Description
The "Mummy's Curse" is a study of the legend of the "curse of the pharaohs" and how it has changed over time. The book looks at how Victorian women writers used the legend to critique abuses of human remains, and how Hollywood turned mummies into monsters in the early 20th century. The book also looks at how museum visitors respond to mummy displays, and how media stereotypes promote vilification of mummies.
The riddle of the "curse of the pharaohs" is finally solved via a radical anthropological treatment of the legend as a cultural concept rather than a physical phenomenon. The most penetrating study of the curse ever conducted shows that its structure and meaning changed over time, as public attitudes toward archaeology and the Middle East were transformed by events such as the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. Victorian women writers likened unwrapping to rape, but to exploit the growing popularity of Egyptology, Hollywood turned mummies from victims into monsters, destroying the curse's power to challenge abuses of human remains. So mummies came to symbolize everything wrong and rotten: pollution, age, death, difference and defiance of authority, becoming imaginary friends or cautionary examples for children.
The Mummy's Curse uncovers forgotten nineteenth century fiction and poetry, revolutionizes the study of mummy horror films and reveals the prejudices embedded in children's toys. Original surveys and field observations of museum visitors demonstrate that media stereotypes - to which museums inadvertently contribute - promote vilification of mummies, which can invalidate demands for their removal from display. The Mummy's Curse asks: must we debase other cultures in order to practice our own?
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