The Female Vampire in Popular Culture

Anyiwo, U. Melissa

doi:10.1007/978-94-6300-714-6_12

Cited by 4 publications

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“…Although female vampires in literature, television and film have been amply considered and their significance in popular culture acknowledged (Anyiwo 2016), videogames have been recurrently neglected in these discussions. Nevertheless, videogames have become important narrative frames that have deserved attention as new forms of storytelling, while they are also acknowledged as products that reflect societal values and interests (Bogost 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

Villains and Vixens: The Representation of Female Vampires in Videogames

Montiel

Puyal

2020

Oceanide

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Vampires populate our culture and have become a recurrent presence in fiction and the media. In all cases the inclusion of the vampire has given voice to “socio-culture issues faced in particular times and places; issues that may otherwise remain repressed” (Dillon and Lundberg 2017, 47). This socio-cultural subtext is complicated when the vampire is female, for she is now doubly othered by her gender. Her monstrosity is seen as twofold: as a vampire and as a transgressive woman. While many studies address female vampires in popular culture, their portrayal in videogames has been recurrently overlooked. Games potentially help shape gender attitudes in thousands of players; therefore, it is particularly relevant to examine the varied representations of these monstrous or othered female figures and to understand how they adhere to or challenge misogynistic readings of women and their bodies. In light of this, and interpreting videogames as a narrative medium, this article provides an analysis of significant vampiric videogames and discusses the female vampire in relation to violence against women and postfeminist agendas, following a narrative rather than ludology approach.

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confidence: 99%