An Analysıs of the Gothıc Other in True Detectıve, Amerıcan Horror Story
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Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of American Culture and Literature AMERICAN PRIME-TIME MONSTERS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GOTHIC OTHER IN TRUE DETECTIVE, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN AND TRUE BLOOD Pembe Gözde Erdoğan Ph.D. Dissertation Ankara, 2014 AMERICAN PRIME-TIME MONSTERS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GOTHIC OTHER IN TRUE DETECTIVE, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN AND TRUE BLOOD Pembe Gözde Erdoğan Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of American Culture and Literature Ph. D. Dissertation Ankara, 2014 KABUL VE ONAY Pembe Grizde Erdo[an tarafindan hazrlanan "American Prime-Time Monsters: An Analysis of the Gothic Other in True Detective, American Horror Story: Coven and True Blood' baghkh bu gahgma,23 Haziran 2014 tarihinde yaprlan savunmasrnavl sonucundabagarrh bulunarak jiirimiz tarafindan doktora tezi olarak kabul edilmigtir. Prof. Dr. N. Belgin Elbir (Baqkan) cQ"rant o-,)aa.r*-* Prof. Dr. Meldan Tannsal Dog.Dr. BilgeMutluay Dog. Dr. Tanfer Emin Tung Bang Gtimiiqbag(Danrgman) Yukarrdaki imzalartn adr gegen Olretim iiyelerine ait oldu[unu onaylanm. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Qelik EnstitiiMtidiirti BILDIRIM Hanrladr[rmtezin/raporun tamamenkendi gahgmamoldu[unu ve her almtrya kaynak gtisterdifimi taahhtit eder, tezimin/raporumun kafrt ve elektronik kopyalanrun Hacettepe Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitiisii argivlerinde aqafrda belirtti[im koqullarda saklanmasrnaizinverdifimi onaylanm: tr Tezimin/Raporumuntamamr her yerden eriqime agrlabilir. tr TezimlRaporum sadeceHacettepe Universitesi yerleqkelerindeneriqime agrlabilir. g. Tezimin/Raporumun3 yrl siireyle eriqime agrlmasmristemiyorum. Bu siirenin sonunda uzatma igin baqvuruda bulunmadrfrm takdirde, tezimin/raporumuntamamr her yerden eriqimeagrlabilir. 23 Haziran2014 PembeGozde Erdo[an This dissertation is dedicated to two strong and influential women in my life who have been my teachers, mentors, friends and mothers in more ways than one: Aysun Erdoğan; I hope, one day, I can be half the woman you are, & Nur Gökalp; Your spirit and guidance continue to shape me. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to a great number of people in my life who have made this dissertation possible. First and foremost, I would like to thank all the members of the Department of American Culture and Literature for being my second family and for supporting me in my career and in my life. I would like to thank Associate Professor Ufuk Özdağ for her constant support and encouragement, Professor Meldan Tanrısal and Professor Belgin Elbir for their invaluable feedback during the thesis writing process, Associate Professor Nur Gökalp Akkerman for being my eternal emotional and academic advisor, and, finally, Assistant Professor Barış Gümüşbaş for his priceless support and advice during the most crucial part of this study. To my parents Aysun Erdoğan and Bülent Erdoğan I am forever indebted for the immense love, support and faith they provide. Also I would like to thank my little sister Gökçe Erdoğan, for the joy and happiness she brings to my life and for being my design assistant. Finally, I want to thank my precious friends for their never-ending support: Ceylan Ertung Fallon, for being my overseas one woman support system and for making me feel loved, Ceylan Özcan for being my sister and for her precious emotional and academic support, Rauf Kenan Arun for the love and encouragement he provided from overseas and Kevin Anderson for being my drill sergeant and for his special love, support and encouragement. iv ÖTZE ERDOĞAN, Pembe Gözde. “Prime-Time Amerikan Canavarları: True Detective, American Horror Story: Coven ve True Blood Dizilerindeki Gotik Öteki Kavramının İncelenmesi,” Doktora Tezi, Ankara, 2014. Ülkelerinin tarihinin başlangıcından beri Amerikalılar bir Amerikalı olmanın ne anlama geldiği konusunu sürekli irdelemişlerdir. 11 Eylül olaylarının da etkisiyle, günümüzde Amerika’daki sosyo-politik söylemlerde hala bu soru karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Kültür çalışmaları alanında kimlik oluşumu “ötekileştirme” olgusuyla doğrudan bağlantılı olarak görülmektedir. Bu bağlamda, Amerikalılar da toplumlarındaki çeşitliliğin getirdiği, ülkenin içindeki farklı sınıf, ırk, cinsiyet ve cinsel eğilim kimlikleriyle ilişkili konularda hep bölünmüşlerdir. “Ötekileştirme” olgusunun Amerika’da sosyal yaşamın bir gerçeği olduğu kabul edilirse, canavarlaştırılmış “ötekiler”in betimlendiği Gotik türü günümüz Amerika’sındaki kültürel kaygıları incelemek için uygun bir araç olarak görülmelidir. Bu noktadan hareketle, bu çalışma, üç güncel Amerikan televizyon dizisini—HBO kanalında yayınlanan True Detective, FX kanalında yayınlanan American Horror Story: Coven ve yine HBO’da yayınlanan True Blood—Amerikan Gotik televizyon dizileri olarak inceleyerek bu metinlerin günümüz Amerika’sındaki ötekileştirme kavramını nasıl ortaya çıkardıklarını göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda Gotik kavramı sabit bir tür olarak algılanmamakta, Batı kültüründe eskiden beri bulunan yaygın bir durum olarak görülmektedir. Bu çalışma aynı zamanda Amerikan Gotik kavramının özgün niteliklerini belirleyerek bu dizileri, Louisiana bölgesinde geçtiklerinden dolayı, Amerikan Güney Gotiği türünün birer örneği olarak yorumlamaktadır. Son analizde bu diziler Amerikan toplumunun, ayrımcılık ve önyargı problemlerini aşmak bir yana dursun, hala farklılık ve çeşitlilik konularıyla ve ötekileştirme söylemleriyle iştigal ettiğini gözler önüne sermektedir. Anahtar Sözcükler Gotik, Amerikan Gotiği, Güney Gotiği, Televizyon Çalışmaları, Kimlik, Ötekileştirme, Canavar Teorisi v ABSTRACT ERDOĞAN, Pembe Gözde. “American Prime-Time Monsters: An Analysis of The Gothic Other in True Detective, American Horror Story: Coven and True Blood,” Ph. D. Dissertation, Ankara, 2014. Throughout the history of their nation, Americans have always been preoccupied with defining what it means to be an American. The contemporary socio-political scene in America is still informed by this question whose urgency was strengthened by 9/11. In cultural studies, identity formation is seen as closely linked to the practice of “othering.” Accordingly, Americans have always been conscious of the issues of diversity in their society, which involves anxieties over different class, racial, gender and sexual identities within the nation. As the practice of “othering” is recognized as an ongoing practice in American society, the Gothic mode, with its representations of demonized “others” becomes an apt tool to analyze cultural anxieties in contemporary America. Within this context, this study analyzes three contemporary television shows in America—HBO’s True Detective, FX’s American Horror Story: Coven, and HBO’s True Blood— as American Gothic television shows and aims to reveal how these texts demonstrate the current practices of “othering” in America through their monsters. In this vein, the Gothic is seen as a pervasive mode within Western culture rather than a fixed genre. The study also establishes the specific qualities of the American Gothic and reads these shows as American Southern Gothic texts as they all use Louisiana as their setting. At the final analysis, these shows reveal that American society, rather than having overcome its problems of discrimination and prejudice, appears as still obsessed with difference and discourses of othering. Keywords Gothic, American Gothic, Southern Gothic, Television Studies, Identity, Othering, Monster Theory vi TABLE OF CONTENTS KABUL VE ONAY…………………………………………………………..…………..i BİLDİRİM………………………………………………...…………………..…………ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………..………………………………………..……….iii ÖZET………………………………...………………………………………….……....iv ABSTRACT…………………………...………..……………………………….……....v TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………..…………vi INTRODUCTION: GOTHIC TELEVISION AND AMERICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY……………………………………………………………………..………...1 1. AMERICAN IDENTITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY……..…...…..2 2. CREATING AND EXORCISING MONSTERS…………………………...….14 3. AMERICAN TELEVISION TODAY………………………………...……….18 CHAPTER 1: THE GOTHIC...……………………..…………………………………..25 1.1 THE GOTHIC: A BRIEF HISTORY………..……………………………….25 1.2 THE GOTHIC: A PROBLEMATIZATION OF GENRE…………………….39 1.3 GOTHIC AMERICA: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MODE IN THE AMERICAN CONTEXT……………………………………………..…………..47 1.4 GOTHIC/HORROR FILM: EXCESSIVE VISIBILITY……………………..54 1.5 GOTHIC TELEVISION: AN “UNCANNY” INFILTRATION OF HOME…60 CHAPTER 2: SOUTHERN GOTHIC AND HBO’S TRUE DETECTIVE……………..71 2.1 GOTHIC SOUTH: THE NATION’S OTHER……….……………………….71 2.1.1 The Gothic Deep South: The Case of Louisiana………………………..83 2.2 MONSTROUS “WHITE TRASH”: HBO’S TRUE DETECTIVE……………85 vii 2.2.1 The Gothic Landscape of Rural Louisiana……………………………..95 2.2.2 White Is The New Black: White Trash As The Last Acceptable American “Other”…………………………………………………………….....100 CHAPTER 3: POSTFEMINIST/POSTRACIAL WITCHES: FX’S AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN..…………………………………………………………..118 3.1 THE HORRORALITY OF THE SHOW…………………………………….121 3.2 NEW GENDER REGIME IN THE SOUTH: COVEN AS SOUTHERN GOTHIC…………………………………………………………………….124 3.3 ANALYZING THE “GENDER” IN THE REGIME: POSTFEMINIST WITCHES OF CONTEMPORARY SOUTH……………………………….135 CHAPTER 4: MONSTROUS AMERICA IN HBO’S TRUE BLOOD…………..……162 CONCLUSION………….………………………………………………………….…203 FIGURES……...……………..………………………………………………………..212 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………..….……………………………………………………...249 1 INTRODUCTION: GOTHIC TELEVISION AND AMERICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY In his book, Demographic Vistas: Television in American Culture, David Marc calls American television “the Rorschach test of the American personality”