Possessed Child Narratives in Literature and Film : Contrary States

This book undertakes a study of the trope of possessed child in literature and film. It argues that the possessed child is fundamentally an American phenomenon which, first, may be traced to the Calvinist bias of the US as a nation founded on Puritanism and, second, to the rise of Catholicism in that country, to which Puritanism owes its origins. The possessed child made a spectacular impact in the 1970s with The Exorcist, which was a literary, cinematic, cultural and social phenomenon. The book and film helped spawn an entire generation of possessed youngsters throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In the first full-length study of this image, Adrian Schober argues that the possessed child is first and foremost an American phenomenon that may be traced to certain religious and cultural factors in the United States. In this thought-provoking analysis of the shifting cultural perceptions of the 'good' and 'evil' child, Schober revisits such American classics as The Scarlet Letter and The Turn of the Screw, while examining its more contemporary face in books and films such as The Exorcist and E.T. He compares these American representations with those from other national contexts, as well as its treatment in the field of children's literature. The book adopts a unique interdisciplinary approach, which offers new insights by examining the possessed child trope within a broad historical and cultural perspective Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-37 The New England Connection....Pages 38-62 God is Dead....Pages 63-86 East Meets West....Pages 87-109 Culture Shock....Pages 110-133 For Children Only?....Pages 134-163 Conclusion....Pages 164-173 Back Matter....Pages 174-206