Distorted screams, double lives: Autism and gothic horror cinema, 1931-1967

Lyon, Ethan James (2024) Distorted screams, double lives: Autism and gothic horror cinema, 1931-1967. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 213pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This thesis will explore how Gothic horror cinema from made in the UK and USA between 1931 and 1967 can provide a filmic expression of the lived experience of autism. Autism is a condition that historically has defied easy verbalisation due to the intensity of sensations experienced, which I consider in relation to the history of medicalised and normative claims about the condition propagated by neurotypical doctors and therapists as well as more broadly in social discourse. This thesis contends that the Gothic mode, with its emphasis on madness, the dangers of scientific advancement and emotional excess, provides a useful grammar for these experiences. Closely analysing ten films, this thesis will advance the concept of an Autistic reading; that is to say, a way of generating empathy in neurotypical audiences for the autistic experience by identifying visual expressions of what is otherwise hard to elucidate.

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Ethan Lyon Doctoral Thesis PDFA - Distorted screams, double lives: Autism and gothic horror cinema 1931-1967 - Version of Record

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