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Slanker Thesis (Draft 2).pdf (1.53 MB)

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Demonic Possession and Fractured Patriarchies in Contemporary Fundamentalist Horror

Slanker, Lindsey
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0528-8846
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495803680104155

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Humanities (MHum), Wright State University, Humanities.
This thesis is a survey of contemporary horror films from the perspective of fundamentalist American audiences. Using Judith Butler’s work on gender performativity and religious studies scholarship as framework, I investigate how five visual texts perpetuate patriarchal family structures. The five texts I explore are The Last Exorcism (2010), The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016), The Witch: A New England Folk Tale (2015), and The Exorcist television series (2016). In each chapter, I analyze a key family member per patriarchal norms, and how violations of these norms contribute to the family’s supernatural crisis. The figures I analyze for each text is The Weak Father, The Bad Mother, and The Unstable Daughter. The texts’ shared, repetitious message implies that societal order can be (re)established once individuals adhere to fundamentalist patriarchal standards, reinforcing many scholars’ conclusions that fundamentalist Christianity continues to be a pervasive, dominant force in American culture.
Hope Jennings, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Christine Junker, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Andrea Harris, M.A. (Committee Member)
155 p.
American Studies; Film Studies; Gender Studies; Glbt Studies; Motion Pictures; Religion; Womens Studies
witch; witchcraft; gender studies; gender performativity; patriarchy; fundamentalism; Christianity; horror; film; television; demon; possession; father; mother; daughter; feminism; butler; myth; pop culture; religion; America; culture; supernatural; ghost

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Slanker, L. (2017). Demonic Possession and Fractured Patriarchies in Contemporary Fundamentalist Horror [Master's thesis, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495803680104155

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Slanker, Lindsey. Demonic Possession and Fractured Patriarchies in Contemporary Fundamentalist Horror . 2017. Wright State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495803680104155.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Slanker, Lindsey. "Demonic Possession and Fractured Patriarchies in Contemporary Fundamentalist Horror ." Master's thesis, Wright State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495803680104155

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1495803680104155
3,304
© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.