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Monsters and Everyday Life

Sayad, Cecilia (2015) Monsters and Everyday Life. In: Screen Studies Conference, 26/006/2015-28/06/2015, University of Glasgow. (Unpublished) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:50255)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.

Abstract

This paper addresses the topic of ‘Screening Animals and the Inhuman’ through a discussion of the coexistence between supernatural phenomena and the documentary mode both in mock found-footage horror films and in reality television shows. Here the ‘inhuman’ relates to demonic figures, even though this investigation also includes the more arguably ‘human’ ghost. I draw from studies about the relationship between media and the spiritual world by Tom Gunning (‘Phantom Images and Modern Manifestations’), Jeffrey Sconce (Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from the Telegraph to Television) and Annette Hill (Paranormal Media) in order to investigate, within the boundaries of genre studies, new articulations of the relationship between horror and the documentation of reality, and more broadly, the ways in which the connection between supernatural themes and documentary modalities change our relationship to film. I argue that the confusion between fiction and fact within both found-footage horror and reality TV blurs the boundaries between the films and the surrounding world, removing horror narratives from the exclusive domains of the symbolic, the unconscious, and the escapist, embedding the ‘monster’ in everyday experiences. The paper’s filmography includes the Paranormal Activity and [•REC] films, as well as the Paranormal State and Ghost Hunters shows.

Item Type: Conference or workshop item (Paper)
Uncontrolled keywords: ghost hunting, reality television, found footage horror film, horror genre, documentary, phantasmagoria, science and magic, spirit photography
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Arts
Depositing User: Cecilia Sayad
Date Deposited: 20 Aug 2015 15:59 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 10:59 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/50255 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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