Title

The Meat of the Gothic: Animality and Social Justice in United States Fiction and Film of the Twenty-First Century

Author

Amber Hodge, University of MississippiFollow

Date of Award

1-1-2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in English

First Advisor

Leigh Anne Duck

Second Advisor

Deborah Barker

Third Advisor

Jamie Harker

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

The Meat of the Gothic: Animality and Social Justice in United States Fiction and Film of the Twenty-First Century— situates twenty-first century US gothic narratives in relation to animal studies, even as it illuminates how these narratives interrogate the effects of historic and ongoing global systems of human oppression: slavery, imperialism, and capitalism. Instead of reacting to bias by asserting a claim to a humanity perpetually imbricated in divisions of class, race, and gender, present-day authors and filmmakers create characters who form communities that include nonhuman actors as a means of generating empowerment and critique. My approach to these narratives is informed by formal analysis; posthuman, ecofeminist, and postcolonial theoretical frameworks; and archival findings, which enable me to position contemporary gothic works in a tradition of activism around issues of citizenship.

Recommended Citation

Hodge, Amber, "The Meat of the Gothic: Animality and Social Justice in United States Fiction and Film of the Twenty-First Century" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2103.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2103