The films, television shows and graphic novel series that comprise the Whedonverse continually show that there is a high price to be paid for love, rebellion, heroism, anger, death, betrayal, friendship and saving the world. This collection of essays reveals the ways in which the Whedonverse treats the trauma of ordinary life with similar gravitas as trauma created by the supernatural, illustrating how memories are lost, transformed, utilized, celebrated, revered, questioned, feared and rebuffed within the storyworlds created by Joss Whedon and his collaborators.
Through a variety of approaches and examinations, the essays in this book seek to understand how the themes of trauma, memory, and identity enrich one another in the Whedonverse and beyond. As the authors present different arguments and focus on various texts, the essays work to build a mosaic of the trauma found in beloved works like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and more. The book concludes with a meta-analysis that explores the allegations of various traumas made against Joss Whedon himself.

Alyson R. Buckman is a professor in and current chair of the humanities and religious studies department at California State University, Sacramento. She has published on Alice Walker, Octavia Butler, The Gilmore Girls, Orphan Black, and the Whedonverse.

Juliette C. Kitchens is an associate professor and the director of graduate studies in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Katherine A. Troyer is the director of The Collaborative for Learning and Teaching at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, she teaches, writes, and podcasts (as a co-host of Such a Nightmare) about all things horror.

Sherry Ginn is a retired educator currently living in North Carolina. She has authored books examining female characters on science fiction television series as well as the multiple television worlds of Joss Whedon. Edited collections have examined sex in science fiction, time travel, the apocalypse, and the award-winning series Farscape, Doctor Who, and Fringe.

Edited by Alyson R. Buckman, Juliette C. Kitchens and Katherine A. Troyer. Series Editor Sherry Ginn
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages:
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2022
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8216-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4750-0
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Worlds of Whedon