The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative

This article responds to the critical debate around Jennifer Kent's horror movie, The Babadook (2014), by offering an analysis that moves beyond its use of generic codes and its sociopolitical representation of maternity. It contends that reading the film as a trauma narrative allows us to bett...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Mitchell, Paul
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
Repositorio:RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riucv.ucv.es:20.500.12466/1966
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/1966
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Babadook
Horror
Cinema
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Monstrosity
Terror
Cine
Síndrome del estrés postraumático
Monstruosidad
61 Psicología
6108.01 Muerte
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oai_identifier_str oai:riucv.ucv.es:20.500.12466/1966
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrativeEl horror de la pérdida: The Babadook, de Jennifer Kent, como narrativa de traumaMitchell, PaulBabadookHorrorCinemaPosttraumatic stress disorderMonstrosityTerrorCineSíndrome del estrés postraumáticoMonstruosidad61 Psicología6108.01 MuerteThis article responds to the critical debate around Jennifer Kent's horror movie, The Babadook (2014), by offering an analysis that moves beyond its use of generic codes and its sociopolitical representation of maternity. It contends that reading the film as a trauma narrative allows us to better understand the horrifying experience suffered by Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis): her husband's premature death in a car accident. Taking Dominick LaCapra's concepts of acting out and working through as key interpretive tools, the analysis demonstrates how Kent conveys posttraumatic stress disorder as both a visceral and a material experience, inscribing absence and loss onto the cinematic texture of the film. The article offers the conclusion that, as The Babadook enacts Amelia's process of recuperation, figured as a psychosomatic struggle against her monstrous Other, she becomes able to express her trauma and, in doing so, is finally able to accept her husband's death.20222022-01-1120192019-12-0120192019-12-0120212021-12-14journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/1966reponame:RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártirinstname:Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente MártirInglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:riucv.ucv.es:20.500.12466/19662026-06-19T08:32:07Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
El horror de la pérdida: The Babadook, de Jennifer Kent, como narrativa de trauma
title The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
spellingShingle The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
Mitchell, Paul
Babadook
Horror
Cinema
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Monstrosity
Terror
Cine
Síndrome del estrés postraumático
Monstruosidad
61 Psicología
6108.01 Muerte
title_short The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
title_full The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
title_fullStr The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
title_full_unstemmed The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
title_sort The horror of loss: Reading Jennifer Kent's the Bahadook as a trauma narrative
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Mitchell, Paul
author Mitchell, Paul
author_facet Mitchell, Paul
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Babadook
Horror
Cinema
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Monstrosity
Terror
Cine
Síndrome del estrés postraumático
Monstruosidad
61 Psicología
6108.01 Muerte
topic Babadook
Horror
Cinema
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Monstrosity
Terror
Cine
Síndrome del estrés postraumático
Monstruosidad
61 Psicología
6108.01 Muerte
description This article responds to the critical debate around Jennifer Kent's horror movie, The Babadook (2014), by offering an analysis that moves beyond its use of generic codes and its sociopolitical representation of maternity. It contends that reading the film as a trauma narrative allows us to better understand the horrifying experience suffered by Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis): her husband's premature death in a car accident. Taking Dominick LaCapra's concepts of acting out and working through as key interpretive tools, the analysis demonstrates how Kent conveys posttraumatic stress disorder as both a visceral and a material experience, inscribing absence and loss onto the cinematic texture of the film. The article offers the conclusion that, as The Babadook enacts Amelia's process of recuperation, figured as a psychosomatic struggle against her monstrous Other, she becomes able to express her trauma and, in doing so, is finally able to accept her husband's death.
publishDate 2019
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2019
2019-12-01
2019
2019-12-01
2021
2021-12-14
2022
2022-01-11
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/1966
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/1966
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
instname:Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
instname_str Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
reponame_str RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
collection RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,300719

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