An important, provocative study.” - Brian Attebery, author of \u003ci\u003eFantasy: How It Works\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Thiess convincingly interrogates mythologized violence in speculative literatures and media and how this mythmaking relates to Christianity and capitalism while continually generating a sense of entitlement, an American exceptionalism or Christian supremacy, that allows an ongoing exploitation devoid of guilt.” - Isiah Lavender III, author of \u003ci\u003eAfrofuturism Rising: The Literary Prehistory of a Movement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmerican Fantastic\u003c\/i\u003e challenges readers to recognize an organizing myth in America’s perception of its imperialist past, “the myth of redemptive violence.” Derek J. Thiess persuasively argues that this myth serves to obscure the deep thread of Christian supremacy that underwrites America’s colonial and imperial impulses, from the early colonial period to westward expansion to the contemporary global order. This American imaginary, which enmeshes religion with violence, is constructed in multiple contentious and productive contact zones: between genres, between cultures, and between past and present.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Thiess’s interdisciplinary study examines America’s past and present imperial projects, from the Hawaiian Islands to the Eastern Seaboard, as they proliferate in popular story forms. By interrogating American myths, legends, and fantastic narratives across an impressive array of genres, including folk narratives, science fiction, movies, and more, Thiess exposes how the “myth of redemptive violence” manifests in contemporary constructions of America’s fantastic imaginaries.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eIntroduction \u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1: Violence and Redemption at the Edge: SF Sport and Mo‘\u003cbr\u003eolelo Nalu \u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2: Closer to Center: The Franklin Expedition, Myth, and the Embodied Horrors of History \u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3: Myth and Violence on the Homefront: The John Henry Legend \u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4: “\u003cbr\u003eOnly the Devil and I”\u003cbr\u003e: Pirates, Missionaries, and the Blackbeard Legend  \u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5: Bootstaps and Pederasts: Child Protectionism and the Horatio Alger Myth \u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6: From Defecation to Deification: Religion and Empire in Torture Porn  \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Wisconsin Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52530916819224,"sku":"9780299355104","price":49.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/american-fantastic-myths-of-violence-and-redemption-hardback-9780299355104","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}