Serial Killers and Serial Spectators: Cultures, Narratives, and Representations
In: Literature and Cultural Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2024
In: Textxet: Studies in Comparative Literature volume 107
Serial murder is a global entertainment industry where the serial killer emerges as one of the most significant cultural figures of our time. No longer an exclusively Anglo-American phenomenon, narratives of serial killing are widespread in India, China, Japan, and other cultures. This book asks why this is the case, and how serial violence has been aestheticized in different contexts. It raises important questions regarding the ethics of spectatorship, complicity, and resistance. Unique in its transnational reach, it covers both novels and visual media, both West and East, both perpetrators and witnesses