Abstract
This chapter maps the theoretical and conceptual framework of the study, taking as its focus two key themes that organise the book as a whole. Firstly, it explores the meanings of the apocalyptic, situating these within the cultural history of the West. Tracing apocalyptic thinking from its religious roots in Christian and Judaic theology, it follows the evolution of such ideas into the supposedly secular era of modernity. Central here is the fundamental ambiguity of the apocalyptic — it can be both negative, marking the wholesale destruction of the world as we know it, but also positive, a mechanism of renewal and redemption. Secondly, it seeks to connect contemporary discourses on crime and disorder to apocalyptic thinking through their shared preoccupation with the problems of evil and suffering. It concludes by setting out the book’s approach to textual sampling and analysis, the basis for the exploration of post-apocalyptic fictions in the chapters that follow.
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