?Jag är en vampyr? Om unga kvinnors identitetsskapande i det senmoderna samhället
IdentitetIndividualismUnga kvinnorUngdomarSenmodernitetKärlekSexualitetVampyrerPopulärlitteraturVampyrlitteraturBestseller
The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to investigate if there might be a possiblecorrelation between young women´s fascination with the vampire narrative andtheir search for identity in the late modern age. With the help of contemporarysociological studies in the field of the late modern man and today?s youth culture,I?ve chosen to do qualitative interviews with eight young women in order to examinehow today?s society affects their process of identification. Lately we?ve been ableto see an enormous interest for books that deal with the vampire saga, and while thereaders are mostly young females, it brought me to ask the question why the combinationof teenage drama and vampires seems to be such a winning concept.We live in a time where most young females experience a lot of pressure trying to addup to the demands of society, and as the media keep producing images of youngwomen being thin and looking like supermodels, most teenagers feel a lot of pressureand anxiety trying to live up to such unnatural ideals that in the long run might lead tovarious health issues and eating disorders.As a result of this thesis I?ve found that the vampire narrative answers to some ofthe existential needs we have as members of a late modern society. I?ve also discoveredthat most young women tend to seek comfort in subcultures that deal directlywith vampiric imagery as refuge from the demands of society. However, the identifycationwith vampires and their heroines isn?t something one should encourage since itcan be seen as a form of escapism making most women alienate themselves fromsociety while constructing an identity that is mostly based on otherness. Though thesubculture community does offer some relief from the restraints of society, as mystudies have shown, and aid most young women in their identity making, it is stillimportant to underline the fact that they cannot fully escape from the demands ofsociety since they are, as it is, a member of it.