Horror Film and Affect: Towards a Corporeal Model of Viewership (Routledge Advances in Film Studies)

This book brings together various theoretical approaches to Horror that have received consistent academic attention since the 1990s – abjection, disgust, cognition, phenomenology, pain studies – to make a significant contribution to the study of fictional moving images of mutilation and the ways in which human bodies are affected by those on the screen on three levels: representationally, emotionally and somatically. Aldana Reyes reads Horror viewership as eminently carnal, and seeks to articulate the need for an alternative model that understands the experience of feeling under corporeal threat as the genre’s main descriptor. Using recent, post-millennial examples throughout, the book also offers case studies of key films such as Hostel, [REC] , Martyrs or Ginger Snaps , and considers contemporary Horror strands such as found footage or 3D Horror. This book brings together various theoretical approaches to Horror that have received consistent academic attention since the 1990s – abjection, disgust, cognition, phenomenology, pain studies – to make a significant contribution to the study of fictional moving images of mutilation and the ways in which human bodies are affected by those on the screen on three levels: representationally, emotionally and somatically. Aldana Reyes reads Horror viewership as eminently carnal, and seeks to articulate the need for an alternative model that understands the experience of feeling under corporeal threat as the genre’s main descriptor. Using recent, post-millennial examples throughout, the book also offers case studies of key films such as __[REC]____Martyrs__ __Ginger Snaps__ Bringing together various horror theories that have received consistent academic attention since the 1990s - abjection, disgust, cognition, phenomenology, pain studies - this book makes a significant contribution to the study of moving images of mutilation and the ways in which human bodies are affected by those on the screen on three levels: representationally, emotionally and somatically Representation: Abjection, Disgust And The (un)gendered Body -- Emotion: Cognition, Threat And Self-reflection -- Somatics: Startles, Somatic Empathy And Viewer Alignment -- Conclusion: The Relevance Of Emotion To An Affective-corporeal Model Of Horror. By Xavier Aldana Reyes. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Includes Filmographies. Dedication Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: The Affective-Corporeal Dimensions of Horror 1 Representation: Abjection, Disgust and the (Un)Gendered Body 2 Emotion: Cognition, Threat and Self-Reflection 3 Somatics: Startles, Somatic Empathy and Viewer Alignment Conclusion: Horror Film and Affect Index This book brings together three areas of study that have received consistent academic attention in recent years - affect theory, horror cinema, and performance studies - to make a significant contribution to the study of moving images of mutilation and audience reception.