- A multifaceted, multitudinous subgenera which manifests within different forms of media.
Characteristics:
- land where in the 'past and present mix'
-uses folklore aesthetically and thematically
-presents clash between arcane and modernity
Folk horror can be seen as a type of social Map that tracks the unconscious Ley lines between a huge range of different forms of media in the 20th century and earlier - a hybridity of genres = something unnerving.
e.g. The Wickerman
^ the film establishes a sense of traveling and escaping rational, law abiding society and has become a towering cult classic, playing a key role in the 'folk horror' genre.
In recent years there's been a resurgent interest in witchcraft and the occult. 1990-2008 saw a massive increase in people identifying as Wiccans, especially young women -> a way to feel powerful in their womanhood, an escape from the very christian, traditional, patriarchal restriction of many western societies.
^ This led to branches of witchcraft making their way into the mainstream
e.g. The Craft 1996
Leonora Carrington:
Carrington was a writer and painter who focused on magical realism and alchemy and used autobiographical detail and symbolism as the subjects of her paintings. Carrington was interested in presenting female sexuality as she experienced it, rather than as that of male surrealists' characterization of female sexuality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington
I find her work utterly fascinating and love the layering and complex narrative telling through symbolism and composition, with your eye following the story of the painting from left to right. The way she paints and portrays her work through the female gaze is something I try to do in my own work and I will definitely be coming back to her work as I just love how surreal and magical they are.
Modern Folk Horror:
Explores class, especially the impact of post Thatcherism which has really demonised the working class.
This is very much seen in the film Eden Lake - a folk horror with a very negative portray of chavs.
Brexit has also had a massive impact - fear of the outsider and increase of islander mentality in the UK.
-> as a result there's been a wide scale embracing of political fantasy and inwardness, very similar to The Wicker Man who controlled his population with lies and perks of counter culture.
Although not very relevant to my current photo book project, I would definitely like to revisit folk horror in future work as I find it really interesting, especially the way that it's aesthetic can be used to convey dissatisfaction with the state of the world, which is very often the them if work I enjoy making and looking at.
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