The Mummy Series and World-Historical Heroes

Magdalen Wing Chi Ki

doi:10.1007/978-981-97-8959-7_10

The Mummy Series and World-Historical Heroes

Magdalen Wing Chi Ki^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Academy of Language and Culture

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

Hegel classifies humans into heroes, citizens, individuals, and victims, with heroes being god-emperors and builders of nation and empires. As larger-than-life characters, mummies are often world-historical heroes linked to oriental despotism, and their return triggers the fear of despotism in modern times. Since mummies unleash chaos in an attempt to reset the world order, The Mummy Trilogy (1999–2008) invites audiences to problematize tyranny on the one hand and revisit the contemporary view that posits civilizational wars along religious and cultural boundaries on the other. In the movie series, citizens from different countries form alliances to defend civil society and individuals rely on their moral sense to resist dark powers. The restoration of peace signals the subduing of world-making heroism, but the disappearance of mummies merely highlights their lurking presence.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Myriad Faces of Heroes and Heroines
Subtitle of host publication	Folkloric Tradition and Modern Contemporaries in Asia
Editors	Julian Patrick Ward, Kelly Kar Yue Chan, Chi Sum Garfield Lau
Publisher	Springer
Chapter	10
Pages	173-193
Number of pages	21
Edition	1st
ISBN (Electronic)	9789819789597
ISBN (Print)	9789819789580, 9789819789610
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8959-7_10
Publication status	Published - 31 Mar 2025

Publication series

Name	Asia in Transition
Publisher	Springer Singapore
Volume	28
ISSN (Print)	2364-8252
ISSN (Electronic)	2364-8260

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

User-Defined Keywords

Cultism
Egyptian nationalism
Mummies
Pan-Chinese movement
World historical heroes

Access to Document

10.1007/978-981-97-8959-7_10

Cite this

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title = "The Mummy Series and World-Historical Heroes",

abstract = "Hegel classifies humans into heroes, citizens, individuals, and victims, with heroes being god-emperors and builders of nation and empires. As larger-than-life characters, mummies are often world-historical heroes linked to oriental despotism, and their return triggers the fear of despotism in modern times. Since mummies unleash chaos in an attempt to reset the world order, The Mummy Trilogy (1999–2008) invites audiences to problematize tyranny on the one hand and revisit the contemporary view that posits civilizational wars along religious and cultural boundaries on the other. In the movie series, citizens from different countries form alliances to defend civil society and individuals rely on their moral sense to resist dark powers. The restoration of peace signals the subduing of world-making heroism, but the disappearance of mummies merely highlights their lurking presence. ",

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The Mummy Series and World-Historical Heroes. / Ki, Magdalen Wing Chi.
The Myriad Faces of Heroes and Heroines: Folkloric Tradition and Modern Contemporaries in Asia. ed. / Julian Patrick Ward; Kelly Kar Yue Chan; Chi Sum Garfield Lau. 1st. ed. Springer, 2025. p. 173-193 (Asia in Transition; Vol. 28).

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

TY - CHAP

T1 - The Mummy Series and World-Historical Heroes

AU - Ki, Magdalen Wing Chi

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.

PY - 2025/3/31

Y1 - 2025/3/31

N2 - Hegel classifies humans into heroes, citizens, individuals, and victims, with heroes being god-emperors and builders of nation and empires. As larger-than-life characters, mummies are often world-historical heroes linked to oriental despotism, and their return triggers the fear of despotism in modern times. Since mummies unleash chaos in an attempt to reset the world order, The Mummy Trilogy (1999–2008) invites audiences to problematize tyranny on the one hand and revisit the contemporary view that posits civilizational wars along religious and cultural boundaries on the other. In the movie series, citizens from different countries form alliances to defend civil society and individuals rely on their moral sense to resist dark powers. The restoration of peace signals the subduing of world-making heroism, but the disappearance of mummies merely highlights their lurking presence.

AB - Hegel classifies humans into heroes, citizens, individuals, and victims, with heroes being god-emperors and builders of nation and empires. As larger-than-life characters, mummies are often world-historical heroes linked to oriental despotism, and their return triggers the fear of despotism in modern times. Since mummies unleash chaos in an attempt to reset the world order, The Mummy Trilogy (1999–2008) invites audiences to problematize tyranny on the one hand and revisit the contemporary view that posits civilizational wars along religious and cultural boundaries on the other. In the movie series, citizens from different countries form alliances to defend civil society and individuals rely on their moral sense to resist dark powers. The restoration of peace signals the subduing of world-making heroism, but the disappearance of mummies merely highlights their lurking presence.

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The Mummy Series and World-Historical Heroes

Abstract

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UN SDGs

User-Defined Keywords

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