Heroes in Contemporary British Culture

Barbara Korte is Professor of English Literature at the University of Freiburg. She has co-edited the volumes Heroism as a Global Phenomenon in Popular Culture (2019) and Heroes and Heroisms in British Fiction since 1800: Case Studies (2017).Nicole Falkenhayner is Senior Lecturer of British Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Freiburg and author of Media, Surveillance and Affect: Narrating Feeling-States (2019) and Making the British Muslim: Representations of the Rushdie Affair and Figures of the War-on-Terror Decade (2014).

• Introduction: Heroes, television drama and a nation in change. Concepts and contexts 11 The hero’s journey and the state of the nation 212 British soldier heroism in the War on Terror era 443 The heroic TV detective in the twenty-first century: Transforming archetypes 644 Secret service TV drama: Dubious ethics, dubious heroism 905 Merlin versus Misfits: Heroic British youth telefantasy 110Summary and Outlook 135

This timely, vigorous, and wide-ranging book is a welcome addition to the scholarship. Korte and Falkenhayner demonstrate an illuminating depth and breadth of understanding of the texts and their contexts that contributes new insights on both.- Michael Goodrum, Canterbury Christ Church University, UKIt has been a true pleasure reading this book. It offers a rich and engaging discussion of the ambiguous hero and the contested heroic in contemporary British TV culture. Moreover, it presents a range of deeply fascinating and thought-provoking analyses of contemporary series – military, espionage, detective and fantasy - and scrutinizes the protagonist – mostly male - as a figure whose actions raise the broad and important questions what counts as heroic and who can be represented as heroic. Thereby it includes a clever and critical discussion on TV series and (the lack of) diversity. It is highly recommendable to anyone interested in contemporary British TV culture and how TV fiction can contribute to our understanding of contemporary societies. - Anne Jerslev, University of Copenhagen, Denmark