New forms,other bodies: Media,performative identity,and the reemergence of the American freak show.
详细信息
文摘
New Forms,Other Bodies: media,performative identity,and the reemergence of the American freak show traces how the American freak show,which lost its prominence as a premier form of American entertainment in the beginning of the 20th century,has reemerged in new forms which have altered the viewer-object dynamic in such a way that the bodies of "others" have simultaneously become both closer and further from those who view them. This project does not simply explore how the freak show has been transformed through the emergence of media,or ask why we stare at freakish bodies,but rather what these changes mean,and why and how the viewer stares at freakish bodies through specific media including film,television,and live performance. This dissertation proposes that each of these,in both unique and overlapping ways,is a platform for a new American freak show. Ultimately,New Forms,Other Bodies argues that the freak show has become disseminated throughout American popular culture as a result of the blending between born and made freakishness,viewer and object,and freak and non-freak.