PhD Candidate and Research Fellow, Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis
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Athalya Brenner
Jan Willem van Henten |
About
Based at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, my research focusses on the intersections between popular culture and the Bible. My PhD thesis, The Genesis Flood Story Published for Children: 170 Years of Words and Images proposes a methodology for analyzing the content of biblical narratives retold for young children. It focuses on the Genesis Flood Story in 170 years of English publishing (1837-2006). I undertake close readings of how actors and events are recreated. These readings are based on a narratological approach through which I uncover ideologies presented in the intersections between word and image. I demonstrate how the retellings have increasingly less to do with the biblical text and more to do with publishing norms for children. This has resulted in the gradual transition from realistic, historicized depictions of the story to fictionalized, fantastic versions.
For the project I designed and developed a database to record bibliographic and content information. It was created to enable both diachronic and synchronic analysis of complex relations between verbal and visual content.
Other projects I am working on include intersections between the Bible and science-fiction/fantasy fandoms, and further developing my database as a methodological tool for reception history.
