Possessed Child Narratives in Literature and Film Contrary States

by Schober, Adrian

• ISBN13: 9781403935106
• ISBN10: 1403935106
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-29
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book undertakes a study of the trope of the possessed child in literature and film.It argues that the possessed child is fundamentally an American phenomenon which, first, may be traced to the Calvinist bias of the US as a nation founded on Puritanism and, second, to the rise of Catholicism in that country, to which Puritanism owes its origins.

Author Biography

Adrian Schober has a PhD in Literature and Film from Monash University, Australia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
Preface	ix
1 Introduction	1	(37)
Contrary states	1	(6)
The lost child	7	(4)
The possessed child: themes and variations	11	(17)
Culture, religion and discourse	28	(10)
2 The New England Connection	38	(25)
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter	42	(12)
Henry James's The Turn of the Screw	54	(9)
3 God is Dead	63	(24)
William Peter Blatty's and William Friedkin's The Exorcist	64	(17)
Masculinity in crisis: Damiano Damiani's Amityville II: The Possession	81	(6)
4 East Meets West	87	(23)
Frank De Felitta's and Robert Wise's Audrey Rose	87	(23)
5 Culture Shock	110	(24)
James Herbert's Shrine	116	(18)
6 For Children Only?	134	(30)
William Mayne's IT	136	(15)
Victor Kelleher's Del-Del	151	(13)
7 Conclusion	164	(10)
Notes	174	(8)
Filmography	182	(3)
Bibliography	185	(11)
Index	196