University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Honors Scholar Theses Honors Scholar Program Spring 5-11-2013 Sinking Your Teeth into Popular Culture: Why Reading Twilight Could Kill You Carolyn Eve Friedman University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses Part of the American Literature Commons, and the Modern Literature Commons Recommended Citation Friedman, Carolyn Eve, "Sinking Your Teeth into Popular Culture: Why Reading Twilight Could Kill You" (2013). Honors Scholar Theses. 291. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/291 Friedman 1 Sinking Your Teeth into Popular Culture: Why Reading Twilight Could Kill You By: Carolyn Friedman Friedman 2 Sinking Your Teeth into Popular Culture: Why Reading Twilight Could Kill You “Popular fiction” as a general object of study has rarely been explored, in part because it is often subsumed under the umbrella of popular culture. This is a mistake: just as film and television have developed their own approaches that reflect the unique social, cultural, political, and industrial dimensions of each medium, so popular fiction should occupy its own critical space. – Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, "Popular Fiction Studies: The Advantages of a New Field" In the field of literary criticism, we often find hundreds of dissertations on the classics written by authors such as James Joyce or Shakespeare. It is rare, however, to find serious discussion of “popular” contemporary authors. The critics have defined this subgenre of fiction and declared a war on it. The common definition of what we consider popular fiction varies, many scholars simplifying it to what they deem “bad” literature. Most incorporate profit into the definition to encompass the idea that popular fiction, unlike literary fiction, is motivated by marketability or sales (Schneider 21). And many forms of art that are popular are criticized for being lesser. Pop artists like Andy Warhol have been criticized over time for dumbing down art. But these contributions are important; they reflect society’s changing attitudes. It is in this way that those critics who snub popular literature are missing out on the entire message. People are reading popular literature, and therefore it cannot and should not be ignored. Clay Reynolds in Picketing the Zeitgeist comments, “Sometimes, the worth of a piece of writing must be assessed in purely aesthetic terms, but overall, the measure of a novel's value lies in how many people buy it and find it worthwhile to read” (Reynolds 3). When a new book Friedman 3 becomes popular, many people worldwide read the novel within a short time span. The first novel of the Twilight series alone made $370,000,000. With this type of widespread exposure to popular literature, readers are impacted by these books in substantial ways. Moreover, popular culture is simultaneously impacted by popular fiction; the two are mutually transformative. Because literature is a product of our times, the novels authors choose to write are invariably connected to the society we live in. However, when huge numbers of readers receive a message in a short time span, this literature is able to influence their ideas and behaviors. This connection between the authors and their audiences allow critics to understand the consciousness of readers and their cultural milieu. The fact remains that people are drawn to popular fiction and encounter it in their daily lives. While not all literary scholars need to dedicate their lives to this sect of fiction, they should recognize the value in researching it. In his article “What Does Dan Brown Have to do with the Ivory Tower?” Mark Scott argues for the value of studying popular literature and describes the cautions and steps scholars should take. As scholars, we approach these books not as admiring fans but as scholars who subject its assertions to critical scrutiny. By approaching popular fiction with our distinctive theories and methods, not at the pedestrian level of tracing themes and issues and taking its assertions at face value, we preserve the academic integrity of our discussions. Only thus will we avoid the academic purist's charge of pseudo- scholarship and dilettantism… [W]e must not allow popular fiction to dominate our discussions, only to stimulate interest in them. Instead of focusing on the narrative, we should explore how the narrative surfaces important religious and theological themes and how the concepts and categories employed by our disciplines enable a deeper apprehension of these phenomena. (Scott 3) Scott argues for the importance of understanding popular novels in terms of the power dynamics and culture of their time. At the time of this article’s publication, the best selling Friedman 4 novels and eventual movies by Dan Brown were creating a stir with the religious community. In his argument, Scott does not pay attention to weak character development or poor word choice. This is what he means by refusing to “[focus] on the narrative,” that the important issues are the themes rather than the plot. Most scholars and fans of popular fiction would agree that many best-selling novels are not narratively complex, and to create this argument would defeat the purpose of critiquing this body of fiction at all. In order to properly understand and critique popular fiction, we need to explore the implicit and explicit ideologies. This project will focus on a recent bestselling novel series-turned-movie franchise: the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. How does one remain scholarly when discussing works of this nature? It is difficult to discuss a series in which the main character, Edward, is described as beautiful 165 times, or the word chagrin is used 15 times. These examples demonstrate the obvious fact that there are major writing faults throughout the book, and that repetition remains one of the larger problems. To go through the novel and point out these flaws, however, would produce no result but reiterate the fact that the writing does not compare with more respected works like The Scarlet Letter or Wuthering Heights . This is obvious to anyone who has any literary knowledge, as well as unimportant to the readers who love and adore this series; rarely does one admire Twilight for the writing. For this reason, this type of criticism lends no value to my discussion of the work. I am looking at a literary history of the components that lead us to a novel like Twilight . What are the elements in the novel that have made it so successful with readers? What cultural circumstances existed that allowed, and led to, the composition and publication of this book? I have researched in the Friedman 5 categories of romance fiction, vampire literature, and young adult fiction to find the answer to these questions. The Twilight series is first and foremost a romance series. In the first chapter, I will demonstrate how in the history of romance fiction, Twilight borrows many underlying themes from Harlequin romances. To feminist critics, the gender roles imposed on the characters in the novel are obvious; to many readers, however, they are not. These romances consisting of weak, helpless women meeting strong, protective men are not a new idea. Twilight is based in a world where violence and sex go hand in hand, following a trend in much romance fiction in the past. Therefore, the disturbing themes concerning romance are not new, but are dangerous, particularly because they are geared towards young adult readers. But Twilight is not simply a romance; it’s a young adult romance. In the world of young adult literature, values are usually foisted on the reader as a means to gain the characters, and the reader, some type of acceptance into the civilized adult world the author chooses to portray. The second chapter of this thesis will focus on how Stephanie Meyer portrays a world that follows her moral code as a Mormon. In her world, patriarchy dominates. The women in the novel are expected to remain virginal until marriage and then fulfill their duty as women to reproduce. If they do not get the chance to reproduce, they in turn are seen as lesser. The danger of this type of literature aimed at young adults is that readers encounter it at a very impressionable age. While young people are seeking out the ideas and codes they want to live by, this type of literature can influence them. The problem becomes: how can we allow young adults to enjoy novels such as Twilight while encouraging critical thinking about its plot and characters? Friedman 6 The third chapter of this thesis discusses the Twilight series in the context of vampire literature. Vampire literature is diverse in nature, with creatures adhering to all sorts of rules, from fear of garlic to love of the moon. While not all the vampires relate to each other, their many manifestations do abide by particular patterns. For example, the type of vampire found in literature usually represents a fear or power struggle in society during the time it was written. Vampires allow authors to stretch the limits of reality in order to make a social critique. Another thing vampire stories do have in common is their treatment of women as their prey. Meyer uses the vampire fantasy to extend her ability to create a violent sexual atmosphere that is accepted by the general public. She uses the vampire in order to drastically increase the power inequality between the sexes. While I will avoid an in-depth summary of the novels, a brief outline will be helpful to understand the timeline of events that occur. The first novel, Twilight , introduces the protagonist, Bella, who is sick of her giddy, irresponsible, newlywed mother. Bella chooses to go back and live with her estranged father in Forks, Washington to allow her mom to enjoy her new marriage unencumbered by children.