Author: Academia.edu

Abstract: »This thesis explores the representation of rape in two successful cable horror programs, FX’s American Horror Story (FX, 2011-) and AMC’s The Walking Dead (AMC, 2010-). I first offer a contextual analysis of the American television industry, focusing on the economic specificities of cable television and the brand identities of FX and AMC networks. I argue that the building of a quality brand within the contemporary television industry demands the valuation of controversial and edgy content, which includes sexual violence. Next, I engage in a textual analysis of American Horror Story: Coven and the fifth season of The Walking Dead. Drawing on narrative theory and film theory on horror, I look critically at the construction of the rape narratives, their visual representation, and their relationship to the conventions and expectations of the horror genre. Overall, this thesis considers how AHS and TWD relate to rape culture, both as products of a particular industrial context that values rape as controversial—yet desirable—content and as texts that depict rape. While both programs articulate feminist understandings of rape, they also include patriarchal and postfeminist discourses. Moreover, through different representational strategies, both programs represent rape as horror. TWD resists portraying literal rape and thus denies any pleasure in watching rape, whereas AHS incorporates rape into spectacles of violence. By aestheticizing and commodifying rape, AHS represents a tension between challenging rape culture and reaffirming it. (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Introduction Feminism, Rape, and Television in Popular Culture(p. 1)
		Redefining Rape: Feminism and Sexual Violence (p. 5)
		Studying Rape on Television: Methodological Approach and Chapter Breakdown (p. 13)
	Chapter 1 Reading Rape: Rape in Feminist Film and Television Scholarship (p. 17)
		(Post)Feminism, Masculinity, and Rape Narratives on Film and Television (p. 19)
		Horror and Rape-Revenge in Film (p. 28)
		Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Rape Narratives (p. 30)
	Chapter 2 Cable, Controversy, and Quality: The Emergence of Cable Television (p. 35)
		Television in the Network Era and Multi-Channel Transition (p. 36)
		HBO, Branding, and the Quality Television Debates (p. 40)
		AMC, FX, and the Building of Quality Brands (p. 45)
	Chapter 3 Rape as Horror in American Horror Story: Coven and The Walking Dead (p. 49)
		American Horror Story: Coven (p. 50)
		The Walking Dead (p. 59)
		Representing Rape: Horror and Spectacles of (Sexual) Violence (p. 68)
	Conclusion Watching Rape, Branding Rape: Quality Television and Contemporary Rape Culture (p. 74)
	Works Cited (p. 79)
	Episodes Cited (p. 86)
	Film and Television Titles (p. 87)

Wikipedia: History of the Americas: History of the United States | Television: American drama television series / American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven | Television: American drama television series / The Walking Dead (TV series) | The Walking Dead (TV series), No Sanctuary (The Walking Dead), Slabtown (The Walking Dead) | Sex and the law: Rape