Nouvelles mythologies de la mort by Isabelle Casta

Abstract

I78 Reviews Nouvelles mythologies de lamort. By ISABELLECASTA. (Bibliotheque de Litterature Gen6rale etComparee, 67) Paris: Champion. 2006. 228 pp. E43. ISBN 978 2-7453-I495-6. Has our relation to death changed? This is the question Isabelle Casta sets out to answer inherwide-ranging, superbly documented study of recent popular culture in France, Britain, and theUS. Death, thedead, and theundead seem tobe ever-present indetective novels, supernatural fiction, films,and on television. Casta's guiding pre sumption is thatpopular culture tells us more about a society's imaginary than high art or theorycould. The book catalogues thedistinctivelymodern traitsof thecentral figures in thenew mythologies of death: the serial killer, the detective, and thepatho logist, togetherwith the legions of ghosts, vampires, and zombies who rise from their graves tohaunt our fictionand our dreams. The point here isnot that these figures aremodern inventions in themselves, but that something has changed in theway they are represented. The reader or viewer is spared no detail of the victim's suffering; the pathologist's examination of the corpse is described with meticulous accuracy; and the supernatural mingles seamlessly with the everyday as ghosts routinelywalk among us. Casta's study relishes theprofusion of gory evidence, piling example upon example to show theoverwhelming variety and coherence of her themes across a vast number of works. The cumulative effectof the analyses is impressive, as the book demonstrates both society's pervasive fascinationwith death and the stubborn belief that death is not the end. The key work here isBuffy theVampire Slayer. In 144 episodes of the television series and dozens of novels, Buffy is a sweet, attractive ado lescent in sunny California facing theordinary difficulties of growing up, learning to deal with familyand friends,not entirely keeping up with her schoolwork, and begin ning toexplore her emerging sexuality. She isalso theChosen One, living on the edge of theHellmouth, uniquely capable of defending humankind against Evil. She is the Slayer who kills demons and vampires but who also sometimes falls in lovewith them, sleeps with them, dies herself (twice) and is resurrected, before ultimately leading a band ofwarriors into the final, apocalyptic showdown which will decide the fate of theentireworld. The phenomenal success ofBuffy theVampire Slayer comes from its dazzling combination of teen drama and themes of Shakespearian proportions: death, sacrifice, and forbidden love.Casta takesBuffy very seriously, and the affectionate at tention she pays it,especially inher finalchapter, pays dividends as she demonstrates persuasively how it involves a verymodern take on some very ancient themes. The book represents an extremely valuable contribution to the academic study of popu lar culture and theway itencodes, mirrors, and informs society's attitudes towards death. Given that the author is clearly very familiarwith English-language culture, it is surprising that she does not make more use of scholarly work written inEnglish in the fieldofwhat is sometimes called hauntology. Moreover, her focus on popular culture means that she says little about the themes of death and the dead inmore rarefiedbut perhaps no less interesting contemporary texts. Itwould be interesting to know, forexample, how theghosts which appear innumerous modern filmsdo or do not relate to the spectres of Jacques Derrida's philosophy or, inpsychoanalysis, to the phantoms disinterred by analysts drawing on thework ofNicolas Abraham and Maria Torok. On its own merits, though, this is a fascinating and powerful book, driven by a sharp insight into the refusal of death which strikes against a knowledge of our own mortality: 'moi qui parle de lamort (des autres), je vaismourir' (p. 194). ROYAL HOLLOWAY,UNIVERSITY OF LONDON COLIN DAVIS ...