The Flood is among those recurrent themes we often find represented in a large number of works, freely labeled as 'postmodern'. My attention was first drawn to the Deluge and how (and why) authors depict it by a book my director of studies recommended for my MA thesis, Julian Barnes' A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters.

Below is a list of artworks, including books, films, videos and paintings, that feature the Flood as either their central or auxiliary theme. A brief text on the representation of the Deluge may be read in the POSTMODERN INFLUENCES IN A-HA’S FOREVER NOT YOURS VIDEO article featured on the main site.

[excerpt from Remix Culture - Freedom through Interpretation, a thesis I am still writing]

One Biblical narrative that has often been re-presented and re-interpreted in art is the story of the Flood (and Noah’s Ark). The theme has perhaps seen fewer interpretations than Defoe’s Crusoe but is easily recognizable and often used by various authors, pursuing different ends, treating the source material rather diversely.

Among the earliest interpretations of the Ark story are paintings depicting the Deluge, where the different artists have chosen to show either the time before the Flood, or Noah’s company after the Flood, and more rarely – the actual Flood (in A History of the World… Julian Barnes suggests that the Flood wasn’t a popular theme among medieval painters because it didn’t exactly show God in His best light). Some of the most prominent works depicting the Deluge include (see Appendix One):

- The Eve of the Deluge, Jan Sadeler’s engraving (16 c.)
- Noah’s Ark by Edward Hicks (early 19 c.);
- Gustave Doré’s The World Destroyed by Water, The Deluge and The Dove Sent Forth from the Ark;
- The Eve of the Deluge and The Deluge by John Martin, 1840;
- The Eve of the Deluge by John Linnell, 1848;
- The Eve of the Deluge by William Bell Scott, 1865;

The Biblical event has, of course, been represented in a significant number of present-day illustrations. These, however, together with the majority of films touching upon the theme, usually seek to show the event “as it was”, offering a painting-art-type-of-extended-remix rather than a free-form interpretation, characteristic of the selective and reflexive types of remix.

Most films on the subject, however, may be classified as selective or reflexive remixes because of their infrequently liberal understanding of the event, its consequences or its implications (or all of these together). Except for the two early Noah’s Ark movies (made in 1928 and 1959), where the directors attempted a truthful (to the Bible) depiction of the story, later exploits of the theme have been more nontraditional, to say the least.

Traditional representations:
- Noah's Ark (1928 film), a film with talking sequences and a synchronized score released by Warner Bros.;
- Noah's Ark (1959 film), a Walt Disney produced and Academy Award nominated short film featuring stop motion animation effects;
- Noah's Ark (1999 film), a TV movie starring Jon Voight;
- Noah's Ark (2007 film) (El Arca), a 2007 Argentinean animated movie directed by Juan Pablo Puscarini - The film focuses more on the animals’ point of view. The story tends to follow the traditional biblical story; however, both the humans and the animals involved are seen as "talking" creatures throughout the film;
- The Ark Stories (1981) – UK animation based on John Ryan's Ark Stories (1979).
Selective / Reflexive representations:
Film:
- Das Arche Noah Prinzip (The Noah's Ark Principle), a 1984 film by Roland Emmerich;
- Noah's Arc (TV series), a television drama centered on the lives of a group of gay black men and their families and friends;
- Noah's Ark (UK TV series);
- A-ha’s Forever Not Yours video (2002);
- The Two Stupid Dogs cartoon series, the Hollywood’s Ark episode (1994);
- Evan Almighty film (2007);
- Flood (2007), director Tony Mitchell – disaster hits London (England, Scotland);
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) - “a loose remake of the 1951 film of the same name” (Wikipedia) .

Book:
- Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10½ Chapters;
- In the Shadow of the Ark [book], by Anne Provoost - http://www.tuibooks.com/?q=node/44
- Not the End of the World, by Geraldine McCaughrean, which is told from the point of view of Noah’s daughter, Timna (who, needless to say, doesn’t get mentioned in the Biblical version).
- Many Waters, by Madeleine L’Engle.