The Subject of Murder

Gender, Exceptionality, and the Modern Killer

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Crimes & Criminals, Murder, True Crime
Cover of the book The Subject of Murder by Lisa Downing, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Lisa Downing ISBN: 9780226003689
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: May 1, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Lisa Downing
ISBN: 9780226003689
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: May 1, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

The subject of murder has always held a particular fascination for us. But, since at least the nineteenth century, we have seen the murderer as different from the ordinary citizen—a special individual, like an artist or a genius, who exists apart from the moral majority, a sovereign self who obeys only the destructive urge, sometimes even commanding cult followings. In contemporary culture, we continue to believe that there is something different and exceptional about killers, but is the murderer such a distinctive type? Are they degenerate beasts or supermen as they have been depicted on the page and the screen? Or are murderers something else entirely?

In The Subject of Murder, Lisa Downing explores the ways in which the figure of the murderer has been made to signify a specific kind of social subject in Western modernity. Drawing on the work of Foucault in her studies of the lives and crimes of killers in Europe and the United States, Downing interrogates the meanings of media and texts produced about and by murderers. Upending the usual treatment of murderers as isolated figures or exceptional individuals, Downing argues that they are ordinary people, reflections of our society at the intersections of gender, agency, desire, and violence.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The subject of murder has always held a particular fascination for us. But, since at least the nineteenth century, we have seen the murderer as different from the ordinary citizen—a special individual, like an artist or a genius, who exists apart from the moral majority, a sovereign self who obeys only the destructive urge, sometimes even commanding cult followings. In contemporary culture, we continue to believe that there is something different and exceptional about killers, but is the murderer such a distinctive type? Are they degenerate beasts or supermen as they have been depicted on the page and the screen? Or are murderers something else entirely?

In The Subject of Murder, Lisa Downing explores the ways in which the figure of the murderer has been made to signify a specific kind of social subject in Western modernity. Drawing on the work of Foucault in her studies of the lives and crimes of killers in Europe and the United States, Downing interrogates the meanings of media and texts produced about and by murderers. Upending the usual treatment of murderers as isolated figures or exceptional individuals, Downing argues that they are ordinary people, reflections of our society at the intersections of gender, agency, desire, and violence.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book Aspiring Adults Adrift by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book A Story Larger than My Own by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book American Academic Cultures by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book The Neighbor by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Supreme Court Economic Review by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book The Epochs of Nature by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book The Prince by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Making an Issue of Child Abuse by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Map Men by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Invasive Species in a Globalized World by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Sexual Discretion by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Policing Immigrants by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Variety by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 2 by Lisa Downing
Cover of the book Segregation by Lisa Downing
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy