Aesthetics of Horror

This dissertation explores the various elements that
produce the horror effects in film, and the pleasure
that is associated with them. The aesthetics of
horror is also a critical area discussed while the
sources of horror, such as the sublime, the
grotesque, and montage, are examineed. In Chapter 1,
based on Edmund Burke s work on the sublime and the
beautiful, several sources of the sublime, such as
astonishment, obscurity, power, privation, vastness,
infinity, light and darkness, suddenness of sound
and ugliness, are examined for their effectiveness
in evoking horror. Chapter 2 deals with horror
generated by grotesque imagery, using Mikhail
Bakhtin s writings on the Rabelaisian imagery. The
grotesque bodies discussed in this chapter are
giants, fantastical human beings, oaths, curses and
abusive expressions, carnivalesque and epic
grotesque anatomy. The paradoxical nature of the
grotesque will also be examined to explain how it
appeals and repels at the same time. The last
chapter proposes that, since horror has a rigid
narrative structure, montage is thus an effective
technique in evoking filmic horror.

Autorentext
Danny is currently teaching at the School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore. His primary research interest is in horror films. As part of his completion of a PhD degree at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, he is working on a dissertation, "The Culture-Specificity of Horror in Asian Horror Cinema."

Klappentext
This dissertation explores the various elements that produce the horror effects in film, and the pleasure that is associated with them. The aesthetics of horror is also a critical area discussed while the sources of horror, such as the sublime, the grotesque, and montage, are examineed. In Chapter 1, based on Edmund Burke's work on the sublime and the beautiful, several sources of the sublime, such as astonishment, obscurity, power, privation, vastness, infinity, light and darkness, suddenness of sound and ugliness, are examined for their effectiveness in evoking horror. Chapter 2 deals with horror generated by grotesque imagery, using Mikhail Bakhtin's writings on the Rabelaisian imagery. The grotesque bodies discussed in this chapter are giants, fantastical human beings, oaths, curses and abusive expressions, carnivalesque and epic grotesque anatomy. The paradoxical nature of the grotesque will also be examined to explain how it appeals and repels at the same time. The last chapter proposes that, since horror has a rigid narrative structure, montage is thus an effective technique in evoking filmic horror.