I don't know who I am if I am not burning: racialized trauma and affect theory in constructing an alternative final girl

Khosa, Simi (2020) I don't know who I am if I am not burning: racialized trauma and affect theory in constructing an alternative final girl. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The slasher film has been entertaining (and scaring) audiences for decades. In a typical slasher film, a (usually) masked murderer stalks, torments, and murders young women over the course of a night. Only one survives the carnage - she is the “final girl.” But who gets to be the final girl? What about her identity grants her the privilege of survival? In this project, I discuss and broaden the scope of the white, middle class, straight “final girl” trope in horror through an intersectional analysis directed by affect theory. I take the reader through the planning of my short film and discuss it in relation to the established library of slasher flicks. I will move the relevance of these films beyond gender to consider how race is fundamental to understanding how a “new final girl” represents the aftermath of trauma in contemporary Western subjects.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
URI: http://research.library.mun.ca/id/eprint/15057
Item ID: 15057
Additional Information: Includes bibliographical references (pages 105-114).
Keywords: Horror, Film, Affect Theory, Trauma, Race, Slasher, Gender Studies, Final Girl
Department(s): Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of > Gender Studies
Date: November 2020
Date Type: Submission
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.48336/295R-ZH93
Library of Congress Subject Heading: Slasher films--History and criticism; Feminist film criticism.

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