An Emerging New American Mythos: Post-Apocalyptic Narratives as Expressions of Rupture, Rage, Resignation, and Regret

Abstract

In our media-saturated society popular culture assumes a quasi-religious function, offering mythic narratives and associated mediated rituals that provide audiences with equipment for living. The United States has developed its own distinctive mythos, termed the American monomyth , which celebrates the restoration and perpetuation of social order through heroic means. This optimistic mythic narrative formula shapes storylines within a wide range of genres, such as film noir, sci-fi, and Westerns. In this study, the authors note the surging popularity of a distinctively different mythic formula: post-apocalyptic narratives. It is argued that these darkly pessimistic narratives give ritual expression to the rage, regret, and resignation prompted by a perceived or real irreparable rupture of the social order. The authors offer illustrative examples of post-apocalyptic storylines in books, films, televisions, and other media; identify some of the contemporary socio-cultural concerns addressed by these stories; and suggest that post-apocalyptic narratives pose a potential challenge to the perennial dominance of the traditional American monomyth by joining – although not displacing or replacing – it as a fixture American popular culture.