Illness Metaphors: An Analysis of Illness Metaphors in Popular Fantasy Literature
Author
Engmark, Nicolai
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2024
Submitted on
2024-10-10
Pages
45
Abstract
This thesis examines how illness metaphors in popular fantasy are used to reflect and negotiate social and moral concerns, focusing on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stephenie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga, and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Using a comparative textual analysis informed by metaphor theory (notably David Punter) and Susan Sontag’s work on illness metaphors, and contextualized by scholarship on stigma (Parker & Aggleton), Victorian social norms, the female gaze, and the Medusa motif, the study centers on social deviance, female domesticity, the female gaze, and constructions of evil. The analysis evaluates whether illness operates as the tenor, the vehicle, or both. Findings indicate that, in Dracula, vampirism can be read as a metaphor for venereal disease and for social deviance in the late Victorian context, while the narrative reinforces female domesticity. In The Twilight Saga, Bella Swan is interpreted as a figure of the female gaze; the Cullens’ familial bonds foreground love despite flaws, the Volturi embody a strictly patriarchal self-preserving regime, and Bella’s transformation (via the Medusa trope) grants her significant power. In Harry Potter, Voldemort’s Horcruxes and bodily deterioration exemplify illness used as a vehicle in metaphors of evil, and lycanthropy can be read as a metaphor for HIV and its surrounding stigma. Overall, the thesis shows that illness metaphors crystallize context-specific anxieties and are often used adjectivally to mark malevolence.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan sygdomsmetaforer bruges i populær fantasy til at afspejle og forhandle samtidige sociale og moralske problemstillinger, med særligt fokus på Bram Stokers Dracula, Stephenie Meyers The Twilight Saga og J. K. Rowlings Harry Potter-serie. Gennem en komparativ tekstanalyse, informeret af metaforteori (bl.a. David Punter) og Susan Sontags arbejde om sygdomsmetaforer, samt kontekstualiseret af viden om stigma (Parker & Aggleton), victorianske normer, kvindeblikket og Medusa-motivet, undersøges centrale temaer: social afvigelse, kvindelig domesticitet, det kvindelige blik og konstruktioner af ondskab. Analysen vurderer, om sygdom fungerer som det beskrevne (tenor), som billedet (vehicle) eller begge dele. Fundene peger på, at vampyrisme i Dracula kan læses som en metafor for kønssygdomme og for social afvigelse i sen-victoriansk tid, samtidig med at romanen forstærker forestillingen om kvindelig domesticitet. I The Twilight Saga læses Bella Swan som en metafor for det kvindelige blik; Cullens’ familiebånd iscenesætter kærlighed på trods af karakterbrister, mens Volturi repræsenterer et strengt patriarkalsk regimes selvopretholdelse, og Bellas forvandling (med brug af Medusa-topos) tildeler hende betydelig handlekraft. I Harry Potter viser Voldemorts Horcruxer og fysiske forfald en brug af sygdom som vehicle i metaforer for ondskab, og lykanthropi kan tolkes som en metafor for hiv og den tilhørende stigmatisering. Samlet viser afhandlingen, at sygdomsmetaforer bruges til at tydeliggøre kontekstspecifikke samfundsangste og ofte fungerer adjektivisk som markører for malevolens.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]