Agency in the Ricean Vampire's Compulsion to Feed

IF 0.1 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Preternature-Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural Pub Date : 2020-02-18 DOI:10.5325/preternature.9.1.0097

Laura Davidel

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Abstract

abstract:This essay aims to provide a conceptualization of monstrosity in the case of Anne Rice's vampire archetype, not as effaced or eroded by humanity but performed under the pressure of a so-called morality compass. Through the treatment of agency in contrast with a determinist compulsive thirst, we can understand the vampire as a social creature that needs humanity both as an antithetical point of reference for its otherness, and as a goal in order to achieve reaggregation in the mortal world. By relying on Judith Butler's model of agency presented in her theories of gender identity as performative, on Sigmund Freud's theories regarding the compulsion to repeat, and finally on Brooke Kroeger's concept of passing, I propose an analysis of Rice's vampires as creatures endowed with an agentic power that stems from the struggle of performing the compulsive monstrous acts in a way that would somehow appease their guilty consciousness. I will explore the various modes in which vampires present their agentic power, namely the alternative modes of feeding, the choice of humans to transform, or the vampires' struggle to pass for humans as acts that, although monstrous, bypass the vampires' moral compass.

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在非洲吸血鬼的强迫进食的机构

本文旨在以安妮·赖斯的吸血鬼原型为例，提供一个怪物的概念，不是被人性抹去或侵蚀，而是在所谓的道德指南针的压力下表现出来的。通过对代理的处理与决定论的强迫性口渴的对比，我们可以理解吸血鬼是一种社会生物，它需要人类作为其差异性的对立参考点，并作为在凡人世界中实现重新聚合的目标。根据朱迪思·巴特勒(Judith Butler)在她的性别认同理论中提出的代理模型，西格蒙德·弗洛伊德(Sigmund Freud)关于强迫性重复的理论，最后是布鲁克·克罗格(Brooke Kroeger)的传递概念，我提出了一种分析，认为赖斯笔下的吸血鬼是一种被赋予代理力量的生物，这种力量来自于以某种方式平息他们罪恶意识的方式进行强迫性怪物行为的斗争。我将探索吸血鬼展现其代理力量的各种模式，即喂养的替代模式，人类转化的选择，或者吸血鬼努力冒充人类的行为，尽管是可怕的，但绕过了吸血鬼的道德指南针。

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来源期刊

Preternature-Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

0.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Preternature provides an interdisciplinary, inclusive forum for the study of topics that stand in the liminal space between the known world and the inexplicable. The journal embraces a broad and dynamic definition of the preternatural that encompasses the weird and uncanny—magic, witchcraft, spiritualism, occultism, esotericism, demonology, monstrophy, and more, recognizing that the areas of magic, religion, and science are fluid and that their intersections should continue to be explored, contextualized, and challenged.