Overview

The book is about the multiple meanings and instances of masks (and makeup which seems to have a mask-like function such as in Kiss, many black metal bands, and Insane Clown Posse) within popular culture, specifically films and music. While mainly focusing on the Western contexts, there will also be examples from other regions and cultural contexts such as Japan and Korea. Each chapter offers an in-depth analysis of a particular work(s) or artist/band rather than just name dropping mainstream and obscure work that many scholars, unfortunately, do. The study in its entirety belongs to cultural studies and the interpretive sciences. The target audience consists of other academic researchers, students and the broader audience of people who are interested in film and music (e.g., fans).

Full Product Details

Author:   Björn Boman
Publisher:   Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Imprint:   Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN:  

9783032169778

ISBN 10:   3032169771
Pages:   159
Publication Date:   27 April 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Part 1: Theoretical groundings.- Chapter 1: Conceptual underpinnings.- Chapter 2: .- A brief history of masks in culture Western and East Asian culture.- Chapter 3: Methodological remarks.- Part 2: Film.- Chapter 04: Dark sensualism in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.- Chapter 05: Masks in comedy: Chuck Russel’s The Mask, other genre films and hybrid films.- Chapter 06: Horror films and masks: Beyond transformation and humane personas.- Chapter 07: The meaning of makeup and masks in David Lynch’s films: An analysis of uncanny characters in Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive.- Chapter 08: Masks in East Asian cinema.- Chapter 09: Masks in science fiction movies: Star Wars and Dune.- Chapter 10: Masks in superhero films: Batman, Joker, Two-Face Catwoman and Bane.- Part 3: Music,- Chapter 11: The first wave of masks in rock and heavy metal and their successors.- Chapter 12: Masks, Slipknot and nu-metal: beyond transformation, originality and mimicking.- Chapter 13: Masks and make-up in rap music: Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid, MF Doom and C. Gambino.- Chapter 14: Masks in traditional and contemporary Korean and Japanese music.

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Author Information

Björn Boman is a researcher in education, political science, cultural studies and psychology, known for his multidisciplinary work which spans several and intersecting disciplines, inclusive of film and music. Apart from a PhD in education from Stockholm University he has carried out postdoctoral work in political science. Currently, he is affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Stockholm University. He has also acquired a master's degree in religious studies and studied the Korean language and culture, as well as, for example, Russian history and politics at Stockholm University.

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