Performing Against Annihilation: Identity and Consciousness in J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Wagner and George R.R. Martin [Hardcover]

This book outlines how the protagonists in The Nibelung's Ring, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones attempt to construct identities and expand their consciousness manifestations. As the characters in the three works face the ends of their respective worlds, they must find answers to their mortality, and to the threat it implies: the loss of identity and consciousness. Moreover, it details how this process is depicted performatively. In a hands-on and interdisciplinary approach, this book seeks to unveil the underlying philosophical concepts of identity and consciousness in the three works as they are represented audio-visually on stage and screen. Through the use of many practical examples, this book offers both academic scholars and any interested readers a completely new perspective on three enduringly popular and interrelated works.Chapter 1. The Philosophy of Identity in the Three Works.- Chapter 2. The Performative Language of Identity in the Three Works.- Chapter 3. Identity in Action.- Chapter 4. The Philosophy of Consciousness in the Three Works.- Chapter 5. The Performative Language of Consciousness in the Three Works.- Chapter 6. Consciousness in Action.- Chapter 7. Performative Identification in the Three Works.Lukas Schepp completed his PhD in English Literature at LMU Munich: Performing Against Annihilation: Identity and Consciousness in J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Wagner and George R.R. Martin. Lukas Schepp specializes in film and media studies, interdisciplinary studies, and philosophical approaches to literature and film. Among others, he has published the essays Kubrick's Ambiguous Intermedial Translation of Thackeray's The Luck of Barry Lyndon and Identity and Consciousness in Black Mirror - Be Right Back in East-West Dialogues on the Humlc“