Representations of Witches in the Coming-of-age Subgenre

Authors

  • Claudia NEGREA Faculty of Theater and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. claudia.negrea1990@gmail.com

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbdrama.2020.1.14

Keywords:

coming-of-age, witches, horror, self-discovery, family, sexual identity.

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the portrayal of two teenage characters with supernatural powers. Norwegian film Thelma by Joachim Trier and American film The Witch by Robert Eggers deal with the topic of self-discovery and maturation through the perspective of characters that could be, at some point, identified as witches. Approaching topics like sexual identity or family dynamics, the paper will explore the mechanisms that integrate the two films in the broad horror genre, and will also identify the elements that define them as coming-of-age films. Moreover, the research will focus on analyzing the symbolic level of the two films, determining the specific aspects that incorporate them in the universe of witchcraft. Regarding the coming-of-age subgenre, the suggested directions of analysis will be mainly based on studying the protagonists’ evolutionary course by exploring how their journey of self-discovery affects the social and the family dynamics around them.

Author Biography

Claudia NEGREA, Faculty of Theater and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. claudia.negrea1990@gmail.com

Claudia Negrea is a Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Theater and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. She finished her BA and MA studies at the same Faculty, focusing her research on screenwriting theories and on the means of adaptation from literature to film. Her activities include teaching Screenwriting and Creative Writing seminars while also being involved in different programs targeting the creative and critical thinking of high school students: Cine-Performativ Summer School (ROSE project) and Everyday Drama Summer School. She is currently focusing on exploring the representations of melancholy in the contemporary European cinemas, specifically investigating the female character’s destiny in this perspective.

References

Bodin, Jean. On the Demon-Mania of Witches. Translated by Randy A. Scott. Toronto: CRRS Publications, 1995.

Fox, Alistair. Coming-of-age Cinema in New Zealand. Genre, Gender and Adaptation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017.

Musil, Robert. Tagebücher, Aphorismen, Essays und Reden, in Gesammelte Werke. Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1955.

Redfield, Marc. Phantom Formations: Aesthetic Ideology and the ‘Bildungsroman’. New York: Cornell University Press, 1996.

Sims, David. “Female Freedom and Fury in The Witch.” The Atlantic, February 24, 2016.

Sødtholt, Dag. “Joachim Trier’s Thelma, Part I: What does it all mean?” Montages – International Edition, November 4, 2017.

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Published

2020-03-30

How to Cite

NEGREA, C. (2020). Representations of Witches in the Coming-of-age Subgenre. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Dramatica, 65(1), 277–290. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbdrama.2020.1.14

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