Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Dealing with the Uncanny?: Cultural Adaptation in Matt Reeves’s Vampire Movie Let Me In
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies. (Kulturvetenskapliga forskargruppen (KUFO))ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7640-0639
2016 (English)In: American Studies in Scandinavia, ISSN 0044-8060, Vol. 48, no 1, p. 25-41Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The aim of this article is to examine cultural adaptation and uncanny potential in Matt Reeves’s vampire movie Let Me In (2010), which is an adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s vampire novel Låt den rätte komma in (2004) – in English translation, Let the Right One In (2007) – and the Swedish film adaptation (2008), for which Lindqvist wrote the screenplay. The article draws on Linda Hutcheon’s theoretical account of “transculturating” and “transcultural adaptations” as well as on different discussions of the uncanny. My analysis establishes that both films evoke the uncanny by introducing horror into the familiar and ordinary as represented by the geographical setting; however, it also shows that there are significant ideological differences between the American film and the Swedish film and novel concerning gender and sexuality, particularly related to the two central figures of the boy and the vampire, but also in relationships that can be regarded as part of the general social and cultural setting. In short, gender-bending and sexual ambiguities, in addition to the uncanny aspects of the human protagonist, are omitted in the American version. In these respects, Reeves’s adaptation is less complex, less uncanny, and much more ideologically conservative than the Swedish versions.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Nordic association for American studies , 2016. Vol. 48, no 1, p. 25-41
Keywords [en]
Matt Reeves, Let Me In, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In, cultural adaptation, the uncanny, horror film, vampire fiction  
National Category
General Literature Studies Specific Languages
Research subject
English
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-42911ISI: 000377421500003OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-42911DiVA, id: diva2:935863
Available from: 2016-06-13 Created: 2016-06-13 Last updated: 2018-01-10Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

Troy_2016(288 kB)3500 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 288 kBChecksum SHA-512
f5076801e849d10da0b21046ead0a6fc3008951e7590fb8074f223ce623222865d934ab14999bf562a4bf5d035ef8a525f589cec6bb91da81435fb02e6acfaa6
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Authority records

Holmgren Troy, Maria

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Holmgren Troy, Maria
By organisation
Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies
In the same journal
American Studies in Scandinavia
General Literature StudiesSpecific Languages

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 3500 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 2148 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf