Hi Dan. Here are a few additions to your theories of horror:
1) Horror as a metaphysical angst, a "cosmic fear" (fear of the unknown).
>From
H.P. Lovecraft in his brilliant little "Supernatural Horror in Literature"
2) Horror as a "Rite of Initiation" (i.e. sexual initiation). From Walter
Evans article "Monster Movies
and Rites of Initiation" and "Monster Movies: A Sexual Theory"; and the
James B. Twitchell book,
"Dreadful Pleasures"
3) As a slight addition to your #6 (religion/supernatural), horror as an
expression of the human
desire to crave a form (or contact with) transcendence (the sublime/the
holy). Best articulated
by Will H. Rockett in his book "Devouring the Whirlwind: Terror and
Transcendence in the Cinema
of Cruelty"
4) "Social Theory" of horror (discourses on taboo/transgression). Example:
"Dread, Taboo and The
Thing: Toward a Social Theory of the Horror Film" Stephen Prince, Wide
Angle 10/3
5) "Metaphorical Transformation" Theory (horror as a way to express and
cope with various forms
of change (physiological: puberty), (psychological: aging, parenthood,
death) (this is my own theory)
At 12:23 PM 10/4/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Folks:
>
>Articles are starting to come in for the special edition of "Film and
>Philosophy" on horror films, and I am thinking about my introductory essay.
>In that essay, I want to sketch out the theoretical landscape, and thought I
>might enlist your aid in that effort. The main theories of horror with
>which I am familiar are:
>
>1) the play theory, that we enjoy the adreniline rush, like a roller
>coaster, while secure that there is no real danger.
>
>2) the Freudian account of horror as the return of the repressed (Robin
>Wood), i.e. as vicariously gratifying repressed desires that are then
>re-repressed by the destruction of the monster
>
>3) the cognitivist account of our fascination with the impossible, and how
>it is disclosed and defeated in horror narratives (Noel Carroll)
>
>4) feminist readings that either focus on a) the repressive impact of the
>victimization of women that characterizes so many slasher
>pics (folowing Laura Mulvey) or b) the liberating activity of many female
>protagonists in more recent horror (Carol Clover)
>
>5) the organicist reading that says that all horror (esp. gothic tales) deal
>with our fears of death, dissolution and decay.
>
>6) religious readings that focus on the supernatural aspects of horror
>
>7) a Nietzschean view that it is to the power of the monsters that we are
>attracted, and to their violations of moral norms (my favorite)
>
>8) the Marxist reading of horror as critical of capitalism (esp. "Dawn of
>the Dead", and Romero's films in general)
>
>I'm sure I'm missing some. Pray, tell!
>
>Many thanks.
>
>Dan Shaw
>
>PS Submissions for the special edition on the philosophy of horror will be
>accepted by e-mail until December 1st. Reply to me only for further
>information.
>
>"For beauty is the beginning of terror that we are still able to bear, and
>why we love it so is because it so serenely disdains to destroy us." Rilke's
>First Elegy
>
>
Donato Totaro
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