'THE GREAT GOOD PLACE' NO MORE? INTEGRATING AND DISMANTLING OPPOSITIONAL DISCOURSE IN SOME RECENT EXAMPLES OF SERIAL KILLER FICTION.

SERIAL murderers in literature; SERIAL murderers in motion pictures; MYSTERY fiction; GOTHIC fiction (Literary genre); DISCOURSE; AUDEN, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973; SE7EN (Film); SILENCE of the Lambs, The (Film); JUST Cause (Film); TOOTH & Nail (Book); MERMAIDS Singing, The (Book); EXQUISITE Corpse (Book)

Serial killer narratives delight in portraying a gothic social landscape of pervasive and endemic crime, violence and evil in a postmodern context of apathy, indifference and institutional incompetence. In this paper I analyse the extent of the critique of contemporary society in this popular genre. Using some recent examples of serial killer narratives -- both novels and films -- as case studies, I argue that, even though they accommodate a discourse that jeopardises the comfortable imagining in detective fictions of an innocent society threatened by occasional crime, serial killer narratives ultimately endorse the status quo and the state apparatuses that regulate it and guarantee its preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Atlantis (0210-6124) is the property of Departament de Llengues i Literatures Modernes i d'Estudis Anglesos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)