What do you think?
Rate this book
Subversive Spirits: The Female Ghost in British and American Popular Culture
The supernatural has become extraordinarily popular in literature, television, and film. Vampires, zombies, werewolves, witches, and wizard have become staples of entertainment industries, and many of these figures have received extensive critical attention. But one figure has remained in the shadows--the female ghost. Inherently liminal, often literally invisible, the female ghost has nevertheless appeared in all genres. Subversive Spirits: The Female Ghost in British and American Popular Culture brings this figure into the light, exploring her cultural significance in a variety of media from 1926 to 2014. Robin Roberts argues that the female ghost is well worth studying for what she can tell us about feminine subjectivity in cultural contexts.
Subversive Spirits examines appearances of the female ghost in heritage sites, theater, Hollywood film, literature, and television in the United States and the United Kingdom. What holds these disparate female ghosts together is their uncanny ability to disrupt, illuminate, and challenge gendered assumptions. As with other supernatural figures, the female ghost changes over time, especially responding to changes in gender roles.
Roberts's analysis begins with comedic female ghosts in literature and film and moves into horror by examining the successful play The Woman in Black and the legend of the weeping woman, La Llorona. Roberts then situates the canonical works of Maxine Hong Kingston and Toni Morrison in the tradition of the female ghost to explore how the ghost is used to portray the struggle and pain of women of color. Roberts further analyzes heritage sites that use the female ghost as the friendly and inviting narrator for tourists. The book concludes with a comparison of the British and American versions of the television hit Being Human, where the female ghost expands her influence to become a mother and savior to all humanity.
Subversive Spirits examines appearances of the female ghost in heritage sites, theater, Hollywood film, literature, and television in the United States and the United Kingdom. What holds these disparate female ghosts together is their uncanny ability to disrupt, illuminate, and challenge gendered assumptions. As with other supernatural figures, the female ghost changes over time, especially responding to changes in gender roles.
Roberts's analysis begins with comedic female ghosts in literature and film and moves into horror by examining the successful play The Woman in Black and the legend of the weeping woman, La Llorona. Roberts then situates the canonical works of Maxine Hong Kingston and Toni Morrison in the tradition of the female ghost to explore how the ghost is used to portray the struggle and pain of women of color. Roberts further analyzes heritage sites that use the female ghost as the friendly and inviting narrator for tourists. The book concludes with a comparison of the British and American versions of the television hit Being Human, where the female ghost expands her influence to become a mother and savior to all humanity.
- GenresNonfiction
186 pages, Hardcover
Published January 17, 2018
19 people want to read
About the author
Robin Roberts
66 books85 followersThere is more than one author by this name on Goodreads.
Robin René Roberts (born November 23, 1960) is an American television broadcaster. Roberts is the anchor of ABC's morning show Good Morning America. After growing up in Mississippi and attending Southeastern Louisiana University, Roberts was a sports anchor for local TV and radio stations. Roberts was a sportscaster on ESPN for 15 years (1990–2005). She became co-anchor on Good Morning America in 2005. She has been treated for breast cancer and for myelodysplastic syndrome.
Though born in Alabama, Roberts grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she played basketball and tennis, among other sports. She attended Pass Christian High School and graduated as the class of 1979 salutatorian. She is the daughter of Lucimarian Tolliver and Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts. In a 2006 presentation to the assembled student body at Abilene Christian University, Roberts credited her parents as cultivating the "three 'D's: Discipline, Determination, and 'De Lord'." She is the youngest of four, following siblings Sally-Ann, Lawrence, Jr. (nicknamed Butch), and Dorothy. Her father was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen.
Roberts attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, graduating cum laude in 1983 with a degree in communication. She followed in the footsteps of her older sister Sally-Ann Roberts, an anchor at the CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans.
She joined ESPN as a sportscaster in February 1990, where she stayed until 2005. She became well known on Sportscenter for her catchphrase, "Go on with your bad self!" Roberts began to work for ABC News, specifically as a featured reporter, for Good Morning America in June 1995. In 2001, Roberts received the Mel Greenberg Media Award, presented by the WBCA. For many years, Roberts worked at both ESPN and Good Morning America, contributing to both programs. During that time, she served primarily as the news anchor at GMA. In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-anchor of Good Morning America. In December 2009, Roberts was joined by George Stephanopoulos as co-anchor of GMA after Diane Sawyer left to anchor ABC World News. Under their partnership, the Roberts-Stephanopoulos team led Good Morning America back to the top of the ratings; the program became the number-one morning show again in April 2012, beating NBC's Today, which had held the top spot for the previous 16 years.
Roberts is a practicing Christian. In 2007, Roberts was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer. She underwent surgery on August 3, and by January 2008 had completed eight chemotherapy treatments, followed by 61⁄2 weeks of radiation treatment.
In 2012, she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a disease of the bone marrow. Be the Match Registry, a nonprofit organization run by the National Marrow Donor Program, experienced a 1,800% spike in donors the day Roberts went public with her illness. She took a leave from GMA to get a bone marrow transplant, and went home in October 2012. She returned to GMA on February 20, 2013. Roberts received a 2012 Peabody Award for the program. The Peabody citation credits her for "allowing her network to document and build a public service campaign around her battle with rare disease" and "inspir[ing] hundreds of potential bone marrow donors to register and heighten[ing] awareness of the need for even more donors." ESPN awarded its Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Robin Roberts at the 2013 ESPYs.
Robin René Roberts (born November 23, 1960) is an American television broadcaster. Roberts is the anchor of ABC's morning show Good Morning America. After growing up in Mississippi and attending Southeastern Louisiana University, Roberts was a sports anchor for local TV and radio stations. Roberts was a sportscaster on ESPN for 15 years (1990–2005). She became co-anchor on Good Morning America in 2005. She has been treated for breast cancer and for myelodysplastic syndrome.
Though born in Alabama, Roberts grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she played basketball and tennis, among other sports. She attended Pass Christian High School and graduated as the class of 1979 salutatorian. She is the daughter of Lucimarian Tolliver and Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts. In a 2006 presentation to the assembled student body at Abilene Christian University, Roberts credited her parents as cultivating the "three 'D's: Discipline, Determination, and 'De Lord'." She is the youngest of four, following siblings Sally-Ann, Lawrence, Jr. (nicknamed Butch), and Dorothy. Her father was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen.
Roberts attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, graduating cum laude in 1983 with a degree in communication. She followed in the footsteps of her older sister Sally-Ann Roberts, an anchor at the CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans.
She joined ESPN as a sportscaster in February 1990, where she stayed until 2005. She became well known on Sportscenter for her catchphrase, "Go on with your bad self!" Roberts began to work for ABC News, specifically as a featured reporter, for Good Morning America in June 1995. In 2001, Roberts received the Mel Greenberg Media Award, presented by the WBCA. For many years, Roberts worked at both ESPN and Good Morning America, contributing to both programs. During that time, she served primarily as the news anchor at GMA. In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-anchor of Good Morning America. In December 2009, Roberts was joined by George Stephanopoulos as co-anchor of GMA after Diane Sawyer left to anchor ABC World News. Under their partnership, the Roberts-Stephanopoulos team led Good Morning America back to the top of the ratings; the program became the number-one morning show again in April 2012, beating NBC's Today, which had held the top spot for the previous 16 years.
Roberts is a practicing Christian. In 2007, Roberts was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer. She underwent surgery on August 3, and by January 2008 had completed eight chemotherapy treatments, followed by 61⁄2 weeks of radiation treatment.
In 2012, she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a disease of the bone marrow. Be the Match Registry, a nonprofit organization run by the National Marrow Donor Program, experienced a 1,800% spike in donors the day Roberts went public with her illness. She took a leave from GMA to get a bone marrow transplant, and went home in October 2012. She returned to GMA on February 20, 2013. Roberts received a 2012 Peabody Award for the program. The Peabody citation credits her for "allowing her network to document and build a public service campaign around her battle with rare disease" and "inspir[ing] hundreds of potential bone marrow donors to register and heighten[ing] awareness of the need for even more donors." ESPN awarded its Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Robin Roberts at the 2013 ESPYs.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Read
December 10, 2024I won't lie: I bought this based on the knowledge that more than likely, Supernatural would be discussed at some point. And I was correct!
On the whole, I found the premise and the majority of the points made regarding female ghosts in media to be informative and sometimes entertaining. I was already familiar with some of the texts explored, but others were new to me and have captured my interest. My favorite analyses ended up probably being the ones on La Llorona, the comedic ghosts, and the ghostly characters from Being Human. Critique-wise, though, I thought this repetitive—from Roberts's decision to cite a source multiple times across the chapters to the way she often said the same thing two or three times in a single paragraph, but in a different way. It's hard not to come across as repetitive in an academic text, I know, but I still wish there'd been a bit more personality to the writing. The transitions also felt abrupt in some cases.
On the whole, I found the premise and the majority of the points made regarding female ghosts in media to be informative and sometimes entertaining. I was already familiar with some of the texts explored, but others were new to me and have captured my interest. My favorite analyses ended up probably being the ones on La Llorona, the comedic ghosts, and the ghostly characters from Being Human. Critique-wise, though, I thought this repetitive—from Roberts's decision to cite a source multiple times across the chapters to the way she often said the same thing two or three times in a single paragraph, but in a different way. It's hard not to come across as repetitive in an academic text, I know, but I still wish there'd been a bit more personality to the writing. The transitions also felt abrupt in some cases.
May 14, 2018
I wish that this book had been out when I did my Undergrad degree. It's well-written, and takes a feminist look at female ghosts in literature and film.
I like the choices that the author makes about her studied texts, and her arguments are clever and could easily be considered alongside authors like Julie Kristeva and Barbara Creed. It's not ground-breaking work, but it is well thought out.
However...it is definitely a text published for an academic reader. I suppose that is it's purpose, but it could have been interesting to see it footnoted instead of Harvard referenced. It could have been more accessible to a non-academic reader interested in horror.
Within the academic sphere I'd give it a 4, but as a general text, a 3.
I like the choices that the author makes about her studied texts, and her arguments are clever and could easily be considered alongside authors like Julie Kristeva and Barbara Creed. It's not ground-breaking work, but it is well thought out.
However...it is definitely a text published for an academic reader. I suppose that is it's purpose, but it could have been interesting to see it footnoted instead of Harvard referenced. It could have been more accessible to a non-academic reader interested in horror.
Within the academic sphere I'd give it a 4, but as a general text, a 3.
September 7, 2018
Book received from NetGalley.
Review to Come
Review to Come
August 19, 2023
Some good points, but written in the style of an undergrad desperate for a passing grade. Sometimes it's pure drivel: endlessly repetitive, drilling in readers' minds the same few points about women's authorship after death. There are better books around on this subject.
April 16, 2018
A very interesting topic, a very well written and reasearched book that is also very entertaining.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and University Press of Mississippi
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and University Press of Mississippi
September 12, 2018
Subversive Spirits by Robin Roberts charts a course through modern spheres of entertainment, tracking the elusive figure of the female ghost/spirit in literature, theatre, and film, and what she reflects back to us about the perceived roles of women and the feminine in our culture. This book only looks at US and UK entertainment. The first chapter looks at comedic ghosts. The next two chapters look at terrifying maternal ghosts, each specifically focusing on a geographic region. I particularly enjoyed these two selections. Then a chapter on female spirits and feminist history, followed by one looking at the mediated female ghost in the US and UK, and finally, a chapter on how female ghosts are treated currently via storytelling media. As this book only covers the UK and US, it barely scratches the surface of it's true value and potential. Of course, that would take a massive volume, or more likely several volumes. The role of female spirits in Asian entertainment and those cultural reflections, for example, are quite different! Several suggestions for books looking at female spirits from other cultural contexts are provided in the introduction though. I really enjoyed reading through it, and think it'd make a great addition to media history classes. I once took a class called ‘Frankenstein in Film and Literature.’ You could certainly make a class around female ghosts, or ghosts more generally, in film and lit.
***Many thanks to Netgalley and the University Press of Mississippi for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
***Many thanks to Netgalley and the University Press of Mississippi for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews