Mainstream monsters : the otherness of humans in Twilight, the Vampire Diaries and True Blood

The representation of vampires in horror movies and television programmes has changed considerably over the last two decades. No longer is the vampire portrayed simply as a monster or representation of death. Now, the vampire on our screen such as True Blood’s Bill Compton, or Twilight’s Edward Cullen, passes as human, chooses to make morally sound decisions, becomes an upstanding assimilated citizen, works in the community, and aspires to be a husband to mortal women. The success of recent series such as The Twilight Saga (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), The Vampire Diaries (2009 - ) and True Blood (2008 - ) has popularised the idea of vampires who cling to remnants of their humanity (or memories of what it means to be human) and attempt to live as human, which builds upon similar – albeit embryonic – themes which emerged from the vampire sub-genre in the 1990s. Within these narratives, representations of the other have shifted from the traditional idea of the monster, to alternative and surprising loci. As this chapter argues, humans themselves, and the concept of the human body, now represent, in many instances, both abject and other. The chapter begins by considering the nature of the abject and otherness in relation to representations of classical vampires and how they have traditionally embodied the other. This provides a backdrop against which to examine the characteristics of the contemporary mainstreaming vampire ‘monster’. An examination of the broad thematic and representational shifts from other to mainstream vampire demonstrates how mainstream monsters are increasingly assimilating into mortal lifestyles with trappings that many viewers may find appealing. The same shifts in theme and representation also reveal that humans are frequently cast as mundane and unappealing in contemporary vampire narratives.

Rupturing otherness : becoming Estonian in the context of contemporary Britain

While identity construction continues to be a widely discussed and researched area in contemporary social sciences, the existing theories have overlooked the importance of understanding why and how identities as semiotic constructions emerge in individuals' consciousness in the flow of their everyday functioning. This article seeks to address this limitation in the theorizing by proposing an alternative conceptualization of identity, according to which identity construction is triggered by rupturing life-experience, which surfaces another perspective and makes the person aware of a possibility to be otherwise or of the reality of being different. Theoretical claims put forward in the paper are drawn from data gathered in a recent study, which explored lived-through experiences of young Estonians, who made study-visits to the United Kingdom. The discussed data will also highlight some interesting aspects in Estonians' self-definition as it is constructed in relation to Eastern-European identity in the context of contemporary Britain.

The Broken "I" : fragmentation of self and otherness in modern urban narratives

Ce mémoire mélange théorie et fiction pour explorer la technique narrative du “nous” performatif. Le premier chapitre démontre le role du discours dans le processus de formation d’identité, pour éventuellement démontrer que la nature performative du langage est responsable de la creation des constructions sociales du soi et de l’autre. En étudiant les failles de ce système, cet essai tentera de créer une entité narrative libre de ces contraintes. Un second chapitre théorique, après des exemples de fiction, se penchera sur l’entité narrative du flâneur, qui à travers sa relation intime avec la cité, souligne une dichotomie présente dans la relation entre le soi et l’autre. Le flâneur emergera comme un site de traduction dans lequel le “nous” performatif peut prendre action. Toutefois, les limites du flâneur en tant qu’outil narratif l’empêchera d’être la representation ultime de cette dichotomie. Après d’autres exemples de fiction, un troisième chapitre combinera ce qui aura été apprit dans les chapitres précédents pour démontrer que le “nous” performatif et sa dissolution du “je” et du “tu” mène à une narration qui est responsable, consciente d’elle-même et représentative de la réalité urbaine moderne et ses effets sur la création de l’identité.

Science, gender and otherness in Shelley's Frankenstein and Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation

Questions of gender and genre in Frankenstein remain complex issues for contemporary critics, in the novel itself as well as in its cinematographic adaptations, from John Whale's classic 1931 version to Kenneth Branagh's 1994 "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." Though science seems to be the unifying principle behind the main story of the novel and the films, I will argue that Shelley incorporates science and sexual orientation within her novel in a way that differs significantly from the films, and especially from Branagh's version.

Amerindian anthropology and cultural psychology: Crossing boundaries and meeting otherness` worlds

Addressing integrative possibilities between psychology and anthropology, this paper aims to design conceptual linkages between semiotic-cultural constructivist psychology and the anthropological theory of Amerindian perspectivism. From the psychological view, it is the interdependence between the structural and processual dimensions of the personal culture that makes parallels with Amerindian perspectivism fruitful. This anthropological frame proposes an experiment with native conceptions, which I argue similar to what Baldwin (1906) called sembling. Hence, it can be considered an active imitation of otherness` viewpoint in order to approach indigenous worlds. It is supposed that this procedure leads to the emergence of new symbolic elements configuring the cultural action field of each agency in interaction. It is proposed that ""making-believe`` the Amerindian is convergent with the dialogic-hermeneutic approach of semiotic-cultural constructivism. As a result of the present integrative effort, is designed a meta-model that multiplies the genetic process of concrete symbolic objects.