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Alexandra McCollum Thesis.pdf (747.7 KB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
Freaks and Masculinity: Sideshow Performers in German and American Cinema
Author Info
McCollum, Alexandra Noelle
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1384269323
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2013, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, German.
Abstract
This project examines the portrayals of male sideshow performers in German and American cinema and literature. Specifically it investigates the manner in which the social expectations of the masculine social role are altered by the perceived physical and mental otherness in the figure of the freak. The main freak performers discussed here are the somnambulist Cesare from Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, Hans the dwarf from Freaks, Stan Carlisle from Nightmare Alley, who eventually becomes a geek with a travelling carnival, and Oskar Matzerath, the hunchbacked dwarf who is the protagonist of Die Blechtrommel. The examination of the male freak characters focuses upon three major areas which these works have in common: the portrayal of the freak as an unreliable narrator or signifying the presence of unreliable narration; the problematic interactions between the male freak and female characters, including romantic interests, and various manifestations of the male freak's denial of responsibility.
Committee
Geoffrey Howes, PhD (Advisor)
Edgar Landgraf, PhD (Advisor)
Pages
126 p.
Subject Headings
American Literature
;
Film Studies
;
Gender
;
Germanic Literature
;
Literature
Keywords
Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari
;
Freaks
;
Nightmare Alley
;
Die Blechtrommel
;
Masculinity Studies
;
Sideshow Performance
;
Tod Browning
;
C A Robbins
;
William Lindsay Gresham
;
Guenter Grass
;
The Tin Drum
Recommended Citations
Refworks
EndNote
RIS
Mendeley
Citations
McCollum, A. N. (2013).
Freaks and Masculinity: Sideshow Performers in German and American Cinema
[Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1384269323
APA Style (7th edition)
McCollum, Alexandra.
Freaks and Masculinity: Sideshow Performers in German and American Cinema.
2013. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1384269323.
MLA Style (8th edition)
McCollum, Alexandra. "Freaks and Masculinity: Sideshow Performers in German and American Cinema." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1384269323
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
bgsu1384269323
Download Count:
2,369
Copyright Info
© 2013, some rights reserved.
Freaks and Masculinity: Sideshow Performers in German and American Cinema by Alexandra Noelle McCollum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.