They Know Us Better Than We Know Ourselves: The History and Politics of Alien Abduction

Bridget Brown

Published by New York University Press 2007

They Know Us Better Than We Know Ourselves

The History and Politics of Alien Abduction

Bridget Brown

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814739174.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

What's really behind Americans' persistent belief in alien abductions?

Since its emergence in the 1960s, belief in alien abduction has saturated popular culture, with the ubiquitous image of the almond-eyed alien appearing on everything from bumper stickers to bars of soap. Drawing on interviews with alleged abductees from the New York area, Bridget Brown suggests a new way for people to think about the alien phenomenon, one that is concerned not with establishing whether aliens actually exist, but with understanding what belief in aliens in America may tell us about our changing understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.

They Know Us Better Than We Know Ourselves looks at how the belief in abduction by extraterrestrials is constituted by and through popular discourse and the images provided by print, film, and television. Brown contends that the abduction phenomenon is symptomatic of a period during which people have come to feel increasingly divested of the ability to know what is real or true about themselves and the world in which they live. The alien abduction phenomenon helps us think about how people who feel left out create their own stories and fashion truths that square with their own experience of the world.

Author / Editor information

Brown Bridget :

Bridget Brown teaches writing at Montclair State University. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University.

Reviews

Andrew Ross,author of Fast Boat to China:
Browns brilliant study is so much more than a book about alien abductionit is a flesh-and-blood inquiry into the nature of belief in a technologically advanced society.

Melani McAlister,George Washington University:
Brown argues convincingly that alien abduction stories speak to several key issues in our culture, from environmentalism to changing ideas about reproduction. Extending far beyond textual readings, she instead tells the stories of individual people, treating them with respect, but with a critical lens as well. Her analysis of the role of & experts in alien abduction-their power and the misuses of that power-is utterly compelling.

A fascinating addition to the literature.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Elusive Shreds of Memory The Trauma and Recovery of Alien Abduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
2. The Invisible Epidemic Abduction Traumatists Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
3. Good Subjects Submitting to the Alien Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
4. My Body Is Not My Own The Intimate Invasion of Alien Technology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
5. An Ongoing and Systematic Breeding Experiment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
6. They Have the Secrets Conspiracy Theory as Alternative History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
7. This Is Worse Than Friggin’ Aliens Conspiracy Theory and the War against Citizens Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
8. Look and See What You Have Done Abductees and the Burden of Global Consciousness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
9. You Have a Sensitivity The Limits of Chosenness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
10. Reality Gets Exploded Abductee Culture, Abductee Belief Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Conclusion Alien Abduction and the New Face of Terror Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Keywords: abduction; belief; Better; constituted; discourse; extraterrestrials; film; images; Know; looks; Ourselves; popular; print; provided; television; Than; They; through

eBook

Published: August 1, 2007
ISBN: 9780814739174