Maternal Horror Film - by S Arnold (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Horror film is particularly prone to articulating fears and tensions about maternal figures, and reflects cultural apprehensions concerning the changing nature of motherhood. Via predominantly US and European case studies, Maternal Horror Film: Melodrama and Motherhood establishes a framework for understanding two dominant representations of motherhood: self-sacrificing and demonic. Building on this, Arnold investigates how discourses of motherhood exist within East Asian horror texts using popular recent horror films to illustrate. Historical and contemporary case studies include Psycho (1960), Poltergeist (1985), Invasion (2007), Ringu (1998), The Others (2001), Dark Water (2003), and The Seventh Sign (1988). Ultimately, Arnold suggests that, while such films might have some cultural and historical specificity, there is nonetheless a dialogue between genres, eras, and national cinemas and cultures, which is only evident through close textual analysis.

Review Quotes

"Arnold draws upon a wide scope of theoretical writing in psychoanalysis and film studies to explore the parallels between the mother's position in horror and melodrama, while also investigating the differences between Western and Japanese psychological analyses of the mother-child bond through a series of close readings of 'transnational' films. The book will make a vital contribution to both women's and film studies." - Lucy Fischer, University of Pittsburgh, USA

About the Author

Sarah Arnold is Lecturer in Film and Digital Media at University College Falmouth, UK. Her research interests include the history of the moving image, postmodernism and film, and women on film. She has presented at a number of international conferences, and recently contributed to the edited collection, Bound by Love (edited by Laura D'Amore). She has also written for the journal, Jura Gentium Cinema.