The Witcher and Ciri of Cintra as the heroic final girl

2024
book section
article
dc.abstract.enThis chapter contributes to the growing body of the scholarship on The Witcher - the internationally acclaimed transmedial universe originating from the bestselling literary series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski - by examining the central heroine of The Witcher’s storyworld, Cirilla of Cintra, as the heroic habitual Final Girl. Introduced in 1987 by Carol J. Clover, the trope of the Final Girl - the solitary female protagonist who manages to survive the fury of the psychopathic killer - remains relevant for understanding the cultural representations of women today. Primarily applied in horror film studies, the concept of the Final Girl has long reached beyond its traditional horror/slasher territory, crossing over into other media and genres and moving away from its traditional formula of woman as victim in order to mobilise more progressive female characters. Seen through the framework of the Final Girl, the storyline of Cirilla offers a productive space in which to explore popular culture representations of female empowerment, agency and victimisation, monstrosity, and the resolution of trauma. Drawing on Andrzej Sapkowski’s literary series The Witcher and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s Netflix television show under the same title, this chapter explores the ways in which Ciri responds to the trope of the Final Girl, following the path trodden out by Clover’s model - only to stray from it in climactic moments in search for more rewarding resolutions. Sapkowski’s heroine proves to be capable of surviving an endless cycle of ordeals and of defeating not one but multiple psychopathic foes. Rather than through the death of the villains, however, the catharsis is produced through the heroine’s recognition of violence and hatred as inadequate responses to evil. It is not the violence she performs but the heroic decision to withhold the final blow that speaks of her empowerment, and which allows the heroine to expand and redesign the trope of the Final Girl, shifting from the figure of monstrosity and victimisation into the figure of hope and futurity.
dc.affiliationWydział Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych : Instytut Amerykanistyki i Studiów Polonijnych
dc.contributor.authorStasiewicz-Bieńkowska, Agnieszka - 185955
dc.contributor.editorBacon, Simon
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-07T12:28:56Z
dc.date.available2024-05-07T12:28:56Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.physical195-209
dc.description.seriesInterdisciplinary Research in Gender
dc.identifier.doi10.4324/9781003197775-19
dc.identifier.eisbn978-1-003-19777-5 (ebk)
dc.identifier.isbn978-1-032-05491-9 (hbk)
dc.identifier.isbn978-1-032-05492-6 (pbk)
dc.identifier.urihttps://ruj.uj.edu.pl/handle/item/338628
dc.languageeng
dc.language.containereng
dc.placeLondon
dc.placeNew York
dc.publisherRoutledge
dc.publisher.ministerialRoutledge
dc.rightsDodaję tylko opis bibliograficzny
dc.rights.licenceBez licencji otwartego dostępu
dc.subtypeArticle
dc.titleThe Witcher and Ciri of Cintra as the heroic final girl
dc.title.containerHeroic girls as figures of resistance and futurity in popular culture
dc.typeBookSection
dspace.entity.typePublicationen
dc.abstract.en
This chapter contributes to the growing body of the scholarship on The Witcher - the internationally acclaimed transmedial universe originating from the bestselling literary series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski - by examining the central heroine of The Witcher’s storyworld, Cirilla of Cintra, as the heroic habitual Final Girl. Introduced in 1987 by Carol J. Clover, the trope of the Final Girl - the solitary female protagonist who manages to survive the fury of the psychopathic killer - remains relevant for understanding the cultural representations of women today. Primarily applied in horror film studies, the concept of the Final Girl has long reached beyond its traditional horror/slasher territory, crossing over into other media and genres and moving away from its traditional formula of woman as victim in order to mobilise more progressive female characters. Seen through the framework of the Final Girl, the storyline of Cirilla offers a productive space in which to explore popular culture representations of female empowerment, agency and victimisation, monstrosity, and the resolution of trauma. Drawing on Andrzej Sapkowski’s literary series The Witcher and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s Netflix television show under the same title, this chapter explores the ways in which Ciri responds to the trope of the Final Girl, following the path trodden out by Clover’s model - only to stray from it in climactic moments in search for more rewarding resolutions. Sapkowski’s heroine proves to be capable of surviving an endless cycle of ordeals and of defeating not one but multiple psychopathic foes. Rather than through the death of the villains, however, the catharsis is produced through the heroine’s recognition of violence and hatred as inadequate responses to evil. It is not the violence she performs but the heroic decision to withhold the final blow that speaks of her empowerment, and which allows the heroine to expand and redesign the trope of the Final Girl, shifting from the figure of monstrosity and victimisation into the figure of hope and futurity.
dc.affiliation
Wydział Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych : Instytut Amerykanistyki i Studiów Polonijnych
dc.contributor.author
Stasiewicz-Bieńkowska, Agnieszka - 185955
dc.contributor.editor
Bacon, Simon
dc.date.accessioned
2024-05-07T12:28:56Z
dc.date.available
2024-05-07T12:28:56Z
dc.date.issued
2024
dc.description.physical
195-209
dc.description.series
Interdisciplinary Research in Gender
dc.identifier.doi
10.4324/9781003197775-19
dc.identifier.eisbn
978-1-003-19777-5 (ebk)
dc.identifier.isbn
978-1-032-05491-9 (hbk)
dc.identifier.isbn
978-1-032-05492-6 (pbk)
dc.identifier.uri
https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/handle/item/338628
dc.language
eng
dc.language.container
eng
dc.place
London
dc.place
New York
dc.publisher
Routledge
dc.publisher.ministerial
Routledge
dc.rights
Dodaję tylko opis bibliograficzny
dc.rights.licence
Bez licencji otwartego dostępu
dc.subtype
Article
dc.title
The Witcher and Ciri of Cintra as the heroic final girl
dc.title.container
Heroic girls as figures of resistance and futurity in popular culture
dc.type
BookSection
dspace.entity.typeen
Publication
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