‘The Past Catches Up to Everyone’: Lineage and Nostalgia

Abstract

The aim of the following three chapters is to establish how ‘torture porn’ has been constructed as a category, outlining characteristics that have become associated with the subgenre. Part I will establish what ‘torture porn’ means, and the conditions under which those meanings are defined. The aim of examining ‘torture porn’ discourse is to clarify what the subgenre ‘is’ according to the critics who have propagated the term. As a starting point, this chapter addresses a paradox that arises within ‘torture porn’ discourse. ‘Torture porn’ appears to refer to a coherent category formed by films that exhibit mutual conventions and values. By providing a point of similarity, the label brushes over numerous discrepancies.

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