| Description |
viii, 182 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Series |
Popular fiction series |
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Popular fiction series.
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| Contents |
Pt. I. Faces of the Monstrous-Feminine: Abjection and the Maternal. 1. Kristeva, Femininity, Abjection. 2. Horror and the Archaic Mother: Alien. 3. Woman as Possessed Monster: The Exorcist. 4. Woman as Monstrous Womb: The Brood. 5. Woman as Vampire: The Hunger. 6. Woman as Witch: Carrie -- Pt. II. Medusa's Head: Psychoanalytic Theory and the Femme Castratrice. 7. 'Little Hans' Reconsidered: or 'The Tale of Mother's Terrifying Widdler'. 8. Medusa's Head: The Vagina Dentata and Freudian Theory. 9. The Femme Castratrice: I Spit on Your Grave, Sisters. 10. The Castrating Mother: Psycho. 11. The Medusa's Gaze |
| Summary |
"In almost all critical writings on the horror film, woman is conceptualised only as victim. In The Monstrous-Feminine Barbara Creed challenges this patriarchal view by arguing that the prototype of all definitions of the monstrous is the female reproductive body |
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With close reference to a number of classic horror films including the Alien trilogy, The Exorcist and Psycho, Creed analyses the seven ̀faces' of the monstrous-feminine: archaic mother, monstrous womb, vampire, witch, possessed body, monstrous mother and castrator. Her argument that man fears woman as castrator, rather than as castrated, questions not only Freudian theories of sexual difference but existing theories of spectatorship and fetishism, providing a provocative re-reading of classical and contemporary film and theoretical texts."--pub. desc |
| Analysis |
Cinema Horror films |
| Notes |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-171) and index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-171) and index |
| Subject |
Kristeva, Julia, 1941-
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Kristeva, Julia, 1941- -- Political and social views.
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Feminist theory.
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Horror films -- History and criticism.
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Horror films -- Psychological aspects.
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Monsters in motion pictures.
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Women and psychoanalysis.
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Women in motion pictures.
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| LC no. |
93000445 |
| ISBN |
0415052580 |
|
0415052599 |
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