THE GENDER ASPECT OF THE HORROR IN SWISS CINEMA OF THE 1980S.
Abstract
The focus of this article is on the phenomenon of the horror, in particular the gender aspect in Swiss horror films of the early 1980s. Initially, it points to the important role of research on the phenomenon of the horror in philosophy and psychology (Aristotle, Sigmund Freud, Martin Heidegger, Georges Bataille, Noel Carroll), as well as the depiction of the horror in world literature (Mykola Gogol, Edgar Allan Poe, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Stephen King) for visual art and human culture in general. Special attention is paid to the works on gender and horror in the publications of such outstanding thinkers as Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Judith Butler. The following are the latest works on gender and film studies in the global context, including publications by Barry Keith Grant, Adam Lowenstein, Catherine Shelton, Julian Sittel and others.
The main part of this article is devoted to Swiss cinema, in particular the gender aspect in Swiss horror films of the early 1980s. At the beginning, it provides a critical review of the main features of the development of cinema in Switzerland in general, as well as relevant studies on its history, in particular the works of Hermé Dumont, Martin Schlappner, Martin Schaub, Andrea Sailer, Thomas Schärer, and others. Next, the features of horror films in the history of Swiss cinema are briefly analyzed, in particular, the horror film “Strasek, der Vampir” (1982) is considered. However, the focus is on the Swiss horror film “Die schwarze Spinne / The Black Spider” (1983), which consists of conditional two parts, the action of which takes place in the present (early 1980s) and in the Middle Ages, respectively. Moreover, the second part of this film is based on the novel of the same name “Die schwarze Spinne / The Black Spider” (1842) by the famous Swiss writer Jeremias Gotthelf (1797–1854). As the analysis has shown, the authors of this film, the Swiss director Mark M. Rissi and the screenwriter Walther Kauer, as well as the musicians of the electro pop band “Yello” skillfully showed the manifestations of the phenomenon of the horror in objective reality and in historical and fantastic situations. Against this background, the film perfectly thematized both the problems of the Swiss youth subculture (drug addiction, gender violence, prostitution of schoolgirls) and socially important environmental issues (threat to the environment). In this context, an important role is played by the manifestations of the gender aspects of the horror, which in the film are demonstrated by the example of the wonderful performance of the main characters (Mesche, Schosy, Christine, etc.).
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References
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