Girls in Contemporary Vampire Fiction

ISBN-13: 9783030717438 / Angielski / Twarda / 2021 / 277 str.

Agnieszka Stasiewicz-Bieńkowska

Recenzje

"In this monograph, Agnieszka Stasiewicz-Bienkowska recounts the rise of YA vampire fiction, paying particular attention to the female readership ... . Girls in Contemporary Vampire Fiction is meticulously researched, showing a considerable acquaintance with relevant secondary material ... . It performs close readings of the chosen texts, where other books of this kind are often more perfunctory. ... Girls in Contemporary Vampire Fiction is an excellent addition to the growing criticism on YA Gothic literature." (Bill Hughes, The International Journal of Young Adult Literature, ijyal.ac.uk, Vol. 3 (1), November 2, 2022)

"Meticulously researched and logically organizer, Girls in Contemporary Vampire Fiction by Agnieszka Stasiewicz-Bienkowska (2021) is a comprehensive tool for any researcher who wished to delve deeper into the young adult paranormal narratives which have gained tremendous popularity in recent decades. ... this volume brings valuable and topical research in several fields of study ... ." (Anda Dimitriu, Gender Studies, Vol. 20 (1), 2021)

Spis treści

1. Chapter 1 Introduction: Vampire Fiction, Girls and Shame

2. Chapter 2 Writing (on) Girls’ Bodies: Vampires and Embodied Girlhood

2.1 The Markings of the Vampiric Body

2.2 Such Hot Fangs! Vampirism and Beauty

2.3 You Don’t See Fat Vamps: The Meanings of Body Size

2.4 No One Mourns the Ugly: Beauty, Style and Belonging 

2.5 Velvet! Platinum! Pearls! Vampire Girls as Consumers

2.6 The Magic of Makeover: Style as Oppression and Resistance

2.7 Conclusion

3. Chapter 3 A Love So Strong That It Aches: (Re-)Writing Vampire Romance

3.1 Mates, Consorts, Oath-Bound Warriors: House of Night and Polyandry 

3.2 The Truest of True Loves: Soul Mates and Enchanted Bonds

3.3 Tying the Knot: Love, Marriage and Power

3.4 The Lovely Bliss of Her Bite: Vampires and Same-Sex Romance

3.5 Conclusion

4. Chapter 4 Pangs of Pleasure, Pangs of Guilt: Girls, Sexuality and Desire

4.1 It Tasted Like Liquid Desire: Virginity, Blood Consumption and Sexual Awakening 

4.2 Didn’t the Earth Move or the Planets Align? The Tales of the “First Time”

4.3 A Bloodlust-filled, Hornie Freak: Slut Shaming and “Excessive” Desire

4.4 Blood Whoring, Female Virtue and Defensive Othering

4.5 Conclusion

5. Chapter 5 Save Your Butt from Getting Raped: Girls, Vampires, Violence

5.1 No Anger and No Condemnation: Vampires and Romanticised Abuse 

5.2 A Questioning Touch of Teeth: Violence and Consent in House of Night and Vampire Academy

5.3. A Monster Abused Me: Narrating Rape and Rape-Revenge

5.4 Black. Angry. Merciless: Girls’ Violence and (Self-)Defence

5.5. Conclusion

6. Chapter 6 Biting into Books: Supernatural Schoolgirls and Academic Performance

6.1 Heaps of Awesome Classes: The Unique Education of the House of Night 

6.2 Slamming the Math Book Shut: Supernatural Girls and STEM Education

6.3 Miss (Im)Perfect Schoolgirl: Girls and Academic (Dis)Engagement

6.4 Too Smart? Academic Excellence and Popular Femininity

6.5 Conclusion

7. Conclusion 

O autorze

Agnieszka Stasiewicz-Bieńkowska is Researcher and Lecturer at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Her academic interests comprise girlhood, YA culture, gender representations, vampire fiction, and the fantastic. Her recent publications include “Female agency and desire in the universes of Sookie Stackhouse” Continuum 33.2 (2019) and Hospitality, Rape and Consent in Vampire Popular Culture (Palgrave Macmillan 2017), co-edited with Stephanie Green and David Baker.

Blurb

This book explores the narratives of girlhood in contemporary YA vampire fiction, bringing into the spotlight the genre’s radical, ambivalent, and contradictory visions of young femininity. Agnieszka Stasiewicz-Bieńkowska considers less-explored popular vampire series for girls, particularly those by P.C. and Kristin Cast and Richelle Mead, tracing the ways in which they engage in larger cultural conversations on girlhood in the Western world. Mapping the interactions between girl and vampire corporealities, delving into the unconventional tales of vampire romance and girl sexual expressions, examining the narratives of women and violence, and venturing into the uncanny vampire classroom to unmask its critique of present-day schooling, the volume offers a new perspective on the vampire genre and an engaging insight into the complexities of growing up a girl.