Stalking

Stalking is very real and very pervasive. In recent years more and more people have been harassed by strangers or persecuted by ex-lovers. Almost any celebrity you care to mention has been stalked. Numerous films and novels revolve around the figure of the stalker. But, though seemingly everywhere, it is only since the 1990s that the term ‘stalking’ has begun to be widely used.This unprecedented study reveals the cultural dimension of this obsessive behaviour and examines stalking in the context of contemporary media-saturated culture. Moving from novels of previous historical periods such as Richardson’s Clarissa and Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend, to classic Hollywood cinema such as Play Misty For Me and Taxi Driver, to more recent stalking films and novels, Fatal Attraction, One Hour Photo and Enduring Love, Nicol skilfully shows how stalking has pervaded human society for over two hundred years. He also considers famous cases of celebrity stalking such as Jodie Foster, John Lennon, Monica Seles and Jill Dando and related issues such as the internet and TV shows.By examining the depiction of stalking in books, films and the news, and drawing on forensic psychology, psychoanalysis and cultural theory, this book reveals how fears and desires are expressed in contemporary culture. Stalking offers a unique analysis and history for anyone who wants to make sense of this contemporary phenomenon.