The Decaying Female Body in Horror Cinema with Mary Wild
Sunday, August 20
2 pm ET
Relying on Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, this talk investigates representations of decaying female bodies in cinema. Kristeva defines horror as a breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of boundaries between self and other. The abject disturbs identity, borders and rules – horror films portraying unclean and taboo elements of womanhood reveal the entwined dual system of Eros (beauty, fertility, youth) and Thanatos (disease, destruction, death).
Films discussed: Braindead (1992) dir. Peter Jackson; Contracted (2013) dir. Eric England; Eat (2014) dir. Jimmy Weber
Mary Wild is the creator of the PROJECTIONS lecture series at Freud Museum London. She co-hosts the Projections Podcast, contributes to The Evolution of Horror Podcast, and creates exclusive content on Patreon. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @psycstar.
The Psychoanalysis, Art & the Occult series of events, curated by Dr. Vanessa Sinclair and Carl Abrahamsson, is dedicated to exploring the intersections and integration of psychoanalytic theory, the creative arts, occult practices, and folk magic traditions. By inviting psychoanalysts, philosophers, artists, writers, and occult practitioners from a variety of theoretical orientations and worldviews to discuss their work, personal experiences, and areas of research interest with one another, dialogue is opened up between practitioners in fields of study that traditionally rarely engage with one another though often operate in similar and complementary ways. Join them at Patreon! www.Patreon.com/vanessa23carl