This thesis researches to what extent traditional vampire folklore and the vampire myth as established in Dracula have shaped the twenty-first-century image of the vampire in the best-selling...Show moreThis thesis researches to what extent traditional vampire folklore and the vampire myth as established in Dracula have shaped the twenty-first-century image of the vampire in the best-selling Twilight Saga, as well as in the recent Vampire Academy series of novels. The main focus lies on the initial shaping of the vampire image. It critically explores the changes added by Bram Stoker, Stephenie Meyer, and Richelle Mead in order to ascertain the influences of modern-day authors' fantasy writings. It shows that the work of Meyer and Mead plays a pivotal role in the vampiric humanization process within the twenty-first century. In this process the vampire moves from evil zombie-like monster in vampire folklore, to Dracula's solitary aristocrat, to Meyer's society struggling with moral/ethical choices, to Mead's Fully socialized, modern world.Show less
When translating a book into a film script, and subsequently into a film, often aspects of the story are changed either because of different interpretations of the story or with the sole purpose of...Show moreWhen translating a book into a film script, and subsequently into a film, often aspects of the story are changed either because of different interpretations of the story or with the sole purpose of changing the source text to fit the new medium (Sanders 2). This thesis will critically explore differences between Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (1990) and The Lost World (1995) and their 1993 and 1997 film adaptations. In doing so, it will show that changes made during the adaptation process were caused, on the one hand, by commercial pressures within the film industry, technical concerns, and the director’s artistic vision, and, on the other hand, by new scientific discoveries in the field of paleontology.Show less
In this thesis I explore in what ways Shirley Jackson critiques the position of women in postwar American society in her last two novels: The Haunting of Hill House (1959) and We Have Always Lived...Show moreIn this thesis I explore in what ways Shirley Jackson critiques the position of women in postwar American society in her last two novels: The Haunting of Hill House (1959) and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962).In both these novels Jackson takes the idea that a woman's position is in the house literally, and explores the connection between the female protagonists and their Gothic mansions in which they are trapped. In the Hauntíng of Hill House, the apparitions in the house represent the claustrophobic feelings and societal pressures on the protagonist. Whilst in We Have Always Lived in the Castle the destruction of the house by the villagers symbolically represents what the villagers wish to do to the female protagonist in the novel. In order to develop these critical insights, this thesis will engage with feminist theories about the role of women in society written around the time these novels were published, such as Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) and Millett's Sexual Politics (1970), as well as Toril Moi's later discussion of the continued relevance of post-war feminism in Sexual/Textual Polítics (1985). It will relate the feminist theories of women's identity and social role to the dominant patriarchal gender ideology of the time. Other significant contextual sources will be Jackson's o'ftctionalized" memoirs of her own domestic life: Life Among the Savøges (1952) and Raising Demons (1957). Theories of the Gothic genre's, and in particular the haunted-house sub-genre's, relation to domestic themes will allow me to clarify why Jackson turned to the Gothic as a literary mode through which to express her critique of women's plight in the post-war period.Show less
This thesis presents a comparative analysis of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House and the 2018 Netflix TV series adaptation by director Mike Flanagan based on the interpretive...Show moreThis thesis presents a comparative analysis of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House and the 2018 Netflix TV series adaptation by director Mike Flanagan based on the interpretive-focused theoretical approach within the field of film adaptation studies. The main argument is that as the result of the change in narrative structure, the TV series steps away from the individual psychological Gothic with Eleanor as its primary subject, and instead moves towards an intersubjective exploration of trauma and loss of the Crain family members.Show less
