English

Publication Date

4-29-2024

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Faculty Sponsor

Lisa Kasmer

First Advisor

Lisa Kasmer

Second Advisor

Dianne Berg

Major

English

Abstract

This paper examines the connection between the contemporary Gothic A Dowry of Blood and its literary predecessors, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Carmilla. Through a focus on queer bodies, this work demonstrates the evolution of queer lineage-making and responses to cisheterosexual threats. Using literature as a “mirror” to gaze back on the visceral fears held by those who fall outside the norms of gender and sexuality in their respective time periods, this work also examines social tensions in the 21st century surrounding reproduction and gender-affirming care.

In addition to literary analysis of the primary texts, this paper is heavily informed by queer theory—notably, the works of Jose Esteban Munoz and Jack Halberstam—as well as sociology and bioethics. Each of these aspects help shape the multi-layered conclusion that contemporary queer Gothic literature is shifting to approach the same scenarios as the classic Gothic, but from the position of the so-called “Gothic other” rather than the in-group which has defined this “other.” Moreover, we reach the conclusion that the queer may desire the uncanny—particularly the medical uncanny—more than fear it, as being perceived as uncanny means that one’s queerness is outwardly recognized. The inverse of this, however, is also true; the queer may also fear the cruelty that the uncanny individual is subject to.

Keywords

Gothic, Queer, Dracula, Uncanny, Medical, HRT, Transgender, Lesbian, Body

Worcester

No

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