Taking a postmodern critical approach, this collection of new essays explores The CW Network's popular television drama The Vampire Diaries, taking in the complete original series (2009-2017), its spinoffs, source novels and fan fiction. Spanning three decades, TVD has engaged its predominantly teenage audience with storylines around love, friendship, social politics and gender roles. Contributors traverse the franchise's metamorphosis to suit the complex tastes of an early 21st century audience.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Dear Diary: An Introduction to The Vampire Diaries
Kimberley McMahon-Coleman, Nina Vanessa Weber and Iris-Aya Laemmerhirt
Part I. Genre: I live in the real world, where vampires burn in the sun
Once Upon a Time Reading The Vampire Diaries as a Postmodern Fairy Tale
Iris-Aya Laemmerhirt and Nina Vanessa Weber
Loss and Redemption: Marketing Romantic Love in American Paranormal Romance
Maria Marino-Faza
We have history together: The Rhetoric of Adaptation in The Vampire
Diaries
N. René Hoff
Part II. Gender: I like being the eternal stud
The Monster in the Mirror: Adolescence and Masculinity in Televisions The
Vampire Diaries
Kimberley McMahon-Coleman
The Female Villain and Gender Trouble
Praveena Thompson
Part III. Fan Reception: Hashtag, youre welcome
#Stelena vs. #Delena: The Vampire Diaries Fan Commentary on Gender,
Sexuality, and Toxic Relationships
Melissa Ames
Bonnie Bennett and the Magic of Fandom
Ashley K. Smalls
Ethics in The Vampire Diaries Fan Fiction
Malin Isaksson
Part IV. (Moral) Choice and Identity: I may just need to go get a hero
hairdo of my own
Antithetic Characters in the CWs The Vampire Diaries: When Heroes Become
Villains and Villains Become Heroes
Michelle Nicole Boyer
The Dreaded C Word: Choice, Identity, and the Postmodern Vampires in The
Vampire Diaries
Hannah Hansen
One by friend, one by foe, and one by family: How Prophecies and Curses
Influence Identity Construction in the World of The Vampire Diaries
Kari Sawden
Conclusion
Kimberley McMahon-Coleman, Nina Vanessa Weber and Iris-Aya Laemmerhirt
Appendix A: List of Novels
Appendix B: List of Television Episodes
Works Cited
About the Contributors
Index
Kimberley McMahon-Coleman has a PhD in literature from the University of Wollongong and is an associate professor (academic development) at Charles Sturt University in Australia. Her research interests include the Gothic, Indigenous literature, popular culture, and academic language and learning. Nina Vanessa Weber has a Masters degree in English and philosophy from the TU Dortmund University. She is a high school teacher of English and philosophy in Bergkamen, Germany. Her teaching and research interests include media studies, fan fiction, fantasy literature, as well as vampire fiction. Iris-Aya Laemmerhirt holds a PhD in American Studies from the Ruhr-University Bochum. She is an assistant professor for American Studies at TU Dortmund University. Her teaching and research interests include Pacific studies, refugee studies, media studies, and popular culture.
