'The Devil Wears Nada': the Simpsons and the demythologisation of the apocalypse

This chapter provides a psychoanalytic perspective on The Simpsons' satirical representations of apocalyptic mythologies. I argue that The Simpsons' representation of eschata reveals the function and maintenance of an apocalyptic archetype. The function of the archetype relates to the cultural management of death anxieties and the realisation of life. The maintenance of the archetype involves an adaptive cycle of mythologisation, demythologisation, and remythologisation in dynamic cultural contexts. The animated satire offers a window into the fragile complementarity between 'mythos and logos' in popular western visions of the apocalypse. Throughout the chapter, I locate the function and maintenance of the apocalyptic archetype in the millennial American milieu.

N/A

Small Screen Revelations: apocalypse in contemporary television

50

1747-9630

N/A

N/A

24