The Supernatural Media Virus: Virus Anxiety In Gothic Fiction Since 1990

291 Pages·2021·4.109 MB·English

by  Rahel Sixta Schmitz

Rahel Sixta Schmitz
The Supernatural Media Virus
Contemporary Literature | Volume 4
Rahel Sixta Schmitz, born in 1991, earned her doctorate in cultural studies at the
Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany in 2020. Her research focuses on
Gothic fiction across all narrative media, especially Gothic in the late twentieth
and twenty-first century.
Rahel Sixta Schmitz
The Supernatural Media Virus
Virus Anxiety in Gothic Fiction Since 1990
Zgl. Dissertation an der JLU Gießen, Fachbereich 05 – Sprache, Literatur, Kultur.
Gießen, 2020.
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First published in 2021 by transcript Verlag, Bielefeld
© Rahel Sixta Schmitz
Cover layout: Berit Beckers
Cover illustration: Berit Beckers Proofread: Dr. Sean O'Dubhghaill
Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar
Print-ISBN 978-3-8376-5559-9
PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-5559-3
https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839455593
ISSN of series: 2701-9470
eISSN of series: 2703-0474
Printed on permanent acid-free text paper.
Contents
Acknowledgments............................................................9
Introduction:TheAgeofVirusAnxiety...................................... 11
1. TheVirus,theNetwork,andtheSupernaturalMediaVirus............ 39
1.1 TheoriesofMetaphor.................................................. 39
1.2 TheViralMetaphor:TheSpreadoftheVirusAcrossDisciplines......... 44
1.3 TheUbiquityoftheNetworkMetaphorandtheEmergenceof
theNetworkSociety................................................... 59
1.4 TheVirusintheNetworkSociety:TheSupernaturalMedia
VirusasaGothicTrope................................................ 72
2. GhostwatchandtheAdventoftheNetworkSociety................... 83
2.1 TheGhostStoryasaCritiqueofSocietyanditsMedia.................. 83
2.2 BlurringFactandFiction:UncannyMassMedia......................... 88
2.3 GothicConventionsinTimesofIncreasingInterconnection.............104
3. HouseofLeaves,theNetworkParadigm,andtheAbstract
SupernaturalMediaVirus.............................................115
3.1 Lostinthe(Textual)Labyrinth:TheMultimodalTransmedia
Narrative .............................................................115
3.2 Alienation,Homelessness,andtheInstabilityoftheText................124
3.3 TheSupernaturalMediaVirusasInherentNetworkAccident............142
4. TheMoralDimensionoftheSupernaturalMediaVirusintheRing
Franchise.............................................................155
4.1 RingasaCross-CulturalExampleoftheSupernaturalMediaVirus.......155
4.2 JapaneseHorrorTraditions:TheKaidanandGlobalgothic...............161
4.3 TheMetropolisasaFigurationoftheNetworkSociety..................169
4.4 TheEvolutionofRing’sViralVector:TheMedia’sMoralDilemma.........186
5. TheDigitalSupernaturalMediaVirusandtheNetworkApocalypsein
KairoandPulse......................................................205
5.1 MediaAnxietyin21stCenturyDigitalGothic............................205
5.2 Disconnection,Disintegration,Disembodiment:TheHuman
IndividualintheDigitalizedNetworkSociety ........................... 211
5.3 PermanentSurveillanceandNetworkedGhosts:
DigitalMediaasViralVectors.........................................235
Conclusions:FutureMutationsoftheSupernaturalMediaVirus........... 249
Bibliography...............................................................269
Film,Television,andWebSeries............................................269
VideoGames................................................................271
AudioWorks ................................................................271
Literature.................................................................. 272
List of Figures
Fig.2.1TheGothicizedBBCstudio........................................... 89
Fig.2.2Thermalimagingcamera............................................ 98
Fig.2.3Apeekinto“Ghostwatch”’son-locationoutsidebroadcasting
(OB)truck................................................................... 99
Fig.2.4Reel-to-reeltapemachineattheBBCstudio.........................100
Fig.2.5Videowallandmobiletelevisionsetwithlightpen...................100
Fig.2.6Glitchesdisruptingthebroadcastasthemanifestationsat
thehouseincreaseuntil…...................................................107
Fig.2.7…thetelevisionsignalcollapsescompletely..........................108
Fig.3.1Thenovel’seditionnotice............................................122
Fig.3.2Threesetsofcompetingfootnotes ..................................126
Fig.3.3Navidsonatthebottomofthestairwell…........................... 130
Fig.3.4…andRestonatthetop .............................................131
Fig.3.5Illegibletextasevolution............................................148
Fig.4.1Foreshadowingattheendof“Ringu” ................................. 171
Fig.4.2Deletedscenefrom“TheRing”.......................................173
Fig.4.3Close-upofthevideotape...........................................173
Fig.4.4Disorientingshotofhighrises.......................................180
Fig.4.5Rachelstepsoutontoherbalcony...................................180
Fig.4.6Rachelgazesintoapartmentsinneighboringbuildings...............181
Fig.4.7Thecamerapansfromonewindowtothenext….....................181
Fig.4.8…displayingthephysicalproximityoftheinhabitants................182
Fig.4.9Rachelaspartoftheovercrowded,fragmentedmetropolis...........182
Fig.4.10MultipleSadakosinashopwindowatanelectronicsretailer.........193
Fig.4.11TruckwithLCDscreenassymbolofthemediasaturatedworld.......193
Fig.4.12Corruptedparatext.................................................196
8 TheSupernaturalMediaVirus:VirusAnxietyinGothicFictionSince1990
Fig.4.13Samara’sappearancetwiceremovedfromreality....................201
Fig.5.1One(techno-)ghostoccupyingmultiplelocationssimultaneously......218
Fig.5.2Michialoneonthebus..............................................220
Fig.5.3Michi,gettingoffthebus,isalmostindiscernible ...................220
Fig.5.4GeometricalpatternsdominateKurosawa’sdetachedstyle ...........221
Fig.5.5Thesupernaturalmediavirusleavesvisibletraces…................ 227
Fig.5.6…turningtheskinofitsvictimsaninkyblackcolor.................228
Fig.5.7Theopeningcreditsof“Pulse”juxtaposeimages…..................230
Fig.5.8…ofanimatedepidemiologicalmaps…..............................230
Fig.5.9…anddiversedigitaltechnologies...................................231
Fig.5.10Leafletwithsafetyinstructions....................................234
Fig.5.11Multiplepagesformingasingleimage..............................239
Fig.5.12Afeelingofsurveillancepervades“Kairo,”evokedbylongshots… .. 242
Fig.5.13…andobstructed,distortedperspectives...........................243
Fig. 5.14 Obstructed perspectives remain a common feature
throughout“Kairo” .........................................................243
Fig.5.15Bird’s-eyeviewofthecampus ..................................... 244
Fig.5.16Camerapositionchangesbetweensuchsurveillanceshots.........245
Acknowledgments
Writing this book has been an incredible journey, one that has been
supportedbymanypeople.ItiswithgreatpleasurethatIacknowledge
those people, communities, and institutions that made it possible to
make this project happen.I have been fortunate enough to find very
manypassionateandgeneroussupporterswhohaveaidedmeduring
my struggles and who challenged me to consider the questions that
reside at the heart of this book even more deeply.I can only express
afractionofthegratitudeIholdwiththesewords.
I would like to thank the International Graduate Centre for the
StudyofCulture(GCSC)aswellastheInternationalPhDProgramme
“Literary and Cultural Studies”(IPP) in Gießen,Germany for the fel-
lowship support that gave me the time and resources I required to
workonthedoctoralthesisthatformedthebasisforthisbook.Iwould
alsoliketoextendspecialthankstomysupervisors,AnsgarNünning
andMichaelNewton,fortheirconstructive,helpfuladvice.Theyhave
been instrumental in shaping my ideas and in conceptualizing my
argument.Withouttheiraid,Inevercouldhaveexploredtheuncanny
depthsofGothicfictionasIhave.
Ihavebeenespeciallyfortunateinhavingreceivedassistancefrom
avarietyofinspiringresearchers:StephanieLotzow,MelissaKaufler,
GretaOlson,TeonaMicevska,MicheleBrittany,NicholasDiak,andes-
sentiallytheentireworkinggroup“AGGameStudies”ofJustusLiebig
University–theyhaveallbeenvaluableinterlocutors.Thisbookisbet-
terbecauseoftheirinspiringcommentaryandchallengingquestions.I
amparticularlygratefultoMadelineKienzle,whodidmethehonorof