American Prime-Time Monsters: An Analysis of the Gothic Other in True Detective, American Horror Story: Coven and True Blood

Abstract

Throughout the history of their nation, Americans have always been preoccupied with defining what it means to be an American. The contemporary socio-political scene in America is still informed by this question whose urgency was strengthened by 9 11. In cultural studies, identity formation is seen as closely linked to the practice of othering. Accordingly, Americans have always been conscious of the issues of diversity in their society, which involves anxieties over different class, racial, gender and sexual identities within the nation. As the practice of othering is recognized as an ongoing practice in American society, the Gothic mode, with its representations of demonized others becomes an apt tool to analyze cultural anxieties in contemporary America.Within this context, this study analyzes three contemporary television shows in America—HBO s True Detective, FX s American Horror Story: Coven, and HBO s True Blood— as American Gothic television shows and aims to reveal how