Language, Ideology and Identity in Serial Killer Narratives by Gregoriou Christiana;

Language, Ideology and Identity in Serial Killer Narratives by Gregoriou Christiana;

Author:Gregoriou, Christiana;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Language & Literature
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2011-01-11T00:00:00+00:00


Naming and Describing the Dead Men Talking and Their Victims

As with all cases analysed so far, the men and women killers Berry-Dee focuses on are, too, full named at first mention, but thereafter mostly first named, or nicknamed even, when little and innocent (“With a near-death birth, John Jr’s start in life was not without further problems”, 2005: 5; “Aged about five, Johnny started to have seizures”, 2005: 7). The same goes for when the killers themselves are subject to abuse (“His father was a precise patriarch, whom the impressionable young John secretly looked up to, despite the beatings and abuse meted out to him”, 2005: 77; “Michael loved his parents despite the physical and psychological abuse they handed out in spades”, 2009: 215) or neglect (“Kenneth did not enjoy the benefits of having a mother”, 2005: 84). The first naming persists when the now older killers are engaging in action that is not yet murderous, such as thieving (“Most of what Bill stole he stashed”, 2005: 166) though, as expected, stylistic variation is also evident in the naming strategies here also (“But [William] Heirens’s need to steal was too great. His parents still argued incessantly, and William sought peace of mind the only way he knew how”, 2005: 167; “With Julie trying to use [Keith] Jesperson to help her out, and with Keith getting all the free sex he would want [ … ]”, 2009: 176). The killers are instead mostly only surnamed when they are implied to be doing something sinister (“It seemed that young lads were always in Gacy’s presence”, 2005: 19; “Bianchi did more than touch her breast”, 2005: 90), if not clearly criminalising (“This incident was certainly the crucial turning point which led the perverted Buono to become a serial killer”, 2005: 101; “Jablonski [ … ] attempted to rape her”, 2009: 124). In fact, the more deviant and criminalising these killers’ behaviour becomes, the more likely they are to be surnamed to reflect this. Interestingly though, when imprisoned, many of them go back to being first-named again (“In a controlled environment, John [Gacy] was as good as gold”, 2005: 26; “the time approached for John [Cannan]’s release from prison”, 2005: 227), almost wiping the slate clean for them in the process, somewhat giving them a chance at redemption. Killers are also sometimes first-named when their case is subject to examination by various specialists, such as psychologists and lawyers (“[the prosecutor] William Kunkle offered this insight into the case: ‘Basically, the defence claimed that John was a deeply sick individual [ … ]’ ”, 2005: 68), suggesting a real willingness to engage with them as individuals and not mere generic criminals. Despite opting for this particular naming choice in places himself, Berry-Dee also finds himself consciously objecting to it:

The Ross investigation is obviously one of the high points of [Detective] Mike Malchik’s career, and this becomes all too apparent when one visits his spacious, up-scale home, set in lush, green grounds. Photos of him, with



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