This thesis addresses the complexity of digitalization and humanities research practices, with a specific focus on digital archives and film history research. I propose the term “Frankenstein Complex” to highlight and contextualize the epistemological collision and empirical challenges humanities scholars encounter when utilizing digital resources with digital methods. A particular aim of this thesis is to scrutinize digital archiving practices when using the Media History Digital Library (MHDL) as a case for a themed meta-inquiry on the preservation of and access to classic horror cinema in this particular digital venue. The project found conventional research methods, such as the close reading of classical cinema history, to be limiting. Instead, the project tried out a distant reading technique throughout the meta-inquiry to better interrogate with the massive volume of data generated by MHDL. Besides a general reassessment of debates in the digital humanities and themes relating to horror film culture, this thesis strives for a reflection on classic horror spectatorship through the lens of sexual identity, inspired by Sara Ahmed’s perspective on queer phenomenology. This original reading of horror history is facilitated by an empirical study of the digital corpus at hand, which in turn gives insights into the entangled relation between subjective identities and the appointed research contexts.

In 2004, Mel Gibson released The Passion of the Christ, a film that focuses specifically on the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Over a year before its release and well ahead of any studio publicity, the film and its director were at the center of a discussion that sparked criticism from biblical scholars, Jesus historians, and members of the media. In spite, or perhaps because, of this controversy, The Passion was well-received by its audiences if not by its critics. This dissertation explores the cultural, political, and economic factors that led to the box office success of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ and also examines why viewers identified with Jesus, the protagonist of the film. First, this project places the success of The Passion of the Christ in socio-historical and political-economic context of 2004, emphasizing the popularity of neoliberal economic policies, conservative political thought, and Evangelical Christianity. Second, this project explores the specific political and economic arrangements that facilitated the making of the film at Cinecitta studios in Rome. The ease with which Gibson was able to make The Passion outside of the United States is a direct result of neoliberal economic policies that emphasize free trade and, in the process, undermine trade unions and film industry laborers. Third, in addition to a macro- and micro-level political economic analysis of The Passion of the Christ, this project also examines the film as it fits into the horror genre. Horror not only seeks to elicit an immediate visceral reaction from audience members but also manifests the political and economic insecurities of society. Finally, this project connects the film text to these anxieties, including the war on terror, the war in Iraq, and an extended crisis of masculinity. / by Rebecca Kuhn. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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This thesis offers an analysis of women in horror film through an in depth exploration of what I term ‘gynaehorror’ – horror films that are concerned with female sex, sexuality and reproduction. While this is a broad and fruitful area of study, work in it has been shaped by a pronounced emphasis upon psychoanalytic theory, which I argue has limited the field of inquiry. To challenge this, this thesis achieves three things. Firstly, I interrogate a subgenre of horror that has not been studied in depth for twenty years, but that is experiencing renewed interest. Secondly, I analyse aspects of this subgenre outside of the dominant modes of inquiry by placing an emphasis upon philosophies of sex, gender and corporeality, rather than focussing on psychodynamic approaches. Thirdly, I consider not only what these theories may do for the study of horror films, but what spaces of inquiry horror films may open up within these philosophical areas. To do this, I focus on six broad streams: the current limitations and opportunities in the field of horror scholarship, which I augment with a discussion of women’s bodies, houses and spatiality; the relationship between normative heterosexuality and the twin figures of the chaste virgin and the voracious vagina dentata; the representation and expression of female subjectivity in horror films that feature pregnancy and abortion; the manner in which reproductive technology is bound up within hegemonic constructions of gender and power, as is evidenced by the figure of the ‘mad scientist’; the way that discourses of motherhood and maternity in horror films shift over time, but nonetheless result in the demonisation of the mother; and the theoretical and corporeal possibilities opened up through Deleuze and Guattari’s model of schizoanalysis, with specific regard to the 'Alien' films. As such, this thesis makes a unique contribution to the study of women in horror film, while also advocating for an expansion of the theoretical repertoire available to the horror scholar.

Submitted by Fabiano Vassallo (fabianovassallo2127@gmail.com) on 2017-05-03T18:29:38Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Danilo - Mestrado.pdf: 4582767 bytes, checksum: e268d638f435833cc3b7d2e69a1ac790 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Josimara Dias Brumatti (bcgdigital@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-05-29T16:56:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Danilo - Mestrado.pdf: 4582767 bytes, checksum: e268d638f435833cc3b7d2e69a1ac790 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-29T16:56:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Danilo - Mestrado.pdf: 4582767 bytes, checksum: e268d638f435833cc3b7d2e69a1ac790 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esse trabalho tem por objetivo analisar como os pensamentos religioso e científico se relacionam nos contos “O demônio familiar”, “Chá verde” e “Carmilla, a Vampira de Karnstein”, do autor irlandês Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, incluídos na coletânea In a Glass Darkly. Nessas narrativas, os representantes da fé e da razão são apresentados com enfoques distintos, o que permite observar as diferentes maneiras como Le Fanu aborda a religião e a ciência. Com base nessas leituras, procura-se observar se o autor dá mais credibilidade a algum desses ramos ou se ambos se mostram ineficazes perante os elementos sobrenaturais. Neste estudo também será levada em consideração a ambientação das narrativas e a quem pertence a voz narrativa de cada um dos relatos, que não permanecem as mesmas em todos os contos. Para fins teóricos, foram utilizados autores que estudaram o gênero do fantástico – Todorov e Roas – e do horror – Carroll / This work aims to analyze how the religious and scientific mentalities relate in “The Familiar”, “Green Tea” and “Carmilla”,short stories included in the collection In a Glass Darkly, written by the Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. In these short stories, the representatives of both faith and reason are presented in distinct perspectives, which makes it possible to observe Le Fanu’s different approaches to science and religion in these works. Based on these readings, there is an attempt to observe whether the author gives more credibility to any of these branches of thought or if both prove to be ineffective in dealing with the supernatural events. This study will also take into account the settings of these short stories and their narrative voices, which do not remain the same in all short stories considered here. Authors who worked with the fantastic genre – Todorov and Roas – and with horror – Carroll – provided the theoretical support for this dissertation

This thesis looks at two invisible characters, the Kaernk from Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the Walrider from Outlast, to investigate how these characters are incorporated into and contribute to elements found within survival-horror games, and how their design affects the player. The thesis uses a close-reading methodology adapted for video-games to generate data used to first describe each of the characters and the scenario where they are first encountered, and later analyze and discuss the data, as well as compare the data from each character to one another. The thesis finds that the use of invisible enemies within these two survival-horror games seems to be an effective way to heighten the fear-factor felt by the players of these games, based on theory about horror. The thesis concludes by stating that these two enemies work very well within these two games, partly due to the absence of combat-mechanics, but questions whether the use of invisible enemies would work as well in all survival-horror games, including those with combat-mechanics. This research could be useful as designing and animating enemies in games is both time-consuming and potentially expensive, and if invisible enemies work within certain types of horror games developers could save both time and money when developing these types of games. For future research, this thesis suggests practice-based player studies to verify claims made based on theory, as well as looking at invisible enemies within horror-games featuring combat. / Detta examensarbete kollar på två osynliga fiender, Kaernk från Amnesia: The Dark Descent och Walrider från Outlast, för att undersöka hur dessa fiender är integrerade i och bidrar med de grunderna som finns inom överlevnadsskräck-spel, och hur deras design påverkar spelaren. Examensarbetet använder en närläsning-metod anpassad för dataspel för att skapa data som används för att först beskriva varje karaktär och det scenariot där de först möts, och senare analysera och diskutera datan, samt jämföra datan från varje karaktär med varandra. Examensarbetet finner att användandet av osynliga fiender inom dessa två överlevnadsskräck-spel verkar vara ett effektivt sätt att höja rädslan för spelaren av dessa spel, baserat på teori kring skräck. Examensarbetet drar slutsatsen att dessa två fiender är mycket effektiva inom dessa spel, delvis på grund av brist på stridsmekanik, men ifrågasätter om användandet av osynliga fiender skulle fungera lika bra inom alla överlevnadsskräck-spel, särskilt de med stridsystem. Detta examensarbete kan vara användbart därför att design och animering av fiender inom spel kan vara båda tidskrävande och kostsamt, och om osynliga fiender fungerar lika bra inom vissa typer av skräckspel kan utvecklare spara båda tid och pengar när de utvecklar dessa spel. För framtida forskning, föreslår detta examensarbete praxisbaserade spelar-studier för att verifiera antaganden baserade på teori, samt att kolla på osynliga fiender i skräckspel med stridsmekanik.

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This dissertation explores the embodied and sensory dimensions of fantastic film, those elements that are generally held up in contrast to and, often, in excess of, narrative structure. I suggest a departure from the traditional approach to genre study which has been preoccupied with narrative formulas, themes, and iconographies. My goal is not to dispense with those kinds of analyses but to complement them and, importantly, to point to some neglected dimensions of genre pleasure. I propose to transform the presumably excessive pleasures of the fantastic genre into something essential to it. First, I explore the disavowal or avoidance of embodied sensation within popular genre criticism. I then turn to critique existing models of film reception, focusing particularly upon a critique of the ocularcentric or visualist framework. From this critique, I am able to suggest some criteria for an alternative theoretical model based upon embodiment. I propose a theoretical framework based, first, on the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who demonstrates that human subjects are constituted materially and culturally through their perceptual relations within the world. Second, I rely upon a further interpretation of this phenomenology by the American philosopher Don Ihde. Ihde’s work, configured as “postphenomenology,” draws variously from technoscience studies, the philosophy of science, feminist, and posthumanist theory, and sketches a system for the application of an experimental phenomenology. With this method, I explore various embodied, sensational aspects of fantastic genre films, i.e., spectacle, gore, musical genre conventions. I describe and relate these aspects of fantastic film to other cultural venues, exploring common themes and structures among them. From this, I draw some conclusions as to the nature of these sensational genre pleasures for embodied human individuals. Simultaneously, I consider the possibilities for embodied difference among individuals. / text

Given feminists’ longstanding concerns about the ideological effects of media images, and prompted by the lack of, but continued need for, feminist activism today, some feminist scholars have become increasingly interested in how popular media shape public understandings of feminism, represent its issues, and define its history. Communication scholars also appreciate that both media texts and social movements are produced and received within particular historical contexts, and that controversies over either are discursive sites in which cultural and political values clash and their meanings are negotiated. During the 1970s, second-wave feminism, especially its radical wing, was a controversial movement which threatened to disrupt basic relations between women and men and, therefore, has been much maligned by men, women, anti-feminists, and a new generation of self-proclaimed feminists. Yet, the second wave is often portrayed inaccurately. This dissertation thus reviews key works, theories, and events associated with radical feminism as well as the debates between it and other schools of feminist thought–liberal, Marxist/socialist, psychoanalytic, cultural, and various ‘new’ feminisms. Then, employing a context-sensitive form of ideological criticism, I examine three films, their promotional strategies, their mainstream critical and scholarly receptions, and how these elements converged with particular feminist discourses within their shared historical contexts. Specifically, I investigate why the horror films Rosemary’s Baby (1968), I Spit on Your Grave (1978), and Snuff (1976)–which each featured an exposed, vulnerable, violated, or ‘monstrous’ female body–became objects of controversy when they tapped into the contemporaneous feminist issues of reproduction, rape, and pornography, respectively, and how the films’ receptions reveal ways in which people have made sense of feminism and its issues. I contend that these controversies, both individually and when viewed as a series, were symptomatic of the hegemonic negotiations of second-wave feminism and its attempts to publicize discourses about sex, violence, and the female body, negotiations which were occurring both inside and outside the women’s movement. Through these controversial cases, then, we can see feminism’s transformation–from an active movement which criticized the structures of women’s oppression to a discursive and primarily academic enterprise focused more on criticizing itself. / text