Action thriller Atomic Blonde examined in Colloquium lecture

The first Arts & Humanities Colloquium lecture of the fall 2022 series delves into the world of spies and double agents during the Cold War. 

Dr. Theo Finigan, Chair of the Colloquium Series Committee and a VIU English Professor, examines the film Atomic Blonde, an adaptation of the graphic novel The Coldest City. Both have a similar plot, centering around a search for the real identities of spies working in West and East Berlin at the close of the Cold War. Finigan said the film fundamentally alters the underlying generic identity of the graphic novel, shifting from a glacial espionage narrative to something quite different: what the genre comics scholar Liam Burke refers to as the “comic book movie.”  

Finigan has a PhD in English from the University of Alberta. His scholarly interests include post-1945 American fiction, the historical novel, postmodernism and the literature and culture of the Cold War. His current research project focuses on the representation of the Cold War in 21st-century American literature and culture.

Watch Finigan’s presentation:

Since its beginning in 2009, the Arts and Humanities Colloquium presentations have engendered conversations about ideas among members of the Arts and Humanities faculty and their communities both at VIU and in the mid-Island region. Presenters have shown how important the arts and humanities are to understanding today’s world.