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Aggression towards children in homoerotic horror

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posted on 2022-03-28, 13:17 authored by Scott Lewis
My thesis analyses depictions of aggression towards children in homoerotic horror. The texts I consider are Dracula by Bram Stoker, The turn of the screw by Henry James, and the films A nightmare on Elm Street 2 : Freddy's revenge, Jeepers creepers and Jeepers creepers 2. I demonstrate that these texts suggest homophobia conditioned the Oscar Wilde statutory rapes committed. My thesis uses a Foulcaultian conceptual framework to examine my texts implicit depictions of the discourse and institutions that they suggest construct homosexuals so they engage in violent acts such as child molestation. My methodology entails examination of correlations between my texts and sources of historical context. This approach illuminates my texts' subtextual depictions of homosexuality, child molestation and paedophilia, as has my appropriation of techniques and arguments from previous Queer Theory criticism of my texts. Queer Theorists have ignored or only derided violence against children in homoerotic horror without acknowledging that depictions of such acts provide insightful reflections on how homosexuality, homophobia, paedophilia and child molestation have been culturally associated. My analysis of implicit paedophilia has incorporated James Kincaid‟s Foucaultian theorisation of paedophilia. Kincaid argues that paedophilia is a construct that can manifest in illusory forms, an insight that compliments my examination of homoeroticism.

History

Notes

Theoretical thesis. Bibliography: pages 73-81

Awarding Institution

Macquarie University

Degree Type

Thesis MRes

Degree

MRes, Macquarie University, Faculty of Arts, Department of English

Department, Centre or School

Department of English

Year of Award

2014

Principal Supervisor

Geoffrey Payne

Rights

Copyright Scott Lewis 2014. Copyright disclaimer: http://mq.edu.au/library/copyright

Language

English

Extent

1 online resource (82 pages)

Former Identifiers

mq:53786 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/1137592

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