The events of September 11, 2001 fundamentally changed the world for many in the United States. It was shocking and horrifying -- it was, in a word, traumatic. This trauma took on a new dimension with the release of the horrifying Abu Ghraib "torture photographs" in 2004. Large-scale traumatic events such as September 11 and the Abu Ghraib revelations can impact not only the individual and his or her personal identity, but entire social bodies and its corresponding national identity as well. This study investigates how the American social body psychically dealt with the horror of these national traumas and socially negotiated what it means to "be an American." Specifically, it examines a disparate group of rhetorical artifacts, from articles in mainstream news reports to popular horror films, and looks for emergent patterns to provide insight into the larger whole. This study draws on a variety of theoretical perspectives and employs a method of close reading and frame genre analysis to organize and understand the complex interplay of forces tuned toward a deeper understanding of the rhetorical dimensions of horror in times of social upheaval. It focuses first on the mainstream news organizations reporting of both September 11 and Abu Ghraib to outline the master narrative and counter-narrative that emerged. It then analyzes three sets of films in the popular culture to better understand how the nation attempted to rhetorically constitute an "American Subject" in the wake of a horrifying trauma. The study concludes with an analysis of the different psychical subject positions that may be taken in the rhetorical negotiation of the American Subject and offers an explanation of the rhetorical function of the torture porn horror genre in this time of national trauma. / text

published_or_final_version / toc / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The paper examines how the slasher genre has developed over the years. The main point of this examination focus on differences in the stylistic appearance of the killer, the development of the “final girl”, the film sole survivor and if there are some narrative changes in the plot structure. The films selected for analysis are scattered over the years, including films like Halloween (Carpenter, 1978), A Nightmare on Elm Street (Craven, 1984) and Scream (Craven, 1996). The main changes that have occurred over the years according to this examination tells us that the stylistic features to hide the killer from the spectators isn’t that important and prominent today as it was in the late 70’s and early 80’s, especially the lightning feature, that characterized Michael Myers in Halloween. Even the characteristic point-of-view shots, who marks the killers presence, is as gone. The biggest development for the final girl is that she doesn’t need to be a virgin anymore in order to defeat the killer, who was the case early on. The narrative structure haven’t changed significantly over the years, but the characteristic opening scene which used to contain a sequence that takes place several years earlier where the killer experiencing a trauma of some kind is gone.

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This arts-based study discusses using the horror film and monsters as a means of exploring the personification of fear in contemporary society. The paper incorporates the viewing and dissection of horror films into an artistic process to explore fears in order to further artistic expression. It additionally shows how this process can be used in an art classroom within the context of contemporary art to empower students and facilitate art criticism discussions.

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In this qualitative study, an experimental horror game was developed to test what and how different aspects of the level design would guide players. The aspects that were used were identified in a pilot study. Five volunteers played the game and then participated in a Stimulated Recall Interview where each person was asked about their thought-process during a “choice-of-path” and why they chose to follow the path they did. They were also asked if any of the paths seemed like where they were supposed to go and how scary they felt the gamewas in general. Afterwards, the data was analyzed using thematic analysis and 16 themes that affect the player choice were identified and analyzed. The studyfound that decisions appeared to vary greatly between players, but that the mostattractive aspects of a level were brighter illumination than in the surroundingarea, easy accessibility and distinction from the surroundings. The most unattractive aspects were lesser illumination, backtracking and subjective negative associations. / I den här kvalitativa studien utvecklades ett experimentellt skräckspel för att testa vilka aspekter av en 3D-miljös design påverkar spelarens val av väg ochhur. Aspekterna som användes i designen identifierades genom en pilotstudie.Fem frivilliga spelade igenom spelet och deltog i en Stimulated Recall Interview där varje person frågades om sin tankeprocess under varje vägval och varförde gjorde valet de gjorde. De frågades också om något av valen kändes som dit deborde gå och hur obehagligt de tyckte att spelet var generellt. Efteråtanalyserades datan genom tematisk analys och 16 teman som påverkarspelarens val kunde identifieras och analyseras. Studien fann att valen gjordavarierade mycket mellan deltagarna, men att de mest attraktiva aspekterna av en3D-miljö var högre belysning än omgivningen, lättåtkomlighet och distinktion från omgivningen. De minst attraktiva aspekterna var svagare belysningen än omgivningen, platser redan besökta och subjektiva negativa associationer.

&quotNot Welcome" is a thesis containing an original dark genre screenplay called Acolytes and an exegesis called &quotNot Welcome": Writing Horror in Australia. The screenplay is about two boys, victims of years of bullying, who find a way to rid themselves of their bully for good, exchanging one problem for something much worse. But it's an elaborate and calculated lie. The truth is Acolytes is about the concealment of a crime and not the vengeance of a victim. Acolytes is intentionally moody, oppressive and obtuse--it has a true crime-scene ambience. The power of the story lies in its truth--the truth that it seeks to uncover and the truth of the style of its telling--and, just as is the case with real-life crime, the &quottruth" is often murky and far from clear-cut. The accompanying exegesis explores the domestic funding and production climate for dark genre projects. It argues that Australian genre scriptwriters and filmmakers have often faced hostile funding agencies and genre-timid producers. It examines the requirements of dark genre scriptwriters and filmmakers in bringing their work from page to screen. It argues that the onus is on Australian dark genre writers and filmmakers to think beyond funding agencies and institutionalised Australian producers to realise their projects.

Stuttgart, FH, Diplomarb., 2001.

This dissertation argues that paranormal reality television is a form of what some have referred to as “trauma television,” a site of struggle between meanings of family and the violence often found in the hegemonic nuclear family ideal. Programs such as A Haunting and Paranormal State articulate family violence and trauma through a paranormal presence in the heteronormative family home, working to make strange and unfamiliar the domestic and familial milieus in which their episodes take place. Although ghosts, demons, and other entities stand in for violence and trauma taking place in the family, the subgenre’s narratives continue to suggest an oppressive situation and leave the hegemonic family ideal open to critique. Paranormal reality television draws on narrative conventions associated with the paranormal family horror film of the 1970s and early 1980s, particularly The Amityville Horror, The Shining, and Poltergeist, which also articulated family trauma following increased attention to family violence during those decades. Presenting forms of difference (race, sexuality, class, etc.) as threatening, recuperative, or absent in relation to the heteronormative family and privileging the “ghost hunter,” paranormal reality marks a powerful convergence of genres and modes, marking it as a site for articulating violence and trauma in the family.