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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2016 Neoliberal Darlings: the Commodification of Grotesque Children in Contemporary Comics and Literature Mark Heimermann University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, and the Esthetics Commons Recommended Citation Heimermann, Mark, "Neoliberal Darlings: the Commodification of Grotesque Children in Contemporary Comics and Literature" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 1151. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1151 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEOLIBERAL DARLINGS: THE COMMODIFICATION OF GROTESQUE CHILDREN IN CONTEMPORARY COMICS AND LITERATURE by Mark Heimermann A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2016 ABSTRACT NEOLIBERAL DARLINGS: THE COMMODIFICATION OF GROTESQUE CHILDREN IN CONTEMPORARY COMICS AND LITERATURE by Mark Heimermann The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016 Under the Supervision of Professor Peter Sands This dissertation analyzes grotesque depictions of children in contemporary, speculative comics and literature: Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth, Ben Marcus’ The Flame Alphabet, and Richard Starkings’ Elephantmen. It argues that the grotesque in these texts embodies the tension between children as economic objects and children as social beings, as the protagonists’ nonhuman elements are used to justify their commodification. Because commodification metaphorically transforms people into hybrids, part human/part commodity, the grotesque, with its emphasis on hybrid forms and ontological destabilization, is uniquely suited for representing this tension. Concern over the transformation of childhood reflects anxiety over the dominance of neoliberalism, which subsumes everything under market logic. Realms that were recently considered social, like family and childhood, are increasingly understood in economic terms. These texts turn to the grotesque as a way to visualize the effects of an abstract ideology. ii © Copyright by Mark Heimermann, 2016 All Rights Reserved iii To Becky, For your love and support iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... vi-vii Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ viii I. Introduction: Childhood, Neoliberalism, and the Grotesque .........................................1 II. The Grotesque Child: Animal/Human Hybridity in Sweet Tooth ................................33 III. Beautiful Monsters: The Grotesque and Postmodernism in Elephantmen ..................77 IV. “We Are Masterpieces”: The Commodification of Grotesque Children in Geek Love ............................................................................................................................137 V. Less Than Human: The Commodification of Clones in Never Let Me Go ...............170 VI. Unsettling Language: Grotesque Description in The Flame Alphabet ......................202 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................232 Curriculum Vitae .........................................................................................................................247 v LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 ......................................................................................................................................64 Figure 1.2 ......................................................................................................................................65 Figure 1.3 ......................................................................................................................................66 Figure 1.4 ......................................................................................................................................67 Figure 1.5 ......................................................................................................................................68 Figure 1.6 ......................................................................................................................................69 Figure 1.7 ......................................................................................................................................70 Figure 1.8 ......................................................................................................................................71 Figure 1.9 ......................................................................................................................................72 Figure 1.10 ....................................................................................................................................73 Figure 1.11 ....................................................................................................................................74 Figure 1.12 ....................................................................................................................................75 Figure 1.13 ....................................................................................................................................76 Figure 1.14 ....................................................................................................................................76 Figure 2.1 ....................................................................................................................................112 Figure 2.2 .................................................................................................................................... 113 Figure 2.3 ....................................................................................................................................114 Figure 2.4 ....................................................................................................................................115 Figure 2.5 ....................................................................................................................................116 Figure 2.6 ....................................................................................................................................117 Figure 2.7 ....................................................................................................................................118 vi Figure 2.8 ....................................................................................................................................119 Figure 2.9 ....................................................................................................................................120 Figure 2.10 ..................................................................................................................................121 Figure 2.11 ..................................................................................................................................122 Figure 2.12 ..................................................................................................................................122 Figure 2.13 ..................................................................................................................................123 Figure 2.14 .................................................................................................................................. 123 Figure 2.15 ..................................................................................................................................124 Figure 2.16 .................................................................................................................................. 125 Figure 2.17 ..................................................................................................................................126 Figure 2.18 .................................................................................................................................. 127 Figure 2.19 ..................................................................................................................................128 Figure 2.20 ..................................................................................................................................129 Figure 2.21 ..................................................................................................................................130 Figure 2.22 ..................................................................................................................................131 Figure 2.23 .................................................................................................................................. 132 Figure 2.24 .................................................................................................................................. 133 Figure 2.25 .................................................................................................................................. 134 Figure 2.26 .................................................................................................................................

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