Redefining the Monstrous-Feminine: Applying a Postfeminist (Eco) Gothic Reading to Horror Video Games
First author: LoringYear: 2024
Abstract
This dissertation examines the connections between the monstrous-feminine and the environment in horror video games while addressing a major gap in ecocritical theory—that of the role video games play in the discourse. While many feminist media scholars have chosen to read the monstrous-feminine through a psychoanalytical lens, I argue that this theory is too limiting and male-centered. Monstrous-feminine characters often work in tandem with the natural world to overthrow the intersecting oppressions of misogyny and environmental degradation caused by heteropatriarchy, colonialism, and capitalism. My project attempts to spark a conversation around these intersections as they occur in horror games and open up ecocriticism to the potential of new media for connecting with the non-academic world. Through a postfeminist ecoGothic analysis of archetypal characters like the witch, the werewolf, the vampire, and the ghost as they appear in the games Blair Witch (2019), Blacktail (2022), Werewolf: The Apocalypse—Heart of the Forest (2020), The Quarry (2022), BloodRayne (2002), Resident Evil Village (2021), Vampyr (2018), Redfall (2023), The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (2021), Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003), and Fatal Frame V: Maiden of Black Water (2022), I show how these monsters interact with, and often act on behalf of, the environment to challenge patriarchal domination of women and nature.Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: United States
Published in: dissertation
Publication type: Dissertation
Source: https://www.proquest.com/openview/23cf040000585715275c77e521eead46/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
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