Deconstructing Gendered and Colonial Violence in the Re-Imagined Nineteenth-CenturyDomestic Traumas in Neo-Victorianism on Screen

Résumé

In this thesis, I examine the collapse of the idealised notion of the nuclear family in Western societies through the (mis)representation of gendered and colonial traumas in Neo-Victorianism on screen. In order to do so, I analyse four neo-Victorian screen texts produced in the last decade: Guillermo del Toro#s Crimson Peak (2015), Penny Dreadful (2014-2016), Taboo (2017-present) and Carnival Row (2019-present) through the theoretical framework of Trauma Studies. My starting hypotheses are (1) these neo-Victorian screen texts seemingly provide a feminist representation of gendered traumas within the confines of the nuclear family and their heroines successfully transgress Victorian gender conventions. (2) These heroines are eventually punished for their gender transgressions. Therefore, the creators of these screen texts display a postfeminist agenda to manipulate the audience into accepting anti-feminist representations and ideologies. Regarding the methodology of this thesis, I have carried out a cross-sectional or comparative examination of the screen works that make up my corpus of analysis #rather than studying them separately. Thus, the present thesis is structured in thematic chapters, with each of them being devoted to a specific aspect of gendered and colonial traumas in relation to the nuclear family. Chapter 1 presents the main objectives, methodology and structure of the thesis. Chapter 2 offers an overview of the field of neo-Victorianism, as well as about its synergy with the Gothic genre, both in literature and on screen. Chapter 3 introduces the main tenets of Trauma Studies and its applications to the fields of Cultural Studies and Neo-Victorianism. Chapter 4 examines the screen texts that conform my corpus of analysis from the perspective of Foucauldian heterotopias. Chapter 5 analyses the tropes of monstrous motherhood and absent fatherhood in Neo-Victorianism on screen. Chapter 6 scrutinizes the collapse of the neo-Victorian family through the incest plotline, particularly sibling incest and father-daughter incest. Chapter 7 examines the victim-perpetrator dichotomy in neo-Victorianism on screen, with a particular emphasis on the concept of perpetrator trauma. Chapter 8 gathers the main conclusions of this PhD thesis. First, even though these neo-Victorian screen texts seemingly give voice to historically marginalised subjects #such as women or colonial individuals#, they finally replicate their Victorian predecessors in uplifting white, male, upper-middle-class perpetrators. This contradictory ideology in neo-Victorianism on screen appears to be symptomatic of its postfeminist context of production. Finally, in this PhD thesis I argue that these ideological messages conveyed through popular culture should be considered dangerous for the feminist cause, as they might mislead women into believing that the patriarchal status quo is unsurmountable and that the feminist fight is no longer necessary