"There is no real me": An analysis of Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho as a social critique
Author
Kastrupsen, Mette Timmy Dahl
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2020
Abstract
This thesis examines how Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991) operates as a critique of American late-capitalist consumer culture. Through close reading informed by theories that trace parallels between the Gothic and postmodernism, scholarship on the serial killer narrative (including the so-called 'wilding' serial killer), and studies of narrative unreliability, it analyzes the novel’s settings, characters, tonal shifts, and genre play. The analysis finds that American Psycho mobilizes a postmodern Gothic atmosphere of uncertainty and a Gothic villain figure to expose greed, narcissism, and moral emptiness; it juxtaposes parody and horror to unsettle readers at multiple levels. The novel depicts a society organized around wealth, prestige, and material goods, in which a figure like Patrick Bateman seeks control and power through violence. The serial killer frame is used to indict a system that enables him to murder, torture, and remain unpunished, while pervasive unreliability reinforces the critique. Ultimately, the thesis argues that Bateman is emblematic of the society’s core ideals, and that such a culture helps produce violent actors who blend in, stay undetected, and evade consequences.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho (1991) fungerer som en kritik af det amerikanske, senkapitalistiske forbrugersamfund. Gennem nærlæsning informeret af teorier om paralleller mellem gotik og postmodernisme, forskning i seriemorderfortællingens konventioner (herunder den såkaldte 'wilding'-seriemorder) og studier af narrativ upålidelighed analyseres romanens rum, figurer, tone og genreleg. Analysen viser, at American Psycho anvender en postmoderne gotisk atmosfære af usikkerhed og en gotisk skurkefigur til at blotlægge grådighed, narcissisme og moralsk tomhed; den sætter parodi og horror over for hinanden for at gøre læseren usikker på flere niveauer. Romanen skildrer et samfund centreret om rigdom, prestige og materielle goder, hvor en figur som Patrick Bateman søger kontrol og magt gennem vold. Seriemorder-rammen bruges til at anklage et system, der gør det muligt for ham at myrde, torturere og forblive ustraffet, mens udbredt upålidelighed forstærker kritikken. Specialet konkluderer, at Bateman er emblem for samfundets kerneidealer, og at en sådan kultur bidrager til at skabe voldelige aktører, der glider ind, forbliver uopdagede og undgår konsekvenser.
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