No 'Human' Blood, No Foul: Post-9/11 Vampiric Protectionism in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series
| Autor: | Hsiang-Jung Ho, 何向蓉 |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 102 This thesis reads Stephenie Meyer’s popular vampire novels, the Twilight series, a post-9/11 text that reflects the prevailing U.S. nationalist sentiment in correspondence to the counter-terrorism climate. While most critical concern regarding the series focus on Meyer’s sexual politics, my project explores the underlying political messages in Meyer’s romantic take on vampirism as well as her portraits of fantastic creatures as super protective beings. Concentrating on the motif of protection, I argue that vampirism is a form of empowerment in Meyer’s representation, through which the modern individual is strengthened and mobilized as powerful guardians of the family and the nation. By displaying the contrasts between the series and literary predecessors, such as Dracula and Jane Eyre, I will also look into the way boundaries, as bodily and national borders, are constructed in Meyer’s work. The human blood, in Meyer’s case, symbolizes the division between the self and the other as well as the act of penetration and protection. As the story draws a seemingly distinct line between the righteous protectionism and its ever-invasive enemies, I will point to the essential fluidity of such distinction, and the arbitrary and imperial nature of this narrative logic. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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