Buffy studies

Buffy Studies is a subset of the academic field of cultural studies. It explores issues related to gender as expressed through the content of the television program "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and, to a lesser extent, "Angel". Such work is concerned with the scholarly study and exploration of Joss Whedon's popular television series that take place in the fictional Buffyverse.

Neda Ulaby of National Public Radio describes "Buffy" as having a "special following among academics, some of whom have staked a claim in what they call "Buffy Studies." [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3850482 Ulaby, Neda] , " [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1262180 - 'Buffy Studies'] ", "National Public Radio" (May 13, 2003)] Though not widely recognized as a distinct discipline, the term "Buffy studies" is commonly used amongst the academic "Buffy"-related writings. [Lavery, David, & Wilcox, Rhonda V., [http://www.slayage.tv "Slayage.tv"] (2001-). The term is in use from the full title of "Slayage": "Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies", and thus has become used in essays by those who contribute to scholarship relating to "Buffy". For example, Cantwell uses the term in her essay "While such studies, particularly in "Buffy" studies, have explored these knowledges, and modes of community 'politics' and interaction" (Marianne Cantwell, "Collapsing the Extra/Textual: Passions and Intensities of Knowledge in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Online Fan Communities", 2004)] Such studies are also sometimes referred to as 'Buffyology'.Fact|date=October 2007

Development as academic field

The debut of "Buffy" (1997-2003) eventually led to the publication of a number of books and hundreds of articles examining the themes of the show from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives including sociology, psychology, philosophy, theology and women's studies. Since January 2001 "Slayage: The Online Journal of Buffy Studies" has published essays on the topic quarterly, and it continues to do so. "" was published in 2002, and since then many more "Buffy" books have been published by academic book publishers with more books planned for release before the end of 2006. There have also been a number of international conferences on the topic [See: " [http://web.archive.org/web/20030421112944/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/2340659.stm Boffins get their teeth into Buffy] ", "BBC" (18 October, 2002). " [http://www.wickedness.net/v1cfp.htm Vampires: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil] " "Wickedness.net" (2002). " [http://www.slayage.tv/SCBtVS_Archive/index.htm The Slayage Conference on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Paper Archive] ", "Slayage.tv" (2004). These sources report on three conferences respectively: "Blood, Text and Fears" (University of East Anglia, UK, 2002), "Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil" (Budapest, Hungary, 2003), and "The Slayage Conference" (Nashville, USA, 2003).] . "College courses across the globe are devoted to the show, and secondary schools in Australia and New Zealand also provide Buffy classes." [ [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20040529/scholars_buffy_040529?s_name=&no_ads= Scholars lecture on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'] , "Ctv.ca" (May 29, 2004).] The topic can even be undertaken as part of a Master's degree in Cult Film & TV at Brunel University, London [" [http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=13473&in_page_id=2 Study Buffy at university] ", "Metro.co.uk" (May 16, 2006) MA course at Brunel University, West London.] . Increasingly "Angel" is being analyzed alongside its predecessor, e.g. in the recent 2005 publication, .

The creator of "Buffy", Joss Whedon has responded to the scholarly reaction to his series: "I think it's great that the academic community has taken an interest in the show. I think it's always important for academics to study popular culture, even if the thing they are studying is idiotic. If it's successful or made a dent in culture, then it is worthy of study to find out why. Buffy, on the other hand is, I hope, not idiotic. We think very carefully about what we're trying to say emotionally, politically, and even philosophically while we're writing it... it really is, apart from being a pop-culture phenomenon, something that is deeply layered textually episode by episode." [cite news
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/16/readersopinions/16WHED.html?ex=1198213200&en=292c3c27d77f61ac&ei=5070
title = Joss Whedon
date = 2003-05-16
accessdate = 2007-12-19
work = The New York Times]

The Third International Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses was held June 5-8, 2008 at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. [http://www.hsu.edu/philosophy/]

The response to this scholarly attention has had its critics. The English lecturer Mary Graber is unimpressed with the growing presence of "Buffy" in universities: she wrote in an article "most parents who send their children off to college have no idea of what is being taught in the humanities classes: pornography appreciation, analysis of the clothing of transvestites, Native American scalp dances, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." [Graber, Mary, " [http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0804edgrabar.html Colleges open minds close door on sense] ", "Ajc.com" (2006).] Jes Battis who authored "" admits that study of the Buffyverse "invokes an uneasy combination of enthusiasm and ire", and meets "a certain amount of disdain from within the halls of the academy" [Battis, Jes, , "McFarland & Company" (June 2005), page 9.] .

ome Examples and brief overviews of Themes explored by academic literature in Buffy Studies:

Buffy in Gender Studies:
*Lorna Jowlett, 2005: Sex and The Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan.

In this paper, published by wesleyane university press, Jowlett, senior lecturer in American Studies at The University of Northampton and Buffy fan, states that ‘Buffy may be “Barbie with a kung-fu grip”, but she is still Barbie’ (p. 197). Jowlett identifies the show as being “post-feminist”, while arguing that it fails to challenge gender stereotypes in meaningful ways. Jowletts book’s first 3 chapters are entitled: Girl Power, Good Girls and Bad Girls, in which Jowlett dissects the stereotypes within the female characters that, she argues, are reinforced by the show. The next three chapters are broken into the male stereotypes: Tough men, New Men and Dead Boys. Jowlett states that reinforcement of stereotypes exists within the show for male characters as well. http://fap.sagepub.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/cgi/reprint/17/3/415http://www.upne.com/0-8195-6757-4.html

Buffy in Pop Culture Studies:
*Dee Amy-Chinn and Milly Williamson, 2005: The Vampire Spike in text and fandom: Unsettling oppositions in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Amy-Chinn, senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and Williamson, of Brunel University, focus on a specific character in this paper, Spike, who as argued by the authors, embodies “the simultaneous expression of erotic repulsion and attraction” and a “fear of and desire for the ‘other’”. The authors compare and contrast the character of Spike to the show’s general treatment of sexuality and self. http://ecs.sagepub.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/cgi/reprint/8/3/275

Buffy in Media Studies:
*Rhonda Wilcox, 2005: Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Why does Buffy Matter? In this paper Wilcox makes the attempt to bring this television show into perspective for us. Wilcox says, “It matters because it shows that television can be art, and deserves to be so studied…the depth of the characters, the truth of the stories, the profundity of the themes, and their precise incarnation in language, sound and image – all of these matter.” (Wilcox 419). While giving in depth details of all of these elements and also drawing on other academic articles about Buffy, Wilcox helps to bring this television series to the same page for all fans interested in Buffy; from those who are a bit unsure about the series all the way to those die hard fans.
* Wilcox, Rhonda & Lavery, David, 2002. “Fighting the Forces: What’s at Stake for Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”"Fighting the Forces” explores the struggle to create meaning in an impressive example of popular culture, the television series phenomenon “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. These essays analyze the social and cultural issues implicit in the series and place it in its literary context. Editors Wilcox and Lavery have opened an intriguing doorway to fans of this show, “Issues of gender, generations, race, class, and violence are treated seriously, through an in-depth analysis of both main characters and sidekicks. Class and race are discussed through a study of Buffy’s and her friends’ relationship with the two "other" slayers, American white trash Faith and Jamaican Kendra.” Wilcox and Lavery analyze these many concepts while critiquing other scholarly essays such as “God, New Religious Movements, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Everything Philosophical About Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”http://you.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/3/269

Buffy as Family Studies
* Burr, Vivien. Sept. 2007. “Imagining the Family Representations of Alternative Lifestyles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”This paper offers studies of the family and how media families affect the views of young people. Through the television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Burr explores the dangers and advantages of non-normative family forms, especially the non-genetic or ‘chosen’ families. (Burr) There is also a focus that Buffy “endorses a non-hierarchical, ‘democratic vision’ of the family. (Giddens, 1992) Also, Buffy can generate ‘interactive social worlds’ that are a main focus of the spreading of new social, familial practices (Plummer, 1995). Family is viewed in a new and different way through Buffy that leads to such innovations as well in practice and research on the subject. http://qsw.sagepub.com/content/vol6/issue3/

Additional Works

Additional books include:

Areas of study

Buffyology includes academic studies of "Buffy" in relation to:

* anthropology
* chronology (narrative and historical time lines)
* demonology (the study of demons)
* ecology
* existentialism
* film studies
* history (both ancient and medieval)
* homosexuality
* linguistics
* magic (the arts of enchantment)
* musicology
* narratology (storytelling)
* nomenclature (naming conventions and significance)
* philosophy (including ethics and metaphysics)
* psychology
* religion
* sociology
* theology
* vampirology (the study of vampires)
*women's studies

Notes and references

ee also

* Girl Heroes
* Girl Power
* Third-wave feminism
* Science fiction studies
*List of women warriors in literature and popular culture

External links

Online works

* [http://slayageonline.com/ Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies] - A fully electronic peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the scholarly exploration of the creative works of Joss Whedon - especially "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It is edited by David Lavery and Rhonda Wilcox. New issues appear approximately every three months.
* [http://daringivens.home.mindspring.com/btps.html Buffy The Patriarchy Slayer] - Bibliography of scholarly articles on "Buffy Studies."
* [http://www.atpobtvs.com/ "All Things Philosophical"] - A comprehensive guide to philosophy and ethics relating to the Buffyverse.
* [http://www.alysa316.com/Buffyology "Buffyology"] - Extensive bibliography of academic articles available online or in print.
* [http://www.teaattheford.net/ "Tea at the Ford"] - Literary discussion of "Buffy/Angel"

References in the media

* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1262180 "National Public Radio" - 'Buffy Studies']
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20030421112944/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/2340659.stm "BBC.co.uk" - Boffins get their teeth into Buffy]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040202205347/http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1059479741556 "Financial Times" -]
* [http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/6551 "Lancasteronline.com" - "'Buffy' the academic slayer"]
* [http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0804edgrabar.html "Ajc.com" - "Colleges' open minds close door on sense"]
* [http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/tv/feature/2002/11/09/buffy_conference/index.html?pn=1 "Salon.com" - Report on Buffy conference (article featured on front page in November 2002)]
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20040529/scholars_buffy_040529?s_name=&no_ads= "Ctv.ca" - Scholars lecture on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer']