Durham E-Theses The Slender Man Mythos: a structuralist analysis of an online mythology ASIMOS, VIVIAN,MARIE How to cite: ASIMOS, VIVIAN,MARIE (2019) The Slender Man Mythos: a structuralist analysis of an online mythology, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12962/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Slender Man Mythos: a structuralist analysis of an online mythology Vivian Asimos Durham University For PhD Department Theology and Religion 2018 Asimos | ii Table of Contents Table of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... vi Table of Diagrams and Tables .............................................................................................................. vii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. viii Statement of Copyright .......................................................................................................................... ix Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Mythology and Digitizing Lévi-Strauss ................................................................................ 9 1.1 | What is Myth? ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.1.1 | Myth and Popular Culture .................................................................................................. 11 1.1.2 | Virtual Storytelling ............................................................................................................. 13 1.2 | Structuralism ............................................................................................................................. 15 1.2.1 | The Lévi-Straussian Method .............................................................................................. 16 1.2.2 | Neo-Structuralism .............................................................................................................. 17 1.2.3 | Method ............................................................................................................................... 19 1.3 | Creepypasta and Mythology ..................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 2: Introducing the Slender Man ............................................................................................... 22 2.1 | Slender Man’s History .............................................................................................................. 23 2.2 | Slender Man as Communal Story.............................................................................................. 25 2.3.1 | Authenticity in Inconsistency ............................................................................................. 27 2.3.2 | Authenticity in Narrative .................................................................................................... 28 2.3 | Paedophilic Connection ............................................................................................................ 30 2.4 | Mythology and Serious Play ..................................................................................................... 32 2.5 | The Slender Man as Mythos ..................................................................................................... 34 2.5.1 | Progression of the Study of the Mythos ............................................................................. 35 Chapter 3: The Origin of the Slender Man (Part 1) .............................................................................. 36 3.1 | Victor Surge .............................................................................................................................. 36 3.1.1 | Initial Post .......................................................................................................................... 37 3.1.2 | Steinman Woods and Performance Post ............................................................................ 39 3.1.3 | Sensory Codes .................................................................................................................... 40 Asimos | iii 3.1.4 | Nature of Violence ............................................................................................................. 42 3.2 | Mr. 47 ........................................................................................................................................ 45 3.2.1 | Those Left Behind .............................................................................................................. 45 3.2.2 | Supernatural vs. Natural ..................................................................................................... 47 3.2.3 | The Stirling City Post ......................................................................................................... 49 3.3 | Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 51 Chapter 4: The Origin of the Slender Man (Part 2) .............................................................................. 53 4.1 | Aleph Null ................................................................................................................................. 53 4.2 | Genesplicer ................................................................................................................................ 55 4.3 | Shared Themes in Something Awful ........................................................................................ 56 4.3.1 | In-Character ........................................................................................................................ 56 4.3.2 | Facelessness ....................................................................................................................... 58 4.3.3 | Powerlessness ..................................................................................................................... 60 4.3 | The Structure ............................................................................................................................. 62 4.4 | The Uncategorizable Slender Man ............................................................................................ 65 4.4.1 | Playing with the Monster ................................................................................................... 66 4.5 | Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 67 Chapter 5: Marble Hornets .................................................................................................................... 69 5.1 | The Marble Hornets Story ......................................................................................................... 70 5.2 | Mytheme Breakdown ................................................................................................................ 72 5.2.2 | Marble Hornets Characters ................................................................................................. 73 5.2.3 | Mytheme Breakdown ......................................................................................................... 75 5.2.4 | Locations in Marble Hornets .............................................................................................. 77 5.3 | Marble Hornets Structure .......................................................................................................... 77 5.4 | The Slender Man’s Structure..................................................................................................... 80 5.5 | Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 81 Chapter 6: Video Games and Storytelling ............................................................................................ 84 6.1 | Screaming at Webcams in the Dark .......................................................................................... 84 6.1.1 | Video Games and Online Narratives .................................................................................. 85 Asimos | iv 6.2 | Video Games as Narrative......................................................................................................... 86 6.3 | Implicit Myth ............................................................................................................................ 88 6.2.1 | Implicit and Explicit