Lex Daly

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Lopez Zafra, Manuel

Area of Concentration

Humanities with Gender Studies Secondary Field

Abstract

For my thesis project, I have compiled a portfolio of three essays on the NBC television series Hannibal (2013-2015). Chapter 1 employs queer theory for a religious studies analysis of the show's characterization of Hannibal Lecter as the embodiment of Satan. Chapter 2 uses Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's "Seven Theses of Monster Culture" as the framework with which to compare and contrast the evolving mythos of both Count Dracula and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, as part of a greater deconstruction on how they exemplify Western constructions of monstrosity across time. Finally, Chapter 3 delves into the series' extensive allusions to Dante Alighieri's work, particularly the Inferno of La Divina Comedia, as a means of examining the value of "queering" those literary works which are widely considered classics. In this context, I employ a definition of "queering" popularized by queer theorists such as Robert Mills, Jack Halberstam, and José Esteban Muñoz that associates the term with the academic or personal practice of seeking and evaluating representations of queerness within notable artistic works of the past, with “queerness” denoting anything that is potentially subversive to cisgender / heterosexual / patriarchal norms. As such classic works have been pivotal to the development of popular culture, their representations and ideas shape humanity’s ever-evolving expectations and understandings of what is normal or acceptable. Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, I will argue, not only employs the ability to effectively and explicitly "queer" the works of Thomas Harris, but also subsequently provides audiences with a refreshingly authentic and multifaceted queer retrospective of the past, such as with the works of Bram Stoker or Dante Alighieri, writers whose publications are both considered to be timeless and – like the more contemporary writings of Thomas Harris – remain privy to recurrent adaptation and reboots in postmodern popular culture. My thesis concludes by examining how this queering of the past develops into an imagined potentiality for transgressive queer futurity that has positive real-life ramifications for Hannibal’s LGBTQ and otherwise marginalized viewership.

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