Uncanny Dolls and Bad Children in Contemporary Gothic Narratives

Uncanny Dolls and Bad Children in Contemporary Gothic Narratives

This article looks into altered views of children and the very idea of childhoodin our time bydiscussingthe intersection of the increasingly prominent themes of evil dollsand “bad children” in contemporary Gothic literary and cinematic narratives.To elaborate on thissubject, the film The Boy(2016) by William Brent Bell and the short story “The Doll-Master” (2016) by Joyce Carol Oatesareclosely investigated, but a few other literary works and movies addressing related issues are discussed as well. The portrayal of both children and dolls, as well as the intricate bond between them,as being wicked inthese worksis disquieting,for this child-doll bond may be seen as mirroring a deepening co-dependence between persons and things, makersand made objects in our time, one which could tend to blur the boundary between the living and the inanimate, the self and the Not-Me. To probe more deeply into the uncanny child-doll relationship in these contemporary Gothic tales, we will look at it from various angles--including ancient ritualistic effigies, puppet theater, figurineartifacts for household display, children’s dolls, the concomitantdevelopment of the modern toy industry and youth subcultures, and the “possessed doll” Gothic subgenre. Throughthis cross-disciplinary investigationof the constantly evolving culture of “human simulacra,”the article will try to show how lifeless objects like toy dolls may become material embodiments of our contrasting,ever-changing attitudes toward the idea of childhoodand our rapport with things.