The “Permeable I”/Eye: Hybrid Subjectivities in True Blood

The landscapes and cityscapes of the sub-tropical Southern United States, with their opulent nature, exuberant cities, boisterous cultural diversity and troubled history of conflict and violence have long offered an alluring locale for Gothic narratives. This article explores the ways in which <em>The Southern Vampire Mysteries</em> (2001–2013) – the best-selling literary series by Charlaine Harris and the basis for the HBO TV series <em>True Blood</em> – construct the Gothicised imageries of the American South as the terrain of confusing ambivalences; of glamour and exoticism, death and the uncanny. Informed by the discourses of tropicality, Tropical and Urban Gothic and exotic tourism – and the ways they interweave with the concept of Otherness – the paper seeks to illuminate the process of interrelating and consequently exoticising the figure of the Other and Southern sub-tropical land- and cityscapes. It also examines the tropes of urban interspecies relations articulated in the series as a metaphor for the Southern racial/ethnic heritage with its anxieties of miscegenation, transgression and “excessive” heterogeneity. A particular emphasis is placed on the accounts of New Orleans as the liminal space of cultural blending and touristic exploration of the figure of the Other.

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American Telefantasy: An Introduction

Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network ◽

10.31165/nk.2012.52.276 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Sophie Halliday ◽

Rhys Owain Thomas

Keyword(s):

Science Fiction ◽

Doctor Who ◽

Fair Share ◽

Buffy The Vampire Slayer ◽

Battlestar Galactica ◽

The Walking Dead ◽

Park Avenue ◽

General Capacity ◽

True Blood ◽

Horror Story

Television schedules are rife with Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. The re-launched Doctor Who and its prime-time Saturday night stablemate, Merlin spearhead the rise of contemporary British Telefantasy (Being Human, Misfits et al.). Meanwhile, their American equivalents attract audiences of millions, extensive media attention and, since Peter Dinklage’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning performance in Game of Thrones, widespread critical acclaim through mainstream industry awards. Histories of “quality” television are awash with examples of American Telefantasy that have left an indelible impression on popular cultural (and even socio-political) imaginaries; Star Trek, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, and Battlestar Galactica all being enduringly popular examples. As American television networks prepare to launch their all-important “Fall” schedules, ushering in a new year of programming, it is evident that Telefantasy will continue to garner its fair share of TV viewers’ attention – whether due to hotly-anticipated debuts (666 Park Avenue, Arrow, The Neighbors, Revolution), finales (Fringe), provocative content (American Horror Story, True Blood, The Walking Dead, or a general capacity to entertain, bewitch or amuse (Community), Falling Skies, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Supernatural).

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Neoliberal Gothic

Twenty-First-Century Gothic ◽

10.3366/edinburgh/9781474440929.003.0005 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 60-71

Author(s):

Linnie Blake

Keyword(s):

Popular Culture ◽

Beating Heart ◽

Cultural Work ◽

World War ◽

True Blood ◽

Geopolitical Context

This chapter engages with the geopolitical context of the Gothic’s migration from the periphery to the fast-beating heart of popular culture – specifically the rise to economic and cultural predominance of global neoliberalism. I contend that the Gothic texts of the neoliberal age can be seen to undertake the same kind of cultural work that was carried out by the Gothic mode in earlier periods of socio-economic turbulence. And, as in earlier periods, we can see a variety of ideological allegiances at play in Gothic texts of the neoliberal age – ranging from the revolutionary to the radical to the downright reactionary. The chapter ranges across texts and media including novels – i.e. Justin Cronin’s The Passage (2010), Hemlock Grove (2013–15), The Strain (2012–17), True Blood (2008–14), World War Z (2006) and In the Flesh (2013–14).

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Southern Gothic

American Gothic Culture ◽

10.3366/edinburgh/9781474401616.003.0005 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher Lloyd

Keyword(s):

Visual Media ◽

Southern Gothic ◽

True Blood ◽

History Of

This chapter examines the history of Southern Gothic through three recent media whose original visual imaginary delineates gothic aberrance. In the broad reach of visual media the Southern Gothic finds its most potent images and narratives. The film Trash Humpers (2009) demonstrates how the Southern Gothic story could not be told anywhere else; the TV series True Blood (2008-14) emphasizes sexuality and difference via its contemporary take on the regional genre; and the film Black Snake Moan (2006) ties these threads together through its long-standing gothic narrative of racial and sexual mores.

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