Apocalyptic Transformation Book

A very interesting look at the endemic apocalyptic narrative found across a sizeable spectrum of literature and film. Rosen takes the reader through the basic precepts of the apocalyptic narrative in its, if not original, most widely known form, Revelations from the Christian Bible, and then displays these components at work in its literary tradition so as to make sure the reader is familiar with the precepts. The majority of the book provides examples from contemporary graphic novels such as Watchmen, to Vonnegut's Galapagos, to Gilliam's 12 Monkeys. Rosen's project, as far as I can see, is to expose the apocalyptic narrative at work in postmodern texts and film, and how the postmodern approach/tools of deconstruction, genealogic analyses, and plurality attempt to inform readers of the existence of this narrative, and also transform it into something hopefully, more useful and less harmful to modern society.

Rosen concedes that there are issues with postmodern interpretations of the apocalyptic narrative, in that often times, the postmodern approach seems to simply deconstruct, point at (my words), and heckle at (my words), a narrative strategy that is found in many stories throughout the world, and no less found in many conservative and liberal media narratives. While Rosen acknowledges this claim as being potentially true, she also suggests the possibility that postmodern re-interpretations shift the sight of apocalypse, or "revelation," to the individual, or to the human community, rather than to some "divine" realm beyond death and human understanding and relevance.

That's mostly what I took from it.