Serial Killers

by Mark Seltzer

In this provocative cultural study, the serial killer emerges as a central figure in what Mark Seltzer calls 'America's wound culture'. From the traumas displayed by talk show guests and political candidates, to the violent entertainment of Crash or The Alienist, to the latest terrible report of mass murder, we are surrounded by the accident from which we cannot avert our eyes. Bringing depth and shadow to our collective portrait of what a serial killer must be, Mark Seltzer draws upon popular sources, scholarly analyses, and the language of psychoanalysis to explore the genesis of this uniquely modern phenomenon. Revealed is a fascination with machines and technological reproduction, with the singular and the mass, with definitions of self, other, and intimacy. What emerges is a disturbing picture of how contemporary culture is haunted by technology and the instability of identity.

Genres: True Crime, Sociology, History, Psychoanalysis, Politics, Philosophy, Economics

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 1998

Reviews

[Bill Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a lot of other reviewers I think I would have given this a 3.5 stars out of 5 but I couldn't quite nudge it over the line to 'really liked it'. Yes I 'liked it' definitely, but like many theorists on this topic, Seltzer gets stuck on whether murderers and victims are both alike. This conflation of victims and murderers is a popular one, especially among intellectuals so if you are looking to write your thesis on how degraded and horrible everything is, society and all the people it swallows up on a daily basis then really this is a book for you. Ever since Charlie Manson hit the scene this is a popular take, evidenced by such luminaries as Žižek and all those Foucault types, that we are all equally awful. Certainly so far as descriptions of modern society can go, there is a lot here that rings true, even if it is ultimately hollow, particularly about the 'statistical' person and systems of communication being self-generating - Seltzer actually cites Niklas Luhmann the famed German sociologist who developed his theory of autopoietic social systems so I will give him that. Yet I don't think Seltzer gave Luhmann much more than a cursory glance, otherwise he would know that Luhmann's theory on society does not really support the thesis of this book - i.e. "the inseparability of materialities of communication and forms of violence in machine culture[.]" If Seltzer had read Luhmann more closely, he might understand that for Luhmann, communication and society are not the same as "materialities" ... so to paraphrase Luhmann, 'we can talk using a telephone, but a telephone is not communication.' Ultimately, Seltzer falls victim to the same collapse of distinctions which the serial killer experiences, a failure to accurately separate fantasy from reality, or society from violence. Certaintly violence may function as communication, as we can see with terrorism for example. Yet the bodies of its victims are not identical or 'inseparable' from the human psyches (or 'psychic systems' as Luhmann calls us) which are fundamentally located outside of society according to Luhmann's theory. Serial killers and theorists have trouble understanding 'interiors', so they dissect - people in the case of serial killers and society or 'subjects' in the case of theorists like Seltzer. These 'interiors' or psychic systems which are so troubling for Seltzer and society remain forever unknowable or indescribable. When Seltzer speaks of 'interiors' then he is confusing 'psychic systems' with 'descriptions' of those inner states of consciousness, which as Luhmann points out, remain forever a mystery, no matter how many MRI scans one cares to run. From this failure to truly appreciate the distinction or 'separability' between society and individuals, Seltzer arrives at this popular notion that inside 'we are all killers' and all that separates us from them is the thin line between fantasy and reality, etc. etc. ad nauseum. I will only say this idea is tiresome and ultimately shallow. I'm writing a little sloppy now so forgive me. I don't have time anymore for scholarly analysis. As for whether we are all the same, all the murderers and victims equally alike, I think Primo Levi refutes this notion quite successfully, and that's all I will say. So far as you can throw Foucault and Žižek and all those other intellectuals, I will say yes this is worth a read if you are studying modern society, but if you are wondering about God or truth then look elsewhere.

[tien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive at times, but interesting, especially if you're as interested in the appearance of the double, detective fiction, and the other. Some interesting tidbits about mass murderers as well as serial killers, but more thought provoking than informative. A nice brain exercise.

[Sophy H · Rating 1 out of 5]

Admittedly after getting a few chapters in, I started skim reading this one.

Mark Seltzer has clearly wanted to write a book about serial killers that doesn't follow the usual trope of "true crime" or "psychological assessment". Instead he throws in the word wound culture and hopes to hide behind this for the entire book.

I found the writing here bitty and disjointed with no real insight or revelation. I kept reading and asking "what's the point here?"

Seltzer's attempt to throw a different angle on serial killers didn't work at all for me. It felt a bit pointless and irrelevant.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst I very much enjoyed this look at serial killers within American culture, I was most interested in the development of Seltzer's theory of 'wound culture'. Sadly, i found this slightly lacking. Seltzer insists on a universalised subject - 'the body' - without really getting to grips with the fact that markers of gender and race mean that bodies signify differently, and cannot be account for in such a universalised manner. This marred some of my enjoyment and agreement with his analysis. But overall, the scholarship on display is sound. Wish I could give 3.5 stars.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and bracing read about the culture that produces serial killers, Seltzer's book offers in fact so much more than its title might suggest. His concept of "stranger-intimacy" and the manner in which he pours over the problem of the public and private body (finding the serial killer as that which is an indeterminate body) makes this a must-read.

[alicja :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3,5*

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very comprehensive book on serial murderers. In a very academic –sometimes even obscure– language, Seltzer attempts to illustrate some of the ins and outs of the dynamics behind serial killing. Definitely a good read to dive into this ever-surprising universe. Make sure you are holding a pen.