My dissertation investigates culturally significant overlaps between contemporary works of autofiction and horror. I contend that both respective categories exhibit a parodic relationship to their own genres, and I situate this argument within tentative designations that I call Digital Autofiction and Weird Horror. Parody here is re-contextualized in the contemporary moment to reflect a mode of genre engagement that decidedly moves away from postmodern associations of irony, pastiche, and fragmentation. Instead, I conceptualize and engage with a notion of parody that has evolved to fit what might be called a metamodern moment. This framing is explored through close readings of texts that I assert can be reliably placed in a “middle-of-genre” spectrum: works which neither fully embrace their genre conventions nor overtly advance their boundaries in formal evolution.
In pairing two ostensibly dissimilar genres together, I engage in an unconventional critical study that finds mutual identity amidst both genres’ shared contentions and popular receptions alike. In that way, one primary ambition for this project is to better understand how literary genres have been read, performed, and circulated in the last decade by juxtaposing thematic difference in order to reveal shared histories of influence. Another ambition is to introduce a proposed “Auto-Horror” sub-genre that has emerged in our current literary landscape, and which I believe is worth devoted critical attention as a form of “post-Covid” era literary experimentation.
In readings of contemporary novels by Patricia Lockwood, Mariana Enríquez, Brett Easton Ellis, David Demchuk, and others, my dissertation provides a new context in which to consider today’s fiction and the way it uniquely engages with still-lingering postmodern aesthetic sensibilities. Finally, this work contributes to a growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship devoted to recontextualizing genre as a whole—reframing its conventional interpretation as a categorizing system towards a conceptualizing that is more expansive and generative; one that operates beyond classificatory utility.
","abstract_html":"<p>My dissertation investigates culturally significant overlaps between contemporary works of autofiction and horror. I contend that both respective categories exhibit a parodic relationship to their own genres, and I situate this argument within tentative designations that I call Digital Autofiction and Weird Horror. Parody here is re-contextualized in the contemporary moment to reflect a mode of genre engagement that decidedly moves away from postmodern associations of irony, pastiche, and fragmentation. Instead, I conceptualize and engage with a notion of parody that has evolved to fit what might be called a metamodern moment. This framing is explored through close readings of texts that I assert can be reliably placed in a “middle-of-genre” spectrum: works which neither fully embrace their genre conventions nor overtly advance their boundaries in formal evolution.</p> <p>In pairing two ostensibly dissimilar genres together, I engage in an unconventional critical study that finds mutual identity amidst both genres’ shared contentions and popular receptions alike. In that way, one primary ambition for this project is to better understand how literary genres have been read, performed, and circulated in the last decade by juxtaposing thematic difference in order to reveal shared histories of influence. Another ambition is to introduce a proposed “Auto-Horror” sub-genre that has emerged in our current literary landscape, and which I believe is worth devoted critical attention as a form of “post-Covid” era literary experimentation.</p> <p>In readings of contemporary novels by Patricia Lockwood, Mariana Enríquez, Brett Easton Ellis, David Demchuk, and others, my dissertation provides a new context in which to consider today’s fiction and the way it uniquely engages with still-lingering postmodern aesthetic sensibilities. Finally, this work contributes to a growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship devoted to recontextualizing genre as a whole—reframing its conventional interpretation as a categorizing system towards a conceptualizing that is more expansive and generative; one that operates beyond classificatory utility.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kohlhauf, Kevin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Selah Saterstrom","Eric Gould","Billy J. Stratton","Jennifer Pap"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-06-15T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-06-15T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:48Z","subjects":["Genre","Autofiction","Horror","Contemporary fiction","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature","Other English Language and Literature"],"languages":["English (eng)"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.du.edu/restrictedetd/109","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Selah Saterstrom","Eric Gould","Billy J. Stratton","Jennifer Pap"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kohlhauf, Kevin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Genre","Autofiction","Horror","Contemporary fiction","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature","Other English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English (eng)"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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In pairing two ostensibly dissimilar genres together, I engage in an unconventional critical study that finds mutual identity amidst both genres’ shared contentions and popular receptions alike. In that way, one primary ambition for this project is to better understand how literary genres have been read, performed, and circulated in the last decade by juxtaposing thematic difference in order to reveal shared histories of influence. Another ambition is to introduce a proposed “Auto-Horror” sub-genre that has emerged in our current literary landscape, and which I believe is worth devoted critical attention as a form of “post-Covid” era literary experimentation.
In readings of contemporary novels by Patricia Lockwood, Mariana Enríquez, Brett Easton Ellis, David Demchuk, and others, my dissertation provides a new context in which to consider today’s fiction and the way it uniquely engages with still-lingering postmodern aesthetic sensibilities. Finally, this work contributes to a growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship devoted to recontextualizing genre as a whole—reframing its conventional interpretation as a categorizing system towards a conceptualizing that is more expansive and generative; one that operates beyond classificatory utility.
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In pairing two ostensibly dissimilar genres together, I engage in an unconventional critical study that finds mutual identity amidst both genres’ shared contentions and popular receptions alike. In that way, one primary ambition for this project is to better understand how literary genres have been read, performed, and circulated in the last decade by juxtaposing thematic difference in order to reveal shared histories of influence. Another ambition is to introduce a proposed “Auto-Horror” sub-genre that has emerged in our current literary landscape, and which I believe is worth devoted critical attention as a form of “post-Covid” era literary experimentation.
In readings of contemporary novels by Patricia Lockwood, Mariana Enríquez, Brett Easton Ellis, David Demchuk, and others, my dissertation provides a new context in which to consider today’s fiction and the way it uniquely engages with still-lingering postmodern aesthetic sensibilities. Finally, this work contributes to a growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship devoted to recontextualizing genre as a whole—reframing its conventional interpretation as a categorizing system towards a conceptualizing that is more expansive and generative; one that operates beyond classificatory utility.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/restrictedetd/109"],"dc:language":["English (eng)"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"dc:subject":["Genre","Autofiction","Horror","Contemporary fiction","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature","Other English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Genres of Parody: Autofiction, Horror, and the Contemporary Novel"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:48Z"}