Original scientific paper
Only Evil Can Live Forever: Racialised Misrepresentations of Voodoo Communities in American Horror Story: Coven
Marie Krebs
Abstract
In this paper, I read the third season of hit TV series American Horror Story,
subtitled Coven, 1 as an example of a contemporary Southern Gothic story. Despite the modernisation of the genre, it is worth noting that much of the 19th century underlying moralistic functions of the Gothic remains in popular cultural iconography – for example, in a clear racialisation of discourses of immortality and a manifestation of this racialisation through narrative structures. The primary goal here is to disentangle the implication of AHS: Coven that voodoo is inherently immoral and – as voodoo is a religion practiced primarily by Black communities –, morality itself becomes a matter of racialisation. I aim to deconstruct the problematic notions underpinning the show’s politics of narrative-building, particularly for its Black characters, and challenge attributions of progressivism to this show. Furthermore, I posit that the show (and much of the discourse surrounding voodoo religious communities in general) employs a guilt-by-association logic in its considerations of morality, which assumes that association with certain practices creates immorality despite intentions and Black communities are inherently more susceptible to immoral behaviour. This notion leads to continued psychological violence against Black communities and demonises attempts at community-building and emancipation from white supremacist structures.
Keywords
Southern Gothic; postcolonial studies; television; deconstruction; popular culture
Hrčak ID:
318968
URI
Publication date:
15.7.2023.
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