Proquest Dissertations
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-64839-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-64839-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la lot canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada WITH TERROR IN THEIR HEARTS: A STRUCTURAL AND TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF GENDER, TRANSMISSION, AND THE ENJOYMENT OF HORROR IN SLASHER FILMS AND CONTEMPORARY LEGENDS by © Rhiannon McKechnie A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Folklore Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland May 2010 St. John's Newfoundland Abstract The contemporary legend canon contains many different kinds of legends, including but not limited to food contamination, embarrassing sexual situations and incidents with automobiles. However, there is a particular subset that involves a maniac (usually assumed to be male) attacking a victim who is usually young and female. I have dubbed these contemporary horror legends. They bear a strong resemblance to the violent and gory horror films I watched in my youth, which I refer to as slasher films. In these slasher films, teenaged victims are butchered by killers who are frequently male. Are slasher films merely using a different mode of transmission to tell the same stories as contemporary horror legends? In this thesis, I use textual and structural analyses to compare contemporary horror legends and slasher films: their modes of transmission, their depictions of gender and their audiences. Why do we continue to enjoy telling, and watching, these horror stories? n Acknowledgements I would like to thank the many people whose thoughts helped shape this thesis and whose encouragement helped me to complete it. My supervisor, Dr. Diane Tye, who has patiently guided me throughout a process I'm sure she never expected would take quite this long - thank you for sticking by me and helping me get through this. I literally could not have done it without you! To Dr. Paul Smith, who helped to shape this thesis in its initial stages and who generously allowed me access to his huge supply of articles and movies, and who continued to send me relevant materials. To Dr. Diane Goldstein, who not only suggested articles for me to read but who also made the invaluable suggestion of contacting Mikel Koven. To Dr. Philip Hiscock who made me realize what a valuable treasure I had in a childhood book by Daniel Cohen. To Dr. Beverley Diamond who works so hard to ensure as many students as possible get some form of funding. Your tireless efforts are appreciated! To Dr. Gerald Pocius who let me be part of a project that allowed me to work from home as an about-to-be new mom. To Sharon Cochrane and Cindy Turpin, the goddesses of the department, we would all be lost without you! Thank you for nurturing a nervous pregnant woman, and sharing your own stories and experiences with me. To Patricia Fulton and Pauline Cox who bent over backwards to accommodate me. An extra special thanks to Pauline for her years of friendship! iii To Dr. Mikel J. Koven whose own research has forged the path for me to follow - thank you for the books and for letting me sneak a peak at your amazing movie collection! To Jim Harper, a writer who refused to let a student pay hundreds of dollars for his out of print book and sent me a copy instead, and who also generously suggested other authors to look at. Thank you for taking the time to help me. To Dr. Jan Harold Brunvand, whose work inspired me to begin this journey, thank you not only for all the books and papers you've written, but also for an email you sent a curious young undergrad who wondered if she should indeed pursue Folklore. I am so pleased you exceeded my expectations when I finally met you - and I will always be grateful to Mrs. Brunvand for loaning me some of her clothing when Air Canada lost mine! To Dr. Victor Ehly and all the wonderful professors I was fortunate enough to encounter at Vermont College, your belief in me is what brought me to this point. Without your unswerving faith I wouldn't have dared to dream. None of you will ever be forgotten, but Victor you have served as my mentor for so many years now, you will always have a special place in my heart. To my parents, Cullene Bryant and Donald McKechnie, who have always encouraged not only my academic pursuits but also my artistic ones (not to mention providing unconditional emotional and financial support over the years - Mom, we couldn't have moved to Newfoundland, or any of the other many places we've gone since, without you!). iv To my brother, Alex, who shared slasher films and contemporary legends with me, I can't imagine what sort of thesis I'd have written without your early influence! Thanks for a lifetime of having my back! Also, thanks to you and the lovely Delyana for my precious nieces! To my wonderful in-laws Joyce and Reg Lapenskie, who may not always understand what I'm doing or why I'm doing it, but who love me anyway. To Kevin Ashby, my brother-from-another-mother. You are not only one of the most brilliant people I know, but also one of the kindest. Harvard, Oxford, law firms - all would be lucky to have you! To the late great Mary Elizabeth Mott, the best friend anyone could ever have. Thank you for gifting my life with your presence, your friendship, love, support and encouragement. You will always be missed, but never forgotten. To my crazy cats Fudge, Chocolate and Oreo "Biss", sometimes you made it a challenge to reach the keyboard or to keep my papers organized, but your purrs and cuddles more than make up for it! To my amazing children Ava and Luke - you are both the light and love of my life! And although your existence has certainly made this take a lot longer than it should have, I wouldn't trade either one of you for all the degrees in the world! And finally, to my incredibly supportive husband who is embarking on his own graduate career. This crazy academic path we've somehow found ourselves on may have a lot of twists and turns, but there's no one I'd rather be navigating it with than you! Aren't you glad I'm finally finished??? This stage, anyway... v Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iii Chapter 1 In the Beginning: A Frighteningly Good Time! 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Contemporary Legends, Slasher Films and 5 Evolving Modes of Transmission 1.3 Structural Analysis 9 1.4 Gender 10 1.5 Informants 12 1.6 Breakdown of Remaining Chapters 16 Chapter 2 From Oral to Visual: The Relationship Between Contemporary Legends and Slasher Films 18 2.1 Contemporary Legends 19 2.2 Slasher Films 31 2.3 Violence in Entertainment History 39 2.4 Contemporary Legends and Slasher Films 48 2.5 Conclusion 51 Chapter 3 Live Through This: A Structural Analysis of Film and Legend 53 3.1 Dundes's Schema in Contemporary Legend and Slasher Films 55 3.2 Dika's Functions in Slasher Films and VI Contemporary Legends 60 3.3 Dika's Past Event in Slasher Films and Contemporary Legends 62 3.4 Dika's Present Event in Slasher Films and Contemporary Legends 66 3.5 Conclusion 82 Chapter 4 Kill or Be Killed: Survivors, Killers and Victims in Contemporary Legends and Slasher Films 85 4.1 Passive Women 85 4.2 The Female Survivors 89 4.3 The Killers 112 4.4 Meaning and Murder 120 4.5 Conclusion 129 Chapter 5 The Horror Fan 131 5.1 Conclusion 159 Chapter 6 In the End: Cut from the Same Cloth? 162 6.1 Introduction 162 6.2 Summary of Previous Chapters 162 6.3 Future Directions for Study 169 6.4 Conclusion 171 Bibliography 172 Filmography 179 Vll Chapter 1 In the Beginning: A Frighteningly Good Time! Introduction I have always had a taste for the macabre and being frightened is my idea of fun.