Of Monstrosity and Innocence: The Child Predator in Clive Barker's Writings

• Author / Creator

  Kristjanson, Gabrielle F.

• This thesis considers Clive Barker’s child predator in terms of the greater cultural discourses that accompany its treatment and attempts to demonstrate how Barker's treatment of the predator is proportional to his adherence to the structural form of the narrative. Specifically, the intrusion fantasy form, which integrates fantasy and reality, incorporates the predator into society but as a disgusting version of humanity; the portal-quest form, which delineates fantasy and reality, exiles the predator as alien, excluding him from both humanity and society. When the form becomes pluralistic, ambiguous and ambivalent, these qualities equally manifest in the representation of the predator, notably casting doubt on the nature and perceived wrongfulness of his relationship with the child. My analysis questions, challenges and strives to unravel prevalent cultural conceptions of the child and the child predator in order to enhance understanding of the predator, his function, condition, and existence within Western society.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Clive Barker
  • Intrusion fantasy
  • Criminal monstrosity
  • Portal-quest fantasy
  • Child abduction
  • Fantasy literature
  • Child predator
  • Narrative form
  • Childhood innocence

• Graduation date

  Spring 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3WK7F

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.