The literary purpose of a revenant : what are the effects of hauntings within horror novels?

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate revenants as literary characters and how they interact with mortals, not just in terms of communication but also how they affect individuals’ lives and how they influence the future. I shall also be investigating what revenants are capable of accomplishing as immortal beings that mortal characters are unable to. In order to accomplish this feat, I have selected three theoretical studies: hauntology, spectrality and the uncanny, which I shall be applying to four case studies. The first chapter will offer an in-depth discussion on the three theoretical studies chosen, explaining the concept of each theory in detail in order to pave the way to chapters two and three. These two chapters will delve into the application of theory on the four selected case studies: Stevenson’s Thrawn Janet, King’s IT, James’s The Turn of the Screw and Morrison’s Beloved. Chapter two will focus on the concepts of space and time in terms of three points: how revenants from the past affect the present and future; the haunted house feature within horror literature; and Freud’s theory on the primitive belief that the deceased become enemies of the living. Chapter three will be focusing on hauntology and the paradoxical nature of being of a revenant; the communication between revenants and mortals and what secrets the former may reveal; and a revenant’s unfinished business including how this obstructs their path to the afterlife. Finally, the conclusion will bring together the research and findings explored throughout this dissertation.