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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Monstrous M*A*S*H – Khaki Gothic and Comedy’
AU - Swift, Sunday
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - On first glance, M*A*S*H (1972-1983) might not be the ideal text for Gothic analysis. Aesthetically, the traditional dark castles surrounded by black forests in the moonlight are replaced by muted khaki and green canvas Army tents. The tinny canned laughter punctuating the sardonic jokes echo longer than the terrified screams in the night. Gothic and war are uneasy bedfellows; it is the inclusion of comedy, however, that determines just how horrific the result can be. Using M*A*S*H as a primary example to explore what I refer to as ‘Khaki Gothic’, this paper will explore how, utilising Gothic tropes, comedy can disguise, diffuse and intensify the horrors of war.
AB - On first glance, M*A*S*H (1972-1983) might not be the ideal text for Gothic analysis. Aesthetically, the traditional dark castles surrounded by black forests in the moonlight are replaced by muted khaki and green canvas Army tents. The tinny canned laughter punctuating the sardonic jokes echo longer than the terrified screams in the night. Gothic and war are uneasy bedfellows; it is the inclusion of comedy, however, that determines just how horrific the result can be. Using M*A*S*H as a primary example to explore what I refer to as ‘Khaki Gothic’, this paper will explore how, utilising Gothic tropes, comedy can disguise, diffuse and intensify the horrors of war.
KW - Gothic
KW - war
KW - comedy
KW - television
KW - MASH
KW - Khaki Gothic
KW - Gallows Humour
KW - Vietnam
KW - Korea
U2 - 10.7227/GS.0021
DO - 10.7227/GS.0021
M3 - Journal article
VL - 19
SP - 91
EP - 112
JO - Gothic Studies
JF - Gothic Studies
SN - 1362-7937
IS - 1
ER -