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More Than Ruins: (Post-)Apocalyptic Places in Media

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Ruin Porn and the Obsession with Decay

Abstract

In the last 15 years there has been a multitude of post-apocalyptic films projecting the long term implications of an apocalyptic disaster. The design and use of settings of landscapes, settlements, and waters freed of human beings are remarkably similar in choice and style: vast wastelands, ruins of landmarks, and overgrown cities reminding of the once enormous impact of humanity on earth while simultaneously stressing its perishability and nature’s ‘revenge’. In this chapter, I discuss the aesthetics and (narrative) functions of land- and urbanscapes in post-apocalyptic media, investigate tendencies in their composition overlapping individual productions and media (also including web series, documentaries, and reality TV shows), and thus demonstrate the creation, nature, effects, and functions of post-apocalyptic ruins, wastelands, and other settings across media.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The output of Asian, especially Japanese productions is—due to accessibility, language barriers, and a completely different cultural context—not part of this paper.

  2. 2.

    I would like to thank Jana Schröpfer for her very accurate support.

  3. 3.

    Translated by the author, the original reads: “[…] seit der Spätantike, vermehrt seit der Frühen Neuzeit und a fortiori in der Moderne [erscheint] ‚Apokalypse‘ vielfach als Thema, Motiv und Topos, zugleich aber und vor allem als Struktur: die ‚apokalyptische‘ Struktur ist gekennzeichnet von der Setzung des absolut Anderen, des radikal Neuen unter der Voraussetzung der Nichtung des Alten.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Felix Kirschbacher

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  1. Felix Kirschbacher
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Siobhan Lyons

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Kirschbacher, F. (2018). More Than Ruins: (Post-)Apocalyptic Places in Media. In: Lyons, S. (eds) Ruin Porn and the Obsession with Decay. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93390-0_11

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