Impious Frauds: Found Footage Horror and the Book of Deuteronomy
In: Biblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Ryan S. Higgins in
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Abstract
The Blair Witch Project (1999) is the first fully recognizable instance of “found footage horror,” a cinematic subgenre characterized by (1) the claim that what the audience witnesses has occurred in their own world, and (2) the exclusive use of the diegetic camera. In this essay it is argued that found footage horror is anticipated by ancient Near Eastern “pious frauds,” whose biblical exemplar is the book of Deuteronomy. The narrative claims and formal techniques of films like The Blair Witch Project find parallels in the singular rhetoric and perspective of Deuteronomy and the account of its “discovery” in the time of Josiah. As in found footage horror, these features uniquely collapse the distance between text and reality and affect the reader with a peculiar intensity, engendering a cognitive, emotional, and embodied response. The comparison allows us to appreciate the religious dimension of consuming horror media, and to read Deuteronomy as a work of (found footage) horror.
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Impious Frauds: Found Footage Horror and the Book of Deuteronomy
In: Biblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Ryan S. Higgins in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The Blair Witch Project (1999) is the first fully recognizable instance of “found footage horror,” a cinematic subgenre characterized by (1) the claim that what the audience witnesses has occurred in their own world, and (2) the exclusive use of the diegetic camera. In this essay it is argued that found footage horror is anticipated by ancient Near Eastern “pious frauds,” whose biblical exemplar is the book of Deuteronomy. The narrative claims and formal techniques of films like The Blair Witch Project find parallels in the singular rhetoric and perspective of Deuteronomy and the account of its “discovery” in the time of Josiah. As in found footage horror, these features uniquely collapse the distance between text and reality and affect the reader with a peculiar intensity, engendering a cognitive, emotional, and embodied response. The comparison allows us to appreciate the religious dimension of consuming horror media, and to read Deuteronomy as a work of (found footage) horror.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 216 | 216 | 17 |
| Full Text Views | 25 | 25 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 62 | 62 | 4 |
