Denna uppsats menar att visa på ett samband mellan det västerländska samhällets, kulturella utveckling och förändringen i vampyrens porträttering på film. Uppsatsen kommer att fokusera på de tre aspekter: porträttering, religiösa (kristna) influenser samt makt. De två filmerna som kommer att analyseras utifrån detta är Twilight (2008) samt Dracula (1931).                       Dessa två filmer är gjorda i olika århundranden vilket kommer att visas i resultatet. Resultatet visar på att den senare filmen talar för det kulturella samhällets utveckling ifrån ett fokus på kristendomen. Det som spelar roll och ger vampyrerna ett övertag är heller inte deras odödlighet, utan deras makt eller pengar likt det postsekulära samhället vi lever i. Slutligen så talar dessa filmer om en växande rädsla för gömda hot snarare än synliga hot.

Denna studie jämför hur fans och fankulturerna kring Twilight-filmerna respektive Sagan om ringen-filmerna skildrats i svensk media under de år filmerna var aktuella på bio och omskrevs som mest. Undersökningen består av en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ del. Den kvantitativa delen har undersökt i vilken utsträckning fankulturerna omskrevs i media, vilka aktörer som kommer till tals i artiklarna och om fansen och filmernas påverkan på dessa skildras övervägande positivt eller negativt. Den kvalitativa delen ämnar att genom massmedieretorisk textanalys jämföra hur fansen och de två fankulturerna gestaltats i artiklarna, samt om det finns någon skillnad med avseende på hur kvinnliga och manliga fans gestaltas. Det teoretiska ramverket består av gestaltningsteori, genusrepresentationer i media, moralpaniksteori och sociologiska perspektiv på stereotypisering. Resultatet från den kvantitativa undersökningen visar att Twilight-fans omskrevs lite mer i media utefter de sökord som användes. Den visar även att fans av bägge filmserier oftare skildrades positivt än negativt, men att Sagan om ringen-filmernas påverkan på fansen skildrades övervägande positivt medan skildringen av Twilight-filmernas påverkan var mer nyanserad och omdiskuterad. Det framkom dessutom att fans av Sagan om ringen kom till tals oftare i artiklarna än fans av Twilight. Resultatet från den kvalitativa undersökningen visar att fansen och fankulturen för bägge filmserier gestaltades övervägande positivt – ett resultat som skiljer sig från den tidigare forskningen om dessa fankulturers porträttering media. Vidare visar den kvantitativa och kvalitativa undersökningen tillsammans att viss skillnad finns i hur de kvinnligt kodade Twilight-fansen gestaltas jämfört med den mer manligt förknippade fankulturen kring Sagan om ringen.

Stephenie Meyer's series Twilight has swept the nation and the world. Everywhere you go, the names Edward and Bella seem to have punctured the vernacular. People are obsessed with the characters, the movie, the actors, and the author. Mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters all around the world are reading the series. The first Twilight novel has been in the top 100 bestsellers list on Amazon.com for 735 days (Amazon.com, 2009). The four book series has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list for 121 weeks as of December 4, 2009 (NY times.com, 2009). The book has also been translated into 20 different languages ("Bio", n.d.). The Twilight movie premiered in November 2008 at number one, bringing in 70 million dollars during its opening weekend ("Bio", n.d.). But one just has to walk into a bookstore or even Wal-Mart with their giant book and memorabilia displays to understand the Twilight phenomenon. This study considers how this young adult novel can be transformed into a learning opportunity for secondary students. The study explores in-depth the use of young adult novels in the classroom and their ability to teach students various concepts. The main focus of this research is Twilight and how it can be used in the classroom to teach canonical literary elements such as symbolism and author's purpose.

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Detta är en studie om det går att använda vampyrer som inspirationskälla i undervisningen på högstadiet. Syftet är att besvara följande frågeställningar: Hur kan vampyrtemat motiveras och användas i klassrummet med skräcklitteratur som Dracula (1897) och Om jag kunde drömma (2005), som är första delen i Twilight serien, som utgångspunkt? Vilka modeller inom litteraturundervisning finns att tillämpa för vampyrtemat? För att besvara frågeställningarna har närläsning använts som metod. Resultatet visar att vampyren med all rätt kan användas som inspirationskälla i undervisningssyfte. Studien visar att man måste introducera skräcklitteratur med försiktighet och användandet av olika modeller är viktigt för att nå fram till samtliga elever. I studien presenteras valda modeller för läsundervisning som är applicerbara. Eftersom ämnet bjuder på många infallsvinklar torde man kunna fånga många elevers intresse och entusiasmera till fortsatt läsning. / This is a study on whether you can use vampires as a source of inspiration when teaching at upper secondary school level. Two questions form the basis for the study: How can the vampire theme be used in the classroom with horror literature as Dracula (1897) and Twilight (2005) as a foundation? Which models for teaching literature are available for the vampire theme? In order to answer the questions of the study close reading has been used as method. The result shows that the vampire by all means can be used as a source of inspiration for an   educational purpose. The study shows that you have to be cautious when you introduce   horror literature in class and the use of different models is important due to the fact that you want to reach all students. In the study a few selected models for teaching literature are presented that are applicable. Since the subject invites to a wide range of approaches one should be able to catch most of the student’s interest and inspire with enthusiasm.

M.A (Audiovisual Communication) / In 2008 a film about a Gothic Romance between a teenage girl and a vampire became a pop culture phenomenon (Edwards, 2009:26). The ‘chick flick’ or ‘women’s film’ genre was suddenly in the spotlight at the box office as droves of female spectators of all ages were entranced by the neo-Gothic fantasy-Romance entitled Twilight (2008) (Em & Lo, 2009; Parekh, 2009:16; Puente, 2009:1; Ryan, 2008). More than 75% of the audience members were female with 55% being under 25 years (Ryan, 2008). Despite Twilight’s (2008) soaring status as a pop-culture phenomenon, much debate has ensued emphasizing the problematic representations and thematic elements that surround the gender roles and relations depicted in the film. As Lezra (2009:1) argues: “The cultural and social values…are so regressive that they would make people in Victorian London stand up and angrily defend the rights of women and minorities”. Twilight (2008) has been criticized for perpetuating traditional, oppressive, patriarchal values and glorifying a female character who has been termed “a feminist’s nightmare” (Czech, 2009) and “a 1950s-robot housewife” (Gassley, 2009). In 2009 the second instalment of the Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) was released which had far more success than Twilight (2008) at the box office, as well as attracting a slightly older demographic (Gray, 2009a:1; Gray 2009b:1; Puente, 2009:1; Seltzer, 2009:1). The thematic conventions surrounding heterosexual relationships depicted in New Moon (2009) make the film particularly interesting. The film shifts focus from the relationship between Bella and her vampire love-interest Edward, as seen in Twilight (2008), to the relationship between Bella and her best friend Jacob, a werewolf. This relationship has been praised as the ‘ideal’ heterosexual relationship and Jacob, the ‘ideal’ partner: “Edward is not the ideal boyfriend-lover. In fact, Jacob is…Edward will only lead to black eyes, rape, torture, and possibly even death” (Housel, 2009a:188). Thus the representation of heterosexual relationships and gender roles within those relationships is brought into question in New Moon (2009). What makes the situation more complex is that despite these criticisms, so many women of multiple age groups are fans of the films. While there are many elements of the film which may contribute to this mass interest, such as fascination with the ‘undead’, or film being a temporary escape for spectators in times of economic instability and uncertainty (Olson, 1995:16), the appeal of this neo-gothic romance for women in particular needs to be examined more closely: “What did it mean that millions iv of girls were fantasizing about men who could barely repress the desire to kill them? In 2008?” (Mann, 2009:132). By integrating genre analysis and audience ethnography, this study explores the representations of gender roles and heterosexual romance in the films Twilight (2008) and New Moon (2009) and the perception of these representations by selected, female South African viewers. It further aims to situate the films within the sociocultural context in which it emerged and thus uses postfeminism as a theoretical framework.

從浪漫愛的概念出發，本研究聚焦於青少女觀賞《暮光之城》系列文本的詮釋歷程，以理解《暮光之城》作為一種文學、影視文本類型，如何藉由吸血鬼愛德華與浪漫愛概念之呈現，促使青少女在與文本互動的過程中，對浪漫愛進行反思與想像。 　　「校園生活環境」是青少女接觸《暮光之城》的主要脈絡，透過對12位「暮光迷」進行深度訪談，研究者觀察到青少女主動「選擇」《暮光之城》文本，藉由文本的「使用」滿足個人心理與情感上的需求，此過程具有兩項意義：一來突顯「閱讀」是一主動行為，在青少女的生活中占有重要地位；二來帶出《暮光之城》具有之「補救性青少年次文化」概念，使青少女在幻想與想像層次彌補了現實中的缺憾。 　　由接觸《暮光之城》到以「暮光迷」自居，展現的是青少女和《暮光之城》文本在一個時間向度上的互動過程：青少女由找尋《暮光之城》與自身生活脈絡、情感相契合處，演變為對《暮光之城》文本進行解讀與詮釋。以「浪漫愛」框架探究青少女作為「暮光迷」的真實樣貌，研究者嘗試描繪當代青少女浪漫愛想像之藍圖，並以之與「現代浪漫愛概念」、「《暮光之城》再現之浪漫愛概念」進行比較，發現其中呈現出的差異，不僅是青少女自主思考性的展現，更是對於現代男性、對於風險社會下的愛情所進行的反思與批判：吸血鬼愛德華保守的性，象徵著女性在幻想層次對男性的道德呼求；在風險社會的時空脈絡下看「永恆愛情」，部分青少女將「找到自己生命中的愛德華」作為一種神話的行動典型，部分青少女則將「永恆愛情」的意義，由永生相守扭轉為「片刻勝永恆」的概念；現代青少女強調自我「主體意識」，要求自我主體性，不希望被戀人當做保護「客體」而是希望在「被愛」的同時更主動「去愛」。 　　每一個時代都擁抱一種他們所需要的吸血鬼，而吸血鬼愛德華的出現，或許正象徵著這個時代的人們對於愛情、對於尋求真愛不可得的焦慮與恐慌。透過「浪漫愛」框架觀看「暮光迷」，可發現她們之所以擁抱「浪漫愛」，之所以擁抱吸血鬼愛德華，背後皆具特殊意義；而青少女對於浪漫愛所進行的想像與反思，足以打破他人對「暮光迷」的刻板印象，具體展現身為「暮光迷」豐富而多層次的樣貌：「暮光迷」不僅是對愛情懷抱憧憬的女孩，更是一群對於現代愛情觀及其背後彰顯之價值具有挑戰、顛覆能力的女孩們。 / Based on the concepts of romantic love, the research focuses on teenage girls’ inner interpretation experiences when they read the Twilight series so that better understand how do the vampire images of Edward Cullen and the concepts of romantic love represented by The Twilight Saga stimulate young girls’ introspection and imagination of romantic love within the process of interactions with texts. “The school life” is the main context for teenage girls to have contact with the Twilight series. In this study, the outcome of in-depth interviews with 12 “Twilighters” shows that teenage girls proactively “choose” and “use” The Twilight Saga to satisfy their mental and emotional demands. It reveals two crucial concepts: on the one hand, as far as teenage girls are concerned, “reading” is a voluntary action that plays an important role in their daily lives. On the other hand, The Twilight Saga symbolizes a “remedial subculture” that allows young girls to redeem their actual imperfection by means of daydream and imagination. From just reading the Twilight series to naming themselves as “Twilighters”, this process indicates a timeline-interaction between teenage girls and The Twilight Saga. To begin with, young girls try to find out if there is overlap amid their life context, emotion demands and the Twilight’s love romance; however, as time gone by, they start to interpret and make comments on the text. Using romantic love as a frame to explore “Twilighters”, this research tries to portray contemporary teenage girls’ imagination of romantic love and then compares it with the concepts of contemporary romantic love and that represented in The Twilight Saga. The differences not only display the independent deliberation of young girls, but also reveal their introspection and criticism on men of nowadays and notions of love in this risky society. On the first place, Vampire Edward Cullen’s conservative notion of sex symbolizes women’s moral appeals to men at the imaginative level. Secondly, judging “eternal love” under the context of risky society, some young girls regard “finding their own Edward” as an action paragon of fantasy, while some of them try to reverse the meaning of eternal love from “happy ever after” to “the precious one is the eternity for a moment”. Last but not least, young girls try to strengthen their demands for subjectivity, so that they would rather be the one who is loved and love others at the same time. Each era embraces one kind of vampire it lacks, and the appearance of Vampire Edward perhaps symbolizes the anxiety of modern people on their way of seeking true love. Through the frame of romantic love to observe the teenage “Twilighters”, the research finds out the reasons that young girls who embrace romantic love or Vampire Edward truly have some special meanings. Their imagination and introspection of romantic love, as well as their abundant images as “Twilighters”, both give them powers to reverse others’ stereotypes on “Twilighters”. “Twilighters” are not only the girls who long for love, but also the ones who have the ability to challenge and overthrow modern concepts of love and the value it manifests.

My study examines three female Black British bildungsromane: Monica Ali’s Brick Lane, Joan Riley’s Waiting in the Twilight, and Buchi Emecheta’s Second-Class Citizen. By combining a study of a relatively established novel form with contemporary female diasporic fictions, my work looks at how gender, race and location complicate the tropes of the genre, while still adhering to many of its parameters. I explore ways in which the existential states of loneliness, isolation, and solitude faced by the female protagonists in England assist or inhibit the formation of collectivity and subjectivity. This study pays particular attention to ways that community formation and friendship, as well as work and affective labor, serve as means to find/create a sense of home in diasporic conditions, as in Brick Lane and Second-Class Citizen. I also study how a sense of community falters because of a disconnection from productive work in Waiting in the Twilight. / Department of English

The ubiquity of the ‘Nazi’ – the fictional Doppelgänger of the historical Nazi – in the various media of popular culture is both disturbing and fascinating. There is an important relationship between the ‘Nazi’ and its audience; related to but separate from the historical Nazi, the creation and reception of the ‘Nazi’ both enables and exemplifies the continual processing of the past. Using a purpose-built framework (concept and terminology) for the study of the ‘Nazi’ as a phenomenon in and of itself, in combination with Freud’s concept of the uncanny, this thesis examines the dynamics of the relationship between the ‘Nazi’ and its audience in four examples: television episodes “Deaths-Head Revisited,” “He’s Alive” (The Twilight Zone), and “Patterns of Force” (Star Trek); and Serdar Somuncu’s performances/readings of Mein Kampf. The temporal and geographical context of the episodes (1960s America) seem far removed from Somuncu’s performances (1990s/2000s Germany), but analysing the production and effects of the uncanny moments generated in each case reveals a provocative raison d’être that spans across the geographical and temporal divide. / Graduate / 0311 / 0900