What is violence?

 As I consider the different perspectives within the texts I am studying, I am left questioning what we consider to be violence.  The dictionary defines violence as, 'behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.' This seems relatively obvious really; a violent action causes physical pain.  But what of other forms of violence, that don't involve any physical act at all?

Bullying.  Could it be considered as violence?  Racism.  Is this violence?  Homophobia.  Should this be viewed as violence?  All of these acts can result in physical pain and are intended to cause hurt, damage, and in some instances, can result in death.  Should they be considered violent?

What about fear?  Can fear be considered an act of violence?  Violence is horrifying, traumatic, and painful, but so is fear, ergo, can fear be violence?  I suppose if we look at the most obvious case of terrorism, a violent act that strikes fear and terror into those affecting, then fear becomes an effect of violence.  However, what about the victim of domestic violence who lives in fear of the next physical attack.  In this instance, can fear also be considered an act of violence?

These are just some of my preliminary responses to reading Violence  by Slavoj Žižek who takes 'six sideways glances' at violence so that we can 'learn, learn, learn' what causes violence.

I will update this post once I have delved deeper within the pages of the book and explored what new lens it shines on the fictional serial killer.

The challenges of writing a dissertation!

 I have now moved on with my plan for my dissertation and have selected my key texts.  At first I was only going to use 3 texts: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite, and The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis.  However, as I was searching for a clearer vision, I read a review on Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates and felt that it would work well alongside the other texts.  

My next challenge really was about how to approach these texts and how I would be able to offer something new to the academic field.  This was quite problematic as how do you offer something new as an MA student when scholars have been researching and writing about the topic for decades?  Upon reflection I realised that at this moment, nothing has been written about The Shards, as it is a relatively new novel (published January 2023) and I have not read any academic work that focuses on it.  Furthermore, during a collaborative learning session, a fellow student suggested the I explore how this topic is dealt with on social media, as an innovative angle to approaching context.  This is some thing I am going to look at, as I am not familiar with Tik-Tok and tend to limit my social media presence to Twitter and Facebook! 

I now feel more confident that I can provide something new to the field and am excited to get started.  I am going to look at how the characters of the serial killers are created; the form of the novels; the victims and why they are silenced; the violent imagery and what this suggests; how the reader is positioned, and the narrative style.  There are still some areas that I am unsure of but I am sure that I will have more clarity in the coming days and weeks.

I will journal my progress, my ups and downs, and hopefully this will aid not only my fellow MA students, but also myself, as a means of keeping track of my ideas.

Please feel free to offer any advice or words of wisdom by dropping a comment.

Thanks, 

M

Why are we obsessed with serial killers?

Why are we obsessed with serial killers?

Our obsession with serial killer fiction dates back to the Victorian era and Jack the Ripper. This elusive figure is still famous today, even though his identity remains a mystery. The crimes committed by the Ripper have influenced a plethora of literature, from Stevenson's Victorian classic, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, John Francis Brewer's The Curse Upon Mitre Square, through to Twentieth Centre novels, such as Stephen Knight's Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, the amazing graphic novel, From Hell by Alan Moore (the film leaves a lot to be desired!) to Post Millennial contributions from Kerri Maniscalco with Stalking Jack the Ripper and Clive Cussler's The Cutthroat.  

Is it wrong to celebrate serial killers?

Serial Killers are classic transgressors that embody social taboos, such as cannibalism, necrophilia, incest, and infanticide, amongst others.  They are repulsive, repellent, revoting; so why do we embrace them so fervently?  Not only are serial killers presented to us in the world of fiction, film, and tv series, but also real, bonafide murderers are presented to us in a superfluity of merchandise.  Jeffrey Dahmer merchandise includes the comedic slogan “chew chew you”, with his full monstrous face on a train, or, “Did somebody say Just Eat?” on a t-shirt, or, “I eat guys like you for breakfast” on a cereal bowl.   Harold Shipman - the most notorious of all serial killers - is frivolously memorialised on coasters, with the slogan, “save our NHS” or “I’m losing my patients” t-shirts.  This, about a man who murdered around 250 people.  Why do we accept humour in the face of such evil?  Why are these reprehensible creatures celebrated celebrities? 

This blog will record my musings as I write my Master's dissertation on the topic of serial killers in fiction. I will be exploring the horrors of real life monsters and their literary representations. I will be asking and answering why we accept humour in the face of such horror.

Critical theory will punctuate my ramblings, along with key contextual details that will help get to the core of my thesis: Is the character of the serial killer the most monstrous Gothic character because they really do walk, undetected, amongst us as human monsters?