Cultural Studies Review

volume 18 number 1 March 2012

http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/csrj/index
pp. 28994
! Adam Brown 2012!
!
ISSN 1837-8692!

book review

Here At The End of All Things
Mediating Crisis in the Twenty-First Century


ADAM BROWN
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

!
}eff Lewis, !"#$#$%#&%'()%*+,-.+%/)0#.$1()")2%3)$#")4%3#$1+).$5")%.&0%!5+'5".+%
6".&$7,"8.'#,&
Palgiave Nacmillan, New Yoik, 2u11
ISBN 978u2Su24742u
RRP 0S$8S.uu

In the final climactic moments of Petei }ackson's blockbustei film tiilogy, 6()%9,"0%,7%
'()% :#&;$ (2uu1-2uuS), Fiouo Baggins anu his intiepiu companion, Sam, slump
exhausteu against the baiien, iocky cliffs of Nount Boom as lava is launcheu into the
aii aiounu them. Baving uefeateu the uaikness that thieateneu to engulf theii
woilu, the piotagonist comfoits his fiienu as theii suiiounuings liteially ciumble
aiounu them: 'I'm glau to be with you Samwise uamgee, heie at the enu of all things'.
This moment might be seen to stanu among many othei moments, in vaiious meuia,
wheie ciisis anu cultuie inteisect. Theie is an unueniable (peihaps fetishistic)
fascination with the iuea that all that is will one uay be no moie; that some
catastiophehuman-maue oi 'natuial' (though we can nevei tiuly conceive of it
this way)will wipe us, so the stiange saying goes, 'fiom the face of the Eaith'.
Fiom the peivasive anu evei-incieasing inteiest in post-apocalyptic themes
! !VOLUME18 NUMBER1 MAR2012! 290
uisplayeu in iecent Bollywoou cinema, to scholaily woik such as Alvin Rosenfelu's
ciitique of what he sees as the uevastating effects of (populai) cultuial
iepiesentations on histoiical memoiy leauing to 'the enu of the Bolocaust',
1
the
piesence of ciisis iesonates stiongly in numeious aienas.
}eff Lewis's exceptional stuuy, !"#$#$% #&% '()% *+,-.+% /)0#.$1()")2% 3)$#")4%
3#$1+).$5")% .&0% !5+'5".+% 6".&$7,"8.'#,&, engages bioauly with the uiscouises
constiuctinganu constiucteu thioughthe anxieties anu uesiies that peimeate
contempoiaiy society. Focusing on the (ie)constiuctions of ciisis anu a (collective)
ciisis consciousness within a 'global meuiaspheie', Lewis touches on issues as
uiveise as the cuiient financial tuimoil, sexual uesiie anu ielationships, giowing
global inequalities, wiuespieau ecological uestiuction, anu continueu waifaie anu
teiioiism. Lewis stiuctuies his stuuy thematically accoiuing to these issues,
examining how they impact on, anu aie impacteu by, the inextiicably linkeu human
uispositions of pleasuie anu uispleasuie, uesiie anu feai. Pioviuing a timely analysis
of cultuial tiansfoimation anu ciisis, Lewis exploies the implications foi human
society anu human natuie of a meuia cultuie that has become 'an open-boiueieu
space in which text piouuceis anu consumeis become exchangeable iuentities
within a vapoious anu contingent inteiaction of human imagining'. (2) While this
chaiacteiisation of meuia cultuie coulu peihaps be qualifieu as moie peitinent to
some aieas of the 'meuiaspheie' than otheis, Lewis neveitheless sheus much light
on 'those aieas of ciisis that have become mainstays of the mouein coipoiate meuia
anu bioauei zones of public uiscussion'. (1S)
Rightly taking caie to note that the phenomenon of cultuially meuiateu
ciises anu insecuiity(s) is by no means new, Lewis aigues that this is nonetheless
exaceibateu thiough the hypei-meuiateu, uigitally satuiateu piesent: 'knowleuge
systems anu theii iespective concoiuia of meanings aie themselves shapeu anu
amplifieu thiough a meuia-uominateu cultuiea meuiaspheie which aiticulates
human consciousness anu the ways in which the woilu appeais to us as "ieal"'. (2)
The wiuespieau peiception of the attacks on the Woilu Tiaue Centie anu the
Pentagon on Septembei 11 as something 'suiieal' is one case in point among many.
Taking a bioau appioach to examining contempoiaiy meuia cultuie, Lewis points
out that the intensity with which naiiatives of ciisis maintain theii holu on the
collective consciousness has giown even stiongei in the context(s) of the
Adam BrownMediating Crisis in the Twenty-First Century! 291
millennium bug, climate change, biiu anu Swine flu, the global financial ciisis, a
looming woiluwiue foou ciisis, anu the geneial unpieuictability of a post-911
woilu.
In the book's intiouuction anu initial chaptei, Lewis maps out the histoiical
pieceuents of, anu pie-iequisites foi, the 'contempoiaiy ciisis consciousness'. In an
impoitant contiibution to the alieauy substantial liteiatuie on the theme of
globalisation Lewis pioviues the fullei socio-histoiical anu cultuial context that is
often oveishauoweu by the fiequent piioiitisation of iecent new meuia
technological innovation. Revealing the links between human expeiiences anu
enueavouis acioss foui categoiies of globalising foices, Lewis uetails the eaily
migiatoiy patteins of huntei-gatheiei communities; the foimation of 'agiicultuial
civilizations anu empiies'; the moueinisation of economy, inuustiy anu militaiy
thiough the Inuustiial Revolution; anu the iise of the 'meuiaspheie' thiough a
piocess of 'auvanceu meuiational globalization ... constituteu aiounu the tiaue anu
exchange of images, infoimation, finance anu iepiesentational texts'. (11-12)
Bistancing himself fiom the wiitings of 0liich Beck anu otheis, Lewis seeks
to woik towaius 'a moie uefinitive unueistanuing of ciisis'. (S6) A paiticulai
stiength of the book is his acknowleugement of, anu iesponse to, the Westein-
centiic bias to be founu in much of the existing scholaiship:
a pioblem I have founu with many stuuies of human cultuial
tiansfoimation is theii tenuency to focus almost exclusively on Euiopean
oi westein civilization anu the sense in which histoiy is the naiiative of
social piogiess. This imagining of cultuial evolution anu social piogiess
sets the piesent in a piivilegeu hieiaichical ielationship with the past
that is, fiom a peispective that is entiiely embeuueu in the iuea that the
piesent is the apex of all histoiy. Noie bioauly, this veision of histoiy
giounus itself in a moueinist anu laigely Euiopean-westein imagining of
global conuitions anu cultuial values. (9)
While this is ceitainly a valiu point, anu Lewis's bioau uefinition of globalisation as a
'geneial piocess of human mobility anu cultuial tiansfoimation' is appiopiiate to
his stuuy, it might still have benefiteu the ieauei (paiticulaily a ieauei fiom outsiue
the meuia anu communications uiscipline) to be exposeu to a moie uetaileu
engagement with how the piesent ieseaich inteisects with what has alieauy been
! !VOLUME18 NUMBER1 MAR2012! 292
wiitten on the multifaceteu natuie of global flows ovei time anu space. Nonetheless,
Lewis's emphasis on the influence of the uistant past pioviues a valuable
peispective on the foievei-changing cultuial tiansfoimation(s) of the piesent.
The impiessive textual analysis, combineu with social anu political
commentaiy, tiaces the vaiious naiiative tiopes fiom ancient mythology to piesent
cultuial ieiteiations anu ienegotiations of ciisis in human affaiis. A fascinating anu
lively uiscussion of New Capitalism anu financial ciisis moves fiom inteitextual
ienueiings of the 'swallowing monstei' in Afiican Bantu mythology anu 0lu English
poetiy (Beowulf) to mouein uay cinema (<.=$ anu /);.+,0,&) to the
conceptualisation of Wall Stieet moguls by anti-globalisationists as monsteis
exhibiting an 'uniestiaineu puisuit of piofit, fiee maikets anu giowth at all costs'.
(84) Lewis peisuasively aigues that 'the uFC that stiuck Ameiica anu othei paits of
the uevelopeu woilu fiom aiounu 2uu7 was ueliveieu thiough a iemaikably
familiai uiscouise of uoomanothei iteiation of "the enu of the woilu" scenaiio'.
(7u) Similaily, Lewis uiaws on Classical uieek liteiatuie to leau into a wiue-ianging
uiscussion of sexuality(s) anu, in a latei (anu peihaps the stiongest anu most
uisconceiting) chaptei, a sophisticateu meuitation on the cultuial conceptions of
ecology'the most foimiuable zone of the cuiient ciisis consciousness'. |17uj Also
of paiticulai notewoithiness is the intiiguing analysis of the meuiation anu
memoiialisation of the Bali Bombings alongsiue that of the Septembei 11 attacks.
Thioughout these substantive chapteis, luciu, ciitical ieflections on genuei,
ethnicity anu othei peitinent issues aie engageu with wheie ielevant, ensuiing a
well-iounueu, multifaceteu uiscussion.
A significantpeihaps inevitableissue with a book of this kinu is whethei
oi not the impiessive scope of the stuuy comes at the expense of uepth. Well
stiuctuieu, cleaily wiitten anu highly ieauable, theie aie nonetheless seveial points
maue thioughout the book that woulu have been enhanceu by the use of moie
uetaileu case stuuies. Those examples given to illustiate bioau tienus aie often
mentioneu only fleetingly befoie moving on. Foi instance, Rolanu Emmeiich's film
6()% 3.>% ?7')"% 6,8,"",= (2uu4) is biiefly citeu as exemplaiy of 'the foice of
apocalypse anu notions of an enu to humanity |thatj ieach beyonu inteinational
conflict'. (S) Casting asiue my own feeling that the apocalyptic uiscouise of this film
lay as muchif not moiein the maiketing of it than the (iathei iestiicteu anu
Adam BrownMediating Crisis in the Twenty-First Century! 293
seuentaiy) stoiyline of a 'city unuei siege', moie coulu be saiu about this text in
ielation to the stuuy's oveiall aigumentative thiust. Rathei than the 'uisastei movie'
genie (anu, by extension, the buigeoning spate of 'supeiheio' films) meiely
uemonstiating Bollywoou's pieoccupation with the (appaient) 'enu of times', such
films invaiiably pivot on a ieuemptive aesthetic that give the (suiviving of the)
Apocalypse a uistinctly Ameiicaniseu anu tianscenuent guiseievealing a complex
iueological nexus of feais anu uesiies that ueseive fuithei ieflection. A moie
nuanceu uiscussion of the iueological limitations of such films as 6()% 3.>% ?7')"%
6,8,"",= (also citeu in a latei section on the meuiation of global waiming anu
extieme weathei events (18S)) woulu have enhanceu the uiscussion. 0n the othei
hanu, the eviuent limitations of a bioau-biush stioke appioach uo not suiface often,
anu ieaueis familiai with the expansive compilation of films, novels anu othei
cultuial texts that aie uiawn on thioughout will appieciate the bieauth anu
ielevance of the ieseaich anu insights.
Eaily in his stuuy, Lewis wiites that 'thiough all of these apocalyptic
ienueiings anu theii iepiesentation in vaiious naiiative foims, theie exists a
piofounu sense of anxiety, a ciisis consciousness that seems to exceeu the
conuitions by which oui cultuial oiuei anu pleasuies aie foimeu'. (7). Emblematic
of the ways in which he exploies the complex inteisections of past anu piesent
cultuial uiscouises aiounu these issues, Lewis sets a foiebouing passage quoteu
fiom Beiman Nelville's /,->% 3#@A alongsiue a uiie waining by Bi Negan Claik of
CSIR0 about impenuing global foou shoitages as epigiaphs to one chaptei, (14)
positioning the piimal uispositions, feai anu uesiie, as piecaiiously balanceu in
these most unpieuictable of times. Lewis's eluciuation of this anxiety, peimeating
piesent uay society on multiple levels, pioviues a highly valuable contiibution to the
stuuy of contempoiaiy cultuial tiansfoimation. The ciucial significance anu
ielevance of the ieseaich can best be founu in Lewis's own woius:
the ciises that humans themselves have geneiateu in ielation to theii
phenomenal woilu has not only cieateu ueep pain foi themselves, it is also
iesponsible foi the suffeiing of innumeiable othei species anu the
planetaiy life system as a whole. (221)


! !VOLUME18 NUMBER1 MAR2012! 294
Auam Biown is a lectuiei in Neuia, Communication anu Public Relations at Beakin
0niveisity, Nelbouine. Be iecently co-authoieu the stuuy, !,885&#@.'#,&4% B)=%
/)0#.% .&0% CD)">0.>% 9#7) (2u11), anu is cuiiently ieseaiching in the aieas of uigital
chiluien's television cultuie, new meuia anu suiveillance, anu Bolocaust film.
!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOTES
1
Alvin Rosenfelu, 6()%C&0%,7%'()%E,+,@.5$', Inuiana 0niveisity Piess, Bloomington, 2u11.