Analyzing the Concept of “Abjection” in David Cronenberg’s Cinema With an Emphasis on Female Characters Based on the Theory of Julia Kristeva

In contemporary thought, abjection is understood as a mechanism for preserving the integrity of subjectivity. Julia Kristeva first introduced this concept in Powers of Horror. According to her, the most fundamental instance of abjection is the abject mother—the notion that the child initially perceives no distinction between its own body and that of the mother. However, subjectivity must establish a gap between the self and the other in order to form an independent identity. While the child experiences a deep fascination with the mother’s body, it simultaneously requires the process of abjection as a means of self-preservation. From this perspective, abjection arises when the identity boundaries of an individual or society are threatened by what is perceived as impure or abjected. Kristeva illustrates the abject through disturbing images of physical decay, such as corpses and foul odors. These manifestations push the subject to confront the fragility of identity and its potential collapse. The present study analyzes David Cronenberg’s films—Shivers, Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome—through the lens of Julia Kristeva’s theories on rejection and abjection. It seeks to explore how this filmmaker employs various forms of abjection, particularly through female characters. In Cronenberg’s films, the female body often becomes the central site where boundaries dissolve—between inside and outside, human and non-human, self and other. This cinematic strategy not only visualizes the Kristevan notion of abjection but also critiques traditional representations of femininity in horror cinema. Female characters in these narratives are frequently portrayed as both victims and sources of horror, embodying paradoxical roles that reflect deep cultural fears and anxieties. The films evoke visceral responses through scenes of transformation, disease, and bodily invasion, highlighting the unstable nature of identity and the body. This dual function of the female figure—as both abject and agent—reinforces the theoretical argument that abjection is not merely rejection but a constitutive part of subjectivity.    The research is qualitative, fundamental, and theoretical in nature, and employs a descriptive-analytical methodology. It aims to demonstrate how Kristevan concepts such as abjection, rejection, and the formation of subjectivity—especially in relation to female characters—serve as critical conceptual tools for interpreting Cronenberg’s cinematic language.
Keywords: Horror cinema, Julia Kristeva, abjection, David Cronenberg.
This article is extracted from the second author’s master’s thesis entitled: “An Analysis of the Two Concepts of Abjection and Contamination in David Cronenberg's Cinema Based on the Views of Julia Kristeva,” under the supervision of the first author at Soore University of Tehran.