Note on this edition: this is an electronic version of the 1999 book ...

Unravelling the Demonic Text 109Both the theories of the self and theories of the text have bifurcatedinto two main alternatives: theories either tend to reconcile and resolve possibleconflicts and contradictions into some “positive identity,” or favoursuch conflicts, treasuring their expressive and subversive potentials.To my mind, the demonic can be most fruitfully read in the tension andundecidability of these alternatives. The blasphemy, heterogeneity and conflictsof this area challenge interpretative activity and bestow a sense of urgencyon attempts to reach a “healing interpretation.” Yet, such an interpretationcan never be total, or complete, if it is to be faithful to its demonicsubject matter; if a demonic text can harbour a “textual self,” such an identitycan only be polyphonic, contradictory – possessed by “many voices.”The second part of my study explores the demonic in various populartexts that can be identified as “fictions” in a more traditional sense. The nextchapter operates as a short introduction to the demons in horror literature,chapters five to eight discuss examples taken from this genre, whereas theremaining two analyses are dedicated to the developments outside horror asa genre.