Why have we fallen in love with aliens? Alien Chic provides a cultural history of the alien since the 1950s, asking ourselves why our attitudes to aliens have shifted from fear to affection, and what this can tell us about how we now see ourselves and others. Neil Badmington explores our relationship with aliens, inscribed in films such as The War of the Worlds , Mars Attacks! , Mission to Mars and Independence Day ; and how thinkers such as Descartes, Barthes, Freud, Lyotard and Derrida have conceptualised what it means to be human (and post-human). Alien Chic examines the the concept of posthumanism in an age when the lines between what is human and what is non-human are increasingly blurred by advances in science and technology, for example genetic cloning and engineering, and the development of AI and cyborgs. Questioning whether our current embracing of all things 'alien' - in the form of extraterrestrial gadgets or abduction narratives, for instance - stems from a desire to reaffirm ourselves as 'human', this is an original and thought-provoking contribution to the study of posthumanism.

"Alien Chic" sets out to provide a cultural history of the alien since the 1950s, asking why our attitudes to aliens have changed from fear to affection, and what this can tell us about how we now see ourselves and others.
The author begins by exploring our relationship with the concept of aliens, primarily through films, including "Invaders from Mars," "Mars Attacks" and "Mission to Mars," He then progresses to ideas of humanism and what makes us human, taking in the works of thinkers such as Descartes, Barthes, Freud, and Derrida.
The book then considers the concept of posthumanism in an age in which the lines between what is human and what is non-human are increasingly blurred by advances in science and technology, for example cloning and genetic engineering, and the development of AI and cyborgs. This leads to the question of whether our embracing of all things 'alien' stems from a need to reaffirm ourselves as "human."
Written in a clear and engaging style, Alien Chic is an original and thought-provoking contribution to the study of posthumanism.

'I've never kept a journal', Roland Barthes declared in 1979, ' - or, rather, I've never known if I should keep one'. The form itself, he continued, was inferior and 'unnecessary', a 'minor mania of writing'. Barthes died months making this statement, and the years since then have revealed that he had actually been concealing a fondness for diary-writing. The publication in 1985 of Incidents brought to light an intimate journal entitled 'Soirees de Paris', while 2009 saw the appearance of two much longer diaries kept by Barthes following the death of his mother in 1977 and during a trip to China in 1974, respectively. Further journals lie in the archive, unpublished and largely unseen; it is not clear if these will ever enter the public domain. This collection, which brings together some of the most prominent scholars in the field, considers the present implications of Roland Barthes' journals. How do these diaries invite us to reconsider aspects of Barthes' work which have become familiar through his reception as one of the twentieth century's most influential literary and cultural critics? What do they allow us to see for the first time? What is their relation to the works whose appearance Barthes authorised during his lifetime? Where and how do they fit in his oeuvre? How do they relate to each other across moment and mood? Why might they call for deliberations? This book was originally published as a special issue of Textual Practice.

'I've never kept a journal', Roland Barthes declared in 1979, ' - or, rather, I've never known if I should keep one'. The form itself, he continued, was inferior and 'unnecessary', a 'minor mania of writing'. Barthes died months making this statement, and the years since then have revealed that he had actually been concealing a fondness for diary-writing. The publication in 1985 of Incidents brought to light an intimate journal entitled 'Soirees de Paris', while 2009 saw the appearance of two much longer diaries kept by Barthes following the death of his mother in 1977 and during a trip to China in 1974, respectively. Further journals lie in the archive, unpublished and largely unseen; it is not clear if these will ever enter the public domain. This collection, which brings together some of the most prominent scholars in the field, considers the present implications of Roland Barthes' journals. How do these diaries invite us to reconsider aspects of Barthes' work which have become familiar through his reception as one of the twentieth century's most influential literary and cultural critics? What do they allow us to see for the first time? What is their relation to the works whose appearance Barthes authorised during his lifetime? Where and how do they fit in his oeuvre? How do they relate to each other across moment and mood? Why might they call for deliberations? This book was originally published as a special issue of Textual Practice.

Everything is open to question. Nothing is sacred.

Critical and cultural theory invites a rethinking of some of our most basic assumptions about who we are, how we behave, and how we interpret the world around us.

The Routledge Critical and Cultural Theory Reader brings together 29 key pieces from the last century and a half that have shaped the field. Topics include: subjectivity, language, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, the body, the human, class, culture, everyday life, literature, psychoanalysis, technology, power, and visuality. The choice of texts, together with the editors' introduction and glossary, will allow newcomers to begin from first principles, while the use of unabridged readings will also make the volume suitable for those undertaking more specialized work. Material is arranged chronologically, but the editors have suggested thematic pathways through the selections.

Everything is open to question. Nothing is sacred.

Critical and cultural theory invites a rethinking of some of our most basic assumptions about who we are, how we behave, and how we interpret the world around us.

The Routledge Critical and Cultural Theory Reader brings together 29 key pieces from the last century and a half that have shaped the field. Topics include: subjectivity, language, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, the body, the human, class, culture, everyday life, literature, psychoanalysis, technology, power, and visuality. The choice of texts, together with the editors' introduction and glossary, will allow newcomers to begin from first principles, while the use of unabridged readings will also make the volume suitable for those undertaking more specialized work. Material is arranged chronologically, but the editors have suggested thematic pathways through the selections.

Roland Barthes - the author of such enduringly influential works as Mythologies and Camera Lucida - was one of the most important cultural critics of the post-war era. Since his death in 1980, new writings have continued to be discovered and published. The Afterlives of Roland Barthes is the first book to revisit and reassess Barthes' thought in light of these posthumously published writings. Covering work such as Barthes' Mourning Diary, the notes for his projected Vita Nova and many writings yet to be translated into English, Neil Badmington reveals a very different Barthes of today than the figure familiar from the writings published in his lifetime.

Roland Barthes - the author of such enduringly influential works as Mythologies and Camera Lucida - was one of the most important cultural critics of the post-war era. Since his death in 1980, new writings have continued to be discovered and published. The Afterlives of Roland Barthes is the first book to revisit and reassess Barthes' thought in light of these posthumously published writings. Covering work such as Barthes' Mourning Diary, the notes for his projected Vita Nova and many writings yet to be translated into English, Neil Badmington reveals a very different Barthes of today than the figure familiar from the writings published in his lifetime.

'Will there ever be an end to the supply of books about Alfred Hitchcock?', pleaded the Times Literary Supplement in 2008. It is a fair question for, as Michael Walker pointed out in Hitchcock's Motifs, more has been written about Hitchcock (1899-1980) than any other film director. Indeed, Jane E. Sloan's 1993 Hitchcock bibliography revealed that well over seventy-five scholarly books and nearly 1,000 articles had been published by 1990; and those figures have, of course, continued inexorably to rise. So, while the prospective viewer of Vertigo or Rear Window is likely to feel a compelling need for some preparation before consuming the film itself, the daunting quantity (and variable quality) of Hitchcock criticism makes it difficult to discriminate the useful from the tendentious, superficial, and otiose. That is why this new Routledge title, compiled by Neil Badmington, is so urgently needed. In four volumes, the collection meets the need for an authoritative reference work to allow researchers and students to make sense of the vast Hitchcock literature and the continuing explosion in research output. Users will now be able easily and rapidly to locate the best and most influential critical scholarship, work that is otherwise often inaccessible or scattered throughout a variety of specialist journals and books. With material gathered into one easy-to-use set, researchers and students can now spend more of their time with the key journal articles, book chapters, and other pieces, rather than on time-consuming (and sometimes fruitless) archival searches. The collection is supplemented with a comprehensive introduction newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. It is also fully indexed and includes an expertly compiled 'Thematic Guide' to enable users readily to discover and follow thematic pathways through the assembled works. Alfred Hitchcock is an essential reference work and is destined to be valued as a vital research resource.

What is posthumanism and why does it matter? This book offers an introduction to the ways in which humanism's belief in the natural supremacy of the Family of Man has been called into question at different moments and from different theoretical positions. What is the relationship between posthumanism and technology? Can posthumanism have a politics—postcolonial or feminist? Are postmodernism and poststructuralism posthumanist? What happens when critical theory meets Hollywood cinema? What links posthumanism to science fiction. Posthumanism addresses these and other questions in an attempt to come to terms with one of the most pressing issues facing contemporary society.