Poison and the Popular Imagination
Representations, Iconographies, and Meanings in Media and Culture
Will be published approx. on 19. March 2026
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-6669-4673-4 (ISBN)
Description
Bringing together the work of international scholars, this book investigates the well-known conceptualization of poison as connected to seemingly contrasting ideas of 'deviousness', 'insidiousness' and 'usefulness,' demonstrating how these understandings manifest in a variety of culturally informed discourses and narrative contexts across popular culture.
Taking an interdisciplinary and transnational approach, contributors to this volume consider poison as a powerful metaphorical entity that recurrently appears across narrative formats and contexts, including film, television, comics, video games, children's literature, and boardgames. Through both historical and fictional accounts - which are explored in equal terms as part of the same cultural narrative - this book re-assesses the place occupied by poison in the popular imagination, establishing its presence as one that is simultaneously nefarious and culturally romanticized. Contributors demonstrate how discourses of poison in popular culture are often interconnected with representations of gender, ethnicity, class, cultural identity, and environmental discourses on an intersectional level.
Ultimately, through its recounting of tales about poison and poisoners, this book also reveals parallels to some of the deepest narratives about our societies, both historic and contemporary: what we fear, what we desire, and how we see ourselves at a specific moment in time.
Taking an interdisciplinary and transnational approach, contributors to this volume consider poison as a powerful metaphorical entity that recurrently appears across narrative formats and contexts, including film, television, comics, video games, children's literature, and boardgames. Through both historical and fictional accounts - which are explored in equal terms as part of the same cultural narrative - this book re-assesses the place occupied by poison in the popular imagination, establishing its presence as one that is simultaneously nefarious and culturally romanticized. Contributors demonstrate how discourses of poison in popular culture are often interconnected with representations of gender, ethnicity, class, cultural identity, and environmental discourses on an intersectional level.
Ultimately, through its recounting of tales about poison and poisoners, this book also reveals parallels to some of the deepest narratives about our societies, both historic and contemporary: what we fear, what we desire, and how we see ourselves at a specific moment in time.
Reviews / Votes
This collection is truly a wicked pleasure for any reader interested in the fascinating strands of poison's cultural history. From the alluring aesthetics of fairy-tale poison to the political intricacies of toxic consumption throughout film, videogames, literature and more, these essays throw light on the most insidious and elusive of substances. * Monica Germana, Reader in Gothic and Contemporary Studies, University of Westminster, UK * Poison may be deadly if consumed but as subject matter for cultural enquiry it is delicious: this book is an intoxicating mix of approaches to the fascinating world of poisons laced throughout popular culture and history. * Kirstin Mills, Senior Lecturer of Graduate Research, Macquarie University, Australia * This wonderful edition potently mixes poison's diverse cultural constructions, media reimaginings, and physical realities. Spanning the poisonous "femme fatales" of Ancient Greek myth to those of Roald Dahl's short stories and American film noir, the materialities of poison from developing celluloid to creating clothes, the pleasures of poisoning our enemies in role-playing and video games, considering famous "poison" figures from Cleopatra to Poison Ivy, and poisonous tropes in the Potter-verse, One Piece, and New Korean cinema, Poison and the Popular Imagination has something for every reader - pick your poison. * Lynn Kozak, Associate Professor of History and Classical Studies, McGill University, Canada *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
535 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6669-4673-4 (9781666946734)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Lorna Piatti-Farnell
Poison and the Popular Imagination
Representations, Iconographies, and Meanings in Media and Culture
E-Book
12/2025
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€98.99
Available for download
Lorna Piatti-Farnell
Poison and the Popular Imagination
Representations, Iconographies, and Meanings in Media and Culture
E-Book
12/2025
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€98.99
Available for download
Person
Lorna Piatti-Farnell is Academic Dean at SAE Creative Media Institute in Auckland, New Zealand.
Content
Acknowledgements
Introduction: A Matter of Life and Death
Lorna Piatti-Farnell (SAE Creative Media Institute, New Zealand)
Part I: Historical Echoes and Iconographic Recurrences
1. Poison and Toxicity in 1950s Hollywood Cinema: Bigger Than Life (1956)
Wendy Haslem (University of Melbourne, Australia)
2. The Leprous Distilment: Poison and the Film Noir Narrative
Robert Singer (CUNY Graduate Center, USA)
3. Roald Dahl's Femme Fatales and Their Weapon of Choice: Poison
Rosie Gailor (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
4. The Needle and the Snake: Tracing the Historical Echoes of Cleopatra's Poisons in the Popular Imagination
Lorna Piatti-Farnell
5. Killer Fashion: Clothes that Poison in History, Media, and Popular Culture
Lisa J. Hackett (University of New England, Australia), Jo Coghlan (University of New England, Australia) and Huw Nolan (University of New England, Australia)
6. Devious Beauty and Deadly Betrayal: Poison as a Multifaceted Symbol in Asian Genres of Cinema
Kyoung-suk SUNG (National Research Foundation of Korea, South Korea)
Part II: Popular Representations and Evolving Meanings
7. Constitution Checks, Agency and Dice Rolls: Poison in the Tabletop Role-Playing Space
Matthew Thompson (University of Southern Queensland, Australia)
8. Body Transformation and the Cycle of Death and Rebirth: Poison and Scarlet Rot in the Elden Ring Videogame
Martin Charvat (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic) and Michaela Fikejzova (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic)
9. Sex, Poison, and Control in Comics: The Evolving Representation of DC's Poison Ivy
Carl Wilson (Independent Scholar, UK)
10. "Even Stopper Death": Harry Potter, Potions, Poisons, and Plants
Jenny Wise (University of New England, Australia) and Lesley McLean (University of New England, Australia)
11. Poison as Allegorical to Loss and Grief in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece
Ruairi Kennedy (University of Galway, Ireland)
12. Growing in Nightshade: Toxic Culture and Healing Horror in Netflix's Wednesday
Lindsey Scott (University of Suffolk, UK)
Notes on Contributors
Index
Introduction: A Matter of Life and Death
Lorna Piatti-Farnell (SAE Creative Media Institute, New Zealand)
Part I: Historical Echoes and Iconographic Recurrences
1. Poison and Toxicity in 1950s Hollywood Cinema: Bigger Than Life (1956)
Wendy Haslem (University of Melbourne, Australia)
2. The Leprous Distilment: Poison and the Film Noir Narrative
Robert Singer (CUNY Graduate Center, USA)
3. Roald Dahl's Femme Fatales and Their Weapon of Choice: Poison
Rosie Gailor (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
4. The Needle and the Snake: Tracing the Historical Echoes of Cleopatra's Poisons in the Popular Imagination
Lorna Piatti-Farnell
5. Killer Fashion: Clothes that Poison in History, Media, and Popular Culture
Lisa J. Hackett (University of New England, Australia), Jo Coghlan (University of New England, Australia) and Huw Nolan (University of New England, Australia)
6. Devious Beauty and Deadly Betrayal: Poison as a Multifaceted Symbol in Asian Genres of Cinema
Kyoung-suk SUNG (National Research Foundation of Korea, South Korea)
Part II: Popular Representations and Evolving Meanings
7. Constitution Checks, Agency and Dice Rolls: Poison in the Tabletop Role-Playing Space
Matthew Thompson (University of Southern Queensland, Australia)
8. Body Transformation and the Cycle of Death and Rebirth: Poison and Scarlet Rot in the Elden Ring Videogame
Martin Charvat (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic) and Michaela Fikejzova (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic)
9. Sex, Poison, and Control in Comics: The Evolving Representation of DC's Poison Ivy
Carl Wilson (Independent Scholar, UK)
10. "Even Stopper Death": Harry Potter, Potions, Poisons, and Plants
Jenny Wise (University of New England, Australia) and Lesley McLean (University of New England, Australia)
11. Poison as Allegorical to Loss and Grief in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece
Ruairi Kennedy (University of Galway, Ireland)
12. Growing in Nightshade: Toxic Culture and Healing Horror in Netflix's Wednesday
Lindsey Scott (University of Suffolk, UK)
Notes on Contributors
Index