Byron Gordon Sywanyk
Published: 2022
Total Pages: 0
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This thesis explores the narrative tropes and patterns which appear in many Canadian Horror films of past and present, as well as the Indigenous motifs they adopt with questionable levels of ethical responsibility. Building on Margaret Atwood's critical evaluation of Canadian literature, Survival (1972), a connecting line is drawn between the literary Weird Fiction style and the "nature horror" films produced in Canada. This connection is pursued by drawing comparisons between Algernon Blackwood's novella "The Wendigo" (1910), and Ghostkeeper (1981), a tax-shelter film directed by Jim Makichuk. Explorations of the cultural roots of the Wendigo legend, combined with a deep psychological study of the symbols and patterns in each story, allows for a rich reading of an otherwise unspectacular film from a critical aesthetic perspective. The ostensibly "Canadian" theme of survival in the wild - reflected in the concept of ritual in both its diegetic and non-diegetic forms - is reassessed as a universal quest for wholeness in the second part of the thesis. Through engaging Jungian concepts of Individuation and the Archetypal (Great) Mother, and more specifically the works of Erich Neumann and Marie-Louise von Franz, the labyrinthine horror films What Keeps You Alive (2018, Colin Minihan) and Backcountry (2014, Adam MacDonald) are examined. In conclusion, the film Rituals (1977, Peter Carter), is analyzed in view of the preceding findings regarding Canadian Horror cinema, its penchant for labyrinthine and ritualistic narratives, and their meaning, by considering - among other things - the process of Individuation. The deeper meaning behind the highly symbolic ritual journey of the characters is discussed in light of the works of Mircea Eliade and Joseph Campbell on comparative religion and mythology. Ultimately, the transformative power of the ritual brings to the fore the long-neglected connection to the Archetypal Feminine.