Star Wars Multiverse
176 pages, 4 1/2 x 7
Paperback
Release Date:13 Aug 2021
ISBN:9781978815254
Hardcover
Release Date:13 Aug 2021
ISBN:9781978815261
Star Wars Multiverse
Rutgers University Press
Star Wars may have started out as a film about a Manichean battle between good and evil, but as countless filmmakers, novelists, animators, fan artists and even cosplayers have taken the opportunity to play in the fictional world George Lucas created, it has expanded into something far greater, resulting in a richly layered and diverse Star Wars multiverse.
Drawing from a full range of Star Wars media, including comics, children’s books, fan films, and television shows like Clone Wars and The Mandalorian, Carmelo Esterrich explores how these stories set in a galaxy far far away reflect issues that hit closer to home. He examines what they have to say about political oppression, authoritarianism, colonialism, discrimination, xenophobia, and perpetual war. Yet he also investigates subtler ways in which the personal is political within the multiverse, including its articulations of gender and sexuality, its cultural hierarchies of language use, and its complex relationships between humans, droids and myriad species. This book demonstrates that the Star Wars multiverse is not just a stage for thrilling interstellar battles, but also an exciting space for interpretation and discovery.
Drawing from a full range of Star Wars media, including comics, children’s books, fan films, and television shows like Clone Wars and The Mandalorian, Carmelo Esterrich explores how these stories set in a galaxy far far away reflect issues that hit closer to home. He examines what they have to say about political oppression, authoritarianism, colonialism, discrimination, xenophobia, and perpetual war. Yet he also investigates subtler ways in which the personal is political within the multiverse, including its articulations of gender and sexuality, its cultural hierarchies of language use, and its complex relationships between humans, droids and myriad species. This book demonstrates that the Star Wars multiverse is not just a stage for thrilling interstellar battles, but also an exciting space for interpretation and discovery.
Things are never as simple as they seem. While the stories of Star Wars span multiple media forms, the universes of the franchise are vast and uncharted. In this insightful volume, Carmelo Esterrich mines the unique and multifaceted Star Wars multiverse in all its complexities, delving deeply into discussions of diversity, war, fandom, and gender across the galaxy. Whether discussing the Canon and the Legend, the Fan and the Creator, or the human and the alien (and the droid!), Esterrich proves that the force is strong with Star Wars. Don’t be a nerf herder – get this book now!'
Associate Professor Carmelo Esterrich to publish Star Wars Multiverse in 2021
E2K: Eager to Know podcast, 'Seriously Star Wars' episode interview with Carmelo Esterrich
Alumnus authors book, a 'conversation starter,' about all things Star Wars
Things are never as simple as they seem. While the stories of Star Wars span multiple media forms, the universes of the franchise are vast and uncharted. In this insightful volume, Carmelo Esterrich mines the unique and multifaceted Star Wars multiverse in all its complexities, delving deeply into discussions of diversity, war, fandom, and gender across the galaxy. Whether discussing the Canon and the Legend, the Fan and the Creator, or the human and the alien (and the droid!), Esterrich proves that the force is strong with Star Wars. Don’t be a nerf herder – get this book now!'
Associate Professor Carmelo Esterrich to publish Star Wars Multiverse in 2021
E2K: Eager to Know podcast, 'Seriously Star Wars' episode interview with Carmelo Esterrich
Alumnus authors book, a 'conversation starter,' about all things Star Wars
CARMELO ESTERRICH is an associate professor of humanities at Columbia College Chicago where he teaches interdisciplinary humanities and cultural studies, from Gilgamesh to Bjork. His scholarship has focused on the artistic production of twentieth-century Latin America, specifically film, literature, the visual arts, and popular music.
Preface: Seriously, Star Wars
1 Navigating a Multiverse: Watching, Reading, Wearing Star Wars
2 Humans and Creatures + Droids: Hierarchies of Life
3 Imperial Desires: War, Order, Colonialism
4 Beyond Princesses and Flyboys: Gender and Sexuality in Star Wars
Conclusion: Star Wars, Seriously
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Works Cited
Filmography
Index
1 Navigating a Multiverse: Watching, Reading, Wearing Star Wars
2 Humans and Creatures + Droids: Hierarchies of Life
3 Imperial Desires: War, Order, Colonialism
4 Beyond Princesses and Flyboys: Gender and Sexuality in Star Wars
Conclusion: Star Wars, Seriously
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Works Cited
Filmography
Index
