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BITE ME: SADOMASOCHISTIC GENDER RELATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY VAMPIRE LITERATURE
Title
BITE ME: SADOMASOCHISTIC GENDER RELATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY VAMPIRE LITERATURE.
Creator
Nathanson, Shelby, Oliver, Kathleen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
While the term sadomasochism might conjure cursory images of whips, chains, and leather-clad fetishists, this thesis delves deeper into sadomasochistic theory to analyze dynamics of power and powerlessness represented by a chosen sample of literary relationships. Using two contemporary works of vampire literature�Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series�I examine how power is structured by and between male and female characters (and vampires and...
Show moreWhile the term sadomasochism might conjure cursory images of whips, chains, and leather-clad fetishists, this thesis delves deeper into sadomasochistic theory to analyze dynamics of power and powerlessness represented by a chosen sample of literary relationships. Using two contemporary works of vampire literature�Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series�I examine how power is structured by and between male and female characters (and vampires and humans), and particularly emphasize the patriarchal messages these works' regressive sexual politics engender. Psychoanalysis and feminist theory are employed to support my overarching argument following the gendered dynamics of male sadism and female masochism (and vampire sadism and human masochism), as this dyad reflects men's and women's "normalized" roles of power and powerlessness, respectively, in today's society. Sadomasochistic relationships as depicted in this literature are created through mutual contracts or, what I refer to as, sociocultural sadomasochism to reflect the gendered power imbalances inherent in patriarchy. By concluding with readers' responses to these franchises, this thesis further attempts to determine why such unequal and oppressive relationships are desirable. Since vampires as Gothic figures embody what specific cultures dread yet desire, this literature possesses frightening implications�gender roles are conservative and masculinity is privileged in fiction and, by extension, in twenty-first-century American culture.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFH0004548, ucf:45204
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004548
MADAMA BUTTERFLY: THE MYTHOLOGY OR HOW IMPERIALISM AND THE PATRIARCHY CRUSHED BUTTERFLY'S WINGS
Title
MADAMA BUTTERFLY: THE MYTHOLOGY OR HOW IMPERIALISM AND THE PATRIARCHY CRUSHED BUTTERFLY'S WINGS.
Creator
Nieves, Adriana, Warfield, Scott, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
As a popular historic work with constant and worldwide performances, the sexist and racist narratives disseminated by Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly causes harmful social and political ramifications. Many scholars point to this opera specifically when discussing the fetishization of Asian females, and mention the title character as the quintessential example of damaging stereotypes. Thus, I conduct a postcolonial and feminist reading of Madama Butterfly, through analysis of the...
Show moreAs a popular historic work with constant and worldwide performances, the sexist and racist narratives disseminated by Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly causes harmful social and political ramifications. Many scholars point to this opera specifically when discussing the fetishization of Asian females, and mention the title character as the quintessential example of damaging stereotypes. Thus, I conduct a postcolonial and feminist reading of Madama Butterfly, through analysis of the opera's libretto, the libretto sources, and the opera's score. I unravel the Orientalist assumptions that make up the foundation of the Butterfly narrative, and trace them as they make their way into Puccini's opera. I re-read Madama Butterfly as a metaphor for imperialism, and its effects on the colonized psyche. I examine Lieutenant Pinkerton and Butterfly's characters with specific attention to the power dynamics of their relationship in the context of colonization. I emphasize gender, race, and class tensions evident within the white male and white female gazes on the bodies of third world women of color. I present Puccini's musical choices in the operatic score as supplementary to my postcolonial-feminist reading. Puccini's use of pentatonic scales to evoke "Oriental" sounds, as well as his appropriation of Japanese folk tunes and "The Star Spangled Banner" into the score serve to supplement my basic contentions that Madama Butterfly is a product of Oriental discourse and a metaphor for imperialism and its effect on the colonized psyche.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFH0004716, ucf:45400
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004716