Dinosaurs Ever Evolving: The Changing Face of Prehistoric Animals in Popular Culture

by Allen A. Debus

From their discovery in the 19th century to the dawn of the Nuclear Age, dinosaurs were seen in popular culture as ambassadors of the geological past and as icons of the "life through time" narrative of evolution. They took on a more foreboding character during the Cold War, serving as a warning to mankind with the advent of the hydrogen bomb. As fears of human extinction escalated during the ecological movement of the 1970s, dinosaurs communicated their metaphorical message of extinction, urging us from our destructive path. Using an eclectic variety of examples, this book outlines the three-fold "evolution" of dinosaurs and other prehistoric monsters in pop culture, from their poorly understood beginnings to the 21st century.

320 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2016

Reviews

[Mike Bogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dinosaurs Ever Evolving" deftly scrutinizes the thematic evolution of dinosaurs in literature and films. For example, author Debus examines how movies mutated dinosaurs into harbingers of nuclear holocaust; indeed, Debus’s chapter called “Nuclear Dragon: Godzilla and the Cold War – 1954” may be the finest analysis of the original "Gojira"’s nuclear significance that this reader has ever read, and I’ve read enough kaiju literature to wallpaper the Smithsonian.

In addition, Debus examines the early history of dinosaurs in Western popular culture as well as the latter-day dinosauroids, the intelligent forms dinosaurs might have evolved into if cosmic fate hadn’t annihilated them.

To be sure, Debus’s approach is unashamedly intellectual, but it is not dour – instead his prose exhibits welcome wit and an abiding fondness for all representations of dinosaurs in literature and films, past and present. If you enjoy (1) dinosaurs and giant monsters and (2) contemplation of their thematic importance, you can’t go wrong with "Dinosaurs Ever Evolving."