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Zombies, Spectres, and a 'Great Vampire Squid'

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Zombies, Spectres, and a 'Great Vampire Squid' Zombies, Spectres, and a ‘Great Vampire Squid’: Monstrous Capitalism and Financial Fear in American Gothic Fiction A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2019 Amy E Bride School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Contents List of Figures p.3 Abstract p.5 Declaration p.6 Copyright Statement p.7 Acknowledgements p.8 The Author p.10 Introduction: Gothic Finance and Financial Gothic p.11 ‘It’s Alive!’: The 1929 Wall Street Crash and Pulp/Popular/Political Monsters p.41 ‘The Evil is the House Itself’: Credit, Citizenship, and the Postwar Haunting House p.91 Deregulation Sucks: Mass Consumption of Liquidity and the Late- Twentieth-Century Vampire p.137 Mindless Consumers: The 2008 Crash and the Millennial Zombie p.181 Thesis Conclusion p.239 Bibliography p.249 Word count: 79,791 2 List of Figures Fig. 1. ‘The Double Headed Octopus’, 1904. p.49 Fig. 2. ‘The Curse of California’, 1882. p.50 Fig. 3. ‘The Menace of the Hour’, 1889. p.51 Fig. 4. ‘The Coming Money Trust’, 1912. p.52 Fig. 5. ‘An Octopus Not in the Aquarium’, 1879. p.53 Fig. 6. ‘Next!’, 1904. p.54 Fig. 7. ‘The Octopus of Octopi’, 1906. p.54 Fig. 8. Film still of Frankenstein (1931): the hand of the Monster. p.64 Fig. 9. Film still from Frankenstein (1931): Dr Waldman’s office. p.69 Fig. 10. Film still from Frankenstein (1931): the windmill. p.70 Fig. 11. Film still from Frankenstein (1931): the Monster enters Elizabeth’s bedroom. p.72 Fig. 12. Film still from Frankenstein (1931): Elizabeth’s bedroom after the attack. p.72 Fig. 13. Days Gone Bye (2004), p.12. p.191 Fig. 14. Too Far Gone (2010), pp.128-129. p.192 3 Fig. 15. Days Gone Bye (2004), pp.6-7. p.199 Fig. 16. Days Gone Bye (2004), front cover. p.201 Fig. 17. Something To Fear (2012), p.14. p.202 Fig. 18. The Best Defense (2006), pp.82-83. p.218 Fig. 19. The Best Defense (2006), pp.100-101. p.219 Fig. 20. A New Beginning (2014), pp.146-147. p.220 Fig. 21. Safety Behind Bars (2005), p.103. p.225 Fig. 22. Made To Suffer (2008), front cover. p.226 Fig. 23. The Heart’s Desire (2005), p.8. p.227 Fig. 24. The Heart's Desire (2005), p.129. p.228 Fig. 25. What We Become (2009), front cover. p.230 Fig. 26. Days Gone Bye (2004), pp.30-31. p.232 Fig. 27. Days Gone Bye (2004), back cover. p.233 4 Abstract My PhD thesis explores American Gothic literature as having always been concerned with finance, and finance as having always been a gothic phenomenon, from 1880 to the present day. The project is split into 4 chapters, each focusing on a different historical financial mechanism as represented by a different American gothic monster that reached peak popularity in the era surrounding that financial mechanism. My research also considers the pre-existing consensus on racial readings of American gothic, and how these interpretations of the slave trade can be expanded upon in conversation with their financial contexts. Drawing on contemporary insights into financialized understandings of economics within the humanities, new analysis of finance as an inherently gothic phenomenon, and archival work completed on the Library of Congress’s Black History Collection, the project aims to highlight an as yet unrecognized dimension of haunting and monstrosity within American gothic literature. Through a combination of literary critique, historical analysis, and explorations of key financial mechanisms across the twentieth and twenty- first centuries, the thesis also reads gothic literature, contemporary finance, and the slave trade, as intimately connected and in communication with each other, to the point where a more complete understanding of one is greatly advanced by critical analyses of the other two. My research reveals a diagnostic, rather than causal, correlation between particular American gothic monsters and specific moments of financialization across the long twentieth century. The thesis also highlights how the contemporary financial system is a direct product of the slave trade, and the ways in which the slave trade itself was also highly financialized. Finally, the project counters the recognition of finance as a key influence on gothic literature with close readings that reveal the inherent, yet previously unrecognized, gothic nature of finance capitalism. 5 Declaration No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 6 Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trademarks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=2442 0), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/about/regulations/) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 7 Acknowledgements Thank you to the Arts and Humanities Research Council, for generously funding my PhD and granting my research trip to Washington D.C., which was possibly the best 3 months of my life. Thank you to Prof. Peter Knight and Dr Douglas Field for their unwavering support, unmatched expertise, patience, kindness, and good humour throughout this project. Thank you to Dr Natalie Zacek for reading through my chapters with patience and care, and for the insight you have provided from the start. Thank you to the Kluge Center and the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., for hosting my international research placement; the knowledge, experiences, and friendships I gained during my time in D.C. were priceless. I will be back. An enormous thank you is owed to my mum and dad for loving, supporting, encouraging, rallying, consoling, celebrating, feeding, clothing, and housing me throughout the thesis. This achievement, like so many other things in my life, would not have been possible if it were not for you. This was truly a team effort (but only I get to be called ‘Doctor’…). Thank you to my brother Chris, sister-in-law Lizzie, and grandparents for always having the kettle boiling and a sofa to sleep on whenever I needed a break. 8 Thank you to my niece Gracie for being born at the start of my write-up year, and therefore providing a very fun, sometimes sticky, always welcome distraction from work. Thank you to Emma Downes, for always being ready to drink the fat. Thank you to my wonderful Milton Keynes friends for being with me through the highest highs and lowest lows. I now officially have 20th and 21st century American financial gothic monster literature covered for the next pub quiz. Gracias a Pablo Lopez, Sergio Carrillo de Hert, Freddy Osvaldo Sanchez Castro, Antonio Ramos, y Simon Brown. Bebamos sidra como si fuera Navidad! Thank you to Keith McGee for keeping me dancing. Thank you to all my other friends, family, and colleagues, in the UK and around the world. Finally, thank you to Jeremy Bayliss, who only joined this monster of a project halfway through, but whose affection, humour, kindness, patience, consideration, hugs, and cooking have made it feel like he has been here all along. Love you. xx 9 The Author Amy Bride gained a BA in English Literature, First Class Hons, from the University of Hertfordshire in 2012. Following a gap year, she completed the MA in American Literature and Culture at the University of Manchester in 2014, achieving a Distinction. She then gained a PGCE in Post-Compulsory Education and Training (Literacy) from Staffordshire University in 2015, before returning to the University of Manchester to start a PhD in American Studies later that year. In addition to her doctoral studies, Amy has completed a 3-month research placement at the Kluge Center, situated in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., studying financial records of slavery held within the Black History Collection in the Manuscripts Division. Amy is also a fellow of the Salzburg Global American Studies Seminar, and has delivered presentations at the Popular Culture Association conference in San Diego, California, International Gothic Association conference in Manchester, the Island Dynamics Darkness conference in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and the Theorizing Zombiism Research Network conference in Dublin, Ireland.
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