Dracula and Amnesia: Character Identities and Constant Subjectivism under Ideological State Apparatuses

Authors

Anais RosalesFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Major/Program

English

First Advisor's Name

Michael Patrick Gillespie

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

James M. Sutton

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Maneck H. Daruwala

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

English language and literature

Date of Defense

9-21-2020

Abstract

This thesis explores how the identities of protagonists and antagonists are constructed in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Frictional Games’ Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Through analyzing the Gothic genre, racial constructs, and Ideological State Apparatuses, a system that uses social and cultural institutions to control populations of people, this thesis concludes that the protagonists’ identities are more pronounced than that of the antagonists’. The Gothic genre requires protagonists to overcome a supernatural force, so they are already given the limelight in the narrative, the most exposure to a reader. Additionally, both media use racial constructs to pit the protagonists against the antagonists, rosy-coloring the former and othering the latter. Lastly, Dracula and Amnesia: The Dark Descent are ISAs that control the characters and what they do. As a result, all characters are subjects to their world without a say-so in their fates and destinies in the narrative.

Identifier

FIDC009185

Recommended Citation

Rosales, Anais, "Dracula and Amnesia: Character Identities and Constant Subjectivism under Ideological State Apparatuses" (2020). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4602.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4602