Kapell, Matthew Wilhelm
Entry updated 2 March 2026. Tagged: Author, Critic.
(1969- ) US academic historian, anthropologist and critic, currently teaching at Pace University in Manhattan, who has published extensively on popular culture including Games and sf in Cinema and Television. His reviews of genre-related work began to appear in Extrapolation with the Spring 2000 issue. His first three edited anthologies of critical studies of sf interest, all valuable, are Jacking into the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation (anth 2004) as Matthew Kapell with William G Doty, Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, and Critics (anth 2006) and Star Trek As Myth: Essays on Symbol and Archetype at the Final Frontier (anth 2010), dealing respectively with the Matrix, Star Wars and Star Trek franchises and their cultural impact. A book-length solo work of criticism is the ambitious synthesis Exploring the Next Frontier: Vietnam, NASA, Star Trek and Utopia in 1960s and 70s American Myth and History (2016). For further edited nonfiction anthologies see Checklist below. [DRL]
Matthew Wilhelm Kapell
born Detroit, Michigan: 14 August 1969
works (selected)
nonfiction
- Exploring the Next Frontier: Vietnam, NASA, Star Trek and Utopia in 1960s and 70s American Myth and History (New York: Routledge, 2016) [nonfiction: in the publisher's Routledge Advances in American History series: hb/]
works as editor
- Jacking into the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation (New York and London: Continuum, 2004) as Matthew Kapell with William G Doty [nonfiction: anth: Matrix: hb/]
- Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, and Critics (New York: Peter Lang, 2006) [nonfiction: anth: Star Wars: in the publisher's Popular Culture & Everyday Life series: hb/]
- Star Trek As Myth: Essays on Symbol and Archetype at the Final Frontier (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co, 2010) [nonfiction: anth: Star Trek: pb/]
- The Films of James Cameron: Critical Essays (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co, 2011) [nonfiction: anth: James Cameron: pb/]
- The Fantastic Made Visible: Essays on the Adaptation of Science Fiction and Fantasy from Page to Screen (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co, 2015) with Ace G Pilkington [nonfiction: anth: pb/]
- The Kelvin Timeline of Star Trek: Essays on J.J. Abrams' Final Frontier (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co, 2019) with Ace G Pilkington [nonfiction: anth: Star Trek: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry