Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
English
Date of Award
5-2022
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Thomas Crofts
Committee Members
Scott Honeycutt, David Jones
Abstract
This thesis explores three versions of Beowulf: Gareth Hinds’s graphic novel Beowulf (2007), Maria Dahvana Headley’s translation Beowulf (2020), and Rowdy Herrington’s film Road House (1989). While Hinds and Headley fail to convey Beowulf as a cultural elegy by subtracting or misrepresenting significant scenes and characters, Road House superimposes the story of Beowulf onto 1980s America. Parallels between the plots of Beowulf and Road House and Road House’s interaction with the political underpinnings of the 80s (such as Reaganomics and the AIDS epidemic) make the film one of the best at capturing the elements of cultural elegy in the original poem.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Grindstaff, Haley, "The Whale-Road to Road House: A Study of the Contemporary Transmission of Beowulf" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4059. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/4059
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
Literature in English, North America Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons