12021-03-19T01:13:48+00:00Halen Giffordab5ea7ed8de6ef3e07ee088ad354a6081f1e9a3f85Chapter I: Introductionplain2021-04-01T15:44:06+00:00Halen Giffordab5ea7ed8de6ef3e07ee088ad354a6081f1e9a3fPrior to my literature review and analysis, there are a few key terms that need to be defined. The first is “gothic.” Gothic is a term that has been applied to many cultural products such as art, architecture, music, fashion, and literature (Hubner 43). For the purpose of this study, the term gothic will be used to describe the subgenre of horror films that have been directly influenced by early gothic romanticism in 18th and 19th-century fiction novels. The second term that needs defining is intertextuality. Intertextuality describes the dialogue films and consumers have with previous pieces of media. Films exist among a history of other films that utilize the same tropes, narratives, and themes. Particularly within a genre, movies comment on and are shaped by those that came before them. This occurs because filmmakers are also audience members who interpret and represent the content they consume and produce (Friedman et al. 8-10). I will be using intertextuality to demonstrate how The Babadook (2014), Crimson Peak (2015), and The Invitation are adapted from previous iterations of the gothic horror genre. The last term is iconography, which describes recurring images and symbols within a genre that hold certain meanings or importance. The repetition of visual tropes in a genre is described as iconography (Bordwell et al. 332). I will use iconographic examples to connect my selected films to the gothic horror genre. In the next section, I will describe my methodology for analyzing the films The Babadook, Crimson Peak, and The Invitation.
