Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download Bigger than Ben-Hur PDF full book. Access full book title Bigger than Ben-Hur by Barbara Ryan. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Barbara Ryan Publisher: Syracuse University Press ISBN: 081565331X Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 298
Book Description
First published in 1880, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ became a best-seller. The popular novel spawned an 1899 stage adaptation, reaching audiences of over 10 million, and two highly successful film adaptations. For over a century, it has become a ubiquitous pop cultural presence, representing a deeply powerful story and monumental experience for some and a defining work of bad taste and false piety for others. The first and only collection of essays on this pivotal cultural icon, Bigger Than "Ben-Hur" addresses Lew Wallace’s beloved classic to explore its polarizing effect and to expand the contexts within which it can be studied. In the essays gathered here, scholars approach Ben-Hur from multiple directions—religious and secular, literary, theatrical, and cinematic—to understand not just one story in varied formats but also what they term the "Ben-Hur tradition." Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, contributions include the rise of the Protestant novel in the United States; relationships between and among religion, spectacle, and consumerism; the "New Woman" in early Hollywood; and a "wish list" for future adaptations, among others. Together, these essays explore how this remarkably fluid story of faith, love, and revenge has remained relevant to audiences across the globe for over 130 years.
Author: Barbara Ryan Publisher: Syracuse University Press ISBN: 081565331X Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 298
Book Description
First published in 1880, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ became a best-seller. The popular novel spawned an 1899 stage adaptation, reaching audiences of over 10 million, and two highly successful film adaptations. For over a century, it has become a ubiquitous pop cultural presence, representing a deeply powerful story and monumental experience for some and a defining work of bad taste and false piety for others. The first and only collection of essays on this pivotal cultural icon, Bigger Than "Ben-Hur" addresses Lew Wallace’s beloved classic to explore its polarizing effect and to expand the contexts within which it can be studied. In the essays gathered here, scholars approach Ben-Hur from multiple directions—religious and secular, literary, theatrical, and cinematic—to understand not just one story in varied formats but also what they term the "Ben-Hur tradition." Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, contributions include the rise of the Protestant novel in the United States; relationships between and among religion, spectacle, and consumerism; the "New Woman" in early Hollywood; and a "wish list" for future adaptations, among others. Together, these essays explore how this remarkably fluid story of faith, love, and revenge has remained relevant to audiences across the globe for over 130 years.
Author: Barbara Ryan Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317166329 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 237
Book Description
First published in 1880, Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur is one of the best-selling novels of all time. Employing analytical strategies from the fields of literature, fan studies, reception history, and media research, Barbara Ryan traces Ben-Hur’s popularity from 1880 to 1924. She analyzes fan mail as well as a wide range of manuscript and print sources, using as her starting place two letters in which admirers declared that they would rather be the author of Ben-Hur than to be President of the United States. Ryan’s discussion of the novel in terms of its contemporary fandom makes it possible for her to dispel misconceptions about the novel’s audience which include assumptions about its popularity with all Christians. She makes fascinating connections between Ben-Hur, slavery discourse, and the changing nature of U.S. politics to challenge critics who assume that Wallace consciously used a sure-fire formula. By shedding light on attempts to squash the novel’s popularity, Ryan examines dramatizations of Ben-Hur by amateurs and on Broadway. Her in-depth reception history of Ben-Hur’s incarnations in print and on stage establishes the novel’s importance for understanding nineteenth-century U.S. literature, politics, and culture.
Author: Jon Solomon Publisher: Edinburgh University Press ISBN: 147440796X Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 928
Book Description
Ben-Hur was the first literary blockbuster to generate multiple and hugely profitable adaptations, highlighted by the 1959 film that won a record-setting 11 Oscars. General Lew Wallace's book was spun off into dozens of popular publications and media productions, becoming a veritable commercial brand name that earned tens of millions of dollars. Ben-Hur: The Original Blockbuster surveys the Ben-Hur phenomenon's unprecedented range and extraordinary endurance: various editions, spin-off publications, stage productions, movies, comic books, radio plays, and retail products were successfully marketed and sold from the 1880s and throughout the twentieth century. Today Ben-Hur Live is touring Europe and Asia, with a third MGM film in production in Italy.Jon Solomon's new book offers an exciting and detailed study of the Ben-Hur brand, tracking its spectacular journey from Wallace's original novel through to twenty-first century adaptations, and encompassing a wealth of previously unexplored material along the way
Author: Tamar Jeffers McDonald Publisher: Fandom & Culture ISBN: 1609386736 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 270
Book Description
During Hollywood's "classic era," from the 1920s to 1950s, roughly twenty major fan magazines were offered each month at American newsstands and abroad. These publications famously fed fan obsessions with celebrities such as Mae West and Elvis Presley. Looking at these magazines with fresh regarding eyes and treating them as primary sources, the contributors of this collection provide unique insights into contemporary assumptions about the relationship between fan and star, performer and viewer. In doing so, they reveal the magazines to be a huge and largely untapped resource on a wealth of subjects, including gender roles, appearance and behavior, and national identity.
Author: Mark A. Noll Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0197623468 Category : Bible Languages : en Pages : 865
Book Description
"This book shows how the Bible decisively shaped American national history even as that history decisively influenced the use of Scripture. It explores the rise of a strongly Protestant Bible civilization in the early United States that was then fractured by debates over slavery, contested by growing numbers of non-Protestant Americans (Catholics, Jews, agnostics), and torn apart by the Civil War. Scripture survived as a significant, though fragmented, force in the more religiously plural period from Reconstruction to the early twentieth century. Throughout, the book pays special attention to how the same Bible shone as hope for black Americans while supporting other Americans who justified white supremacy"--
Author: Paul Fryer Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 1476649421 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
This edited collection of essays details a wide-ranging selection of some of the most sensationally successful theatre productions of the long Victorian era, the real "blockbusters" of the age. Ranging from the world of operetta and music hall to spectacular drama and sensational melodrama, the productions included provide the reader with definitive proof that the phenomenon of the "smash hit" show is not restricted to modern Broadway. This is a world that encompassed the ground-breaking stage technology of Ben Hur, the wide political impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the sheer creative originality of L'Enfant Prodigue. Supporting the "star" system, productions featured some of the greatest names of the period - Sir Henry Irving, Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson, James O'Neill and Dion Boucicault. This was the very dawning of a new media age, which saw many of the productions transfer to the new world of silent cinema for the very first time
Author: Peter Fitzpatrick Publisher: Monash University Publishing ISBN: 1921867248 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 576
Book Description
They shared a name, of course, and their physical resemblance was startling. And both Frank Thrings were huge figures in the landscape of twentieth-century Australian theatre and film. But in many ways they could hardly have been more different. Frank Thring the father (1882–1936) began his career as a sideshow conjuror, and he wheeled, dealed and occasionally married his way into becoming the legendary ‘F.T.’ — impresario, speculator and owner of Efftee Films, Australia’s first ‘talkies’ studio. He built for himself an image of grand patriarchal respectability, a sizeable fortune, and all the makings of a dynasty. Frank Thring the son (1926–1994) squandered the fortune and derailed the dynasty in the course of creating his own persona — a unique presence that could make most stages and foyers seem small. He won fame playing tyrants in togas in Hollywood blockbusters, then, suddenly, came home to Melbourne to play perhaps his finest role — that of Frank Thring, actor and personality extraordinaire. Central to this role was that Frank the son was unapologetically and outrageously gay. Peter Fitzpatrick’s compelling dual biography tells the story of two remarkable characters. It’s a kind of detective story, following the tracks of two men who did all they could to cover their tracks, and to conceal ‘the self’: Frank the father used secrecy and sleight-of-hand as strategies for self-protection; Frank the son masked a thoroughly reclusive personality with flamboyant self-parody. It’s also the tale of a lost relationship — and of the power a father may have had, even over a son who hardly knew him.
Author: Lisa Maurice Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9004346384 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 351
Book Description
Rewriting the Ancient World looks at how and why the ancient world, including not only the Greeks and Romans, but also Jews and Christians, has been rewritten in popular fictions of the modern world.
Author: Richard Walsh Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 0567666212 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 432
Book Description
The first decades of the twenty-first century saw a resurgence of the biblical epic film, such as Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings, which was in turn accompanied by a growth of biblical film criticism. This companion surveys that field of study by framing it in light of significant and recent biblical films as well as the voices of key biblical film critics. Non-Hollywood and seemingly “non-biblical” films also come under investigation. The contributors concentrate on three points: “context”, focusing on the 'Bible in' specific film genres and cultural situations; “theory”, applying theory from both religion and film studies, with an eye to their possible intersections; and “recent and significant texts”, reflecting on which texts and themes have been most important in 'biblical film' and which are currently at the fore. Exploring cinema across the globe, and accompanied by extended introductory essays for each of the three sections, this companion is an important resource for scholars in both film and biblical reception.
Author: James S. Olson Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 349
Book Description
This volume serves as an invaluable guide to key political, social, and cultural concepts of the 1950s. This volume covers the entire decade of the 1950s, from the uneasy peace following World War II to the beginnings of cultural discontent that would explode in the 1960s. It highlights key historical, social, and cultural elements of the period, including the Cold War and perceived communist threat; the birth of the middle class and establishment of consumer culture; the emergence of the civil rights movement; and the normalization of youth rebellion and rock and roll. An introduction presents the historical themes of the period, and an alphabetical encyclopedic entries relating to period-specific themes comprises the core reference material in the book. The book also contains a range of primary documents with introductions and a sample Documents Based Essay Question. Other features are a list of "Top Tips" for answering Documents Based Essay Questions, a thematically tagged chronology, and a list of specific learning objectives readers can use to gauge their working knowledge and understanding of the period.
Author: Barbara Ryan
Author: Barbara Ryan
Author: Barbara Ryan
Author: Jon Solomon
Author: Tamar Jeffers McDonald
Author: Mark A. Noll
Author: Paul Fryer
Author: Peter Fitzpatrick
Author: Lisa Maurice
Author: Richard Walsh
Author: James S. Olson