OK, I need to a place to keep track of the Buffy-related reading I am doing, in case anybody ever wants to know about it. And this shall be that place.
Abbott, Stacey, "A Little Less Ritual and a Little More Fun: The Modern Vampire in Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 3, (June 2001).
How Buffy has gradually moved from more to less traditional ideas of both vampires and slayers.
Billson, Anne, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, British Film Institute (January 26, 2006).
Season-by-season overview and criticism of Buffy. Author favors first three seasons and focuses on Buffy as a new type of female action hero.
Bowers, Cynthia, " Generation Lapse: The Problematic Parenting of Joyce Summers and Rupert Giles," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, (March 2001).
Looks at three episodes ("The Dark Age," "Ted," and "Band Candy") as an example of the failures in adulthood/parenthood made by Joyce and Giles and how Buffy and her teenage friends not only protect them/save the day but also take responsibility for their mistakes. This is seen as a metaphor for the Baby Boomers and Gen. X.
Breton, Rob and Lindsey McMaster, "Dissing the Age of MOO: Initiatives, Alternatives, and Rationality," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 1, (January 2001).
Discussion of generational conflict and how the youth culture is more successful than hyper-rational adult culture (MOO and The Initiative) in Buffy.
Busse, Kristina, "Crossing the Final Taboo: Family, Sexuality, and Incest in the Buffyverse," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 207-217.
Article about hurt-comfort sub-genre of fan fiction, particularly focused on how vampire families are both sexual and parental (incestuous).
Callander, Michelle, "Bram Stoker's Buffy: Traditional Gothic and Contemporary Culture," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 3, (June 2001).
Exploration of how Buffy fits into traditional gothic lore, particularly Dracula. Finds that there are fewer than expected differences between the two.
Campbell, Richard and Caitlin Campbell, "Aliens, Teens and Television," Television Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Winter 2001).
Father-daughter look at supernatural teens in media (Harry Potter, Buffy, Angel, and Roswell).
Clark, Daniel A. and P. Andrew Miller, "Buffy, the Scooby Gang, and Monstrous Authority: BtVS and the Subversion of Authority," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 3, (June 2001).
Looks at loci of power in the show and how it is ultimately corrupting to all of the characters who get a taste of it, aside from Buffy herself. Claims that most of the characters have to choose between power and soul.
Davis, Robert A., "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Pedagogy of Fear," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 3, (June 2001).
Another discussion of Buffy as Gothic work.
DeKelb-Rittenhouse, Diane, "Sex and the Single Vampire: The Evolution of the Vampire Lothario and Its Representation in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 143-152.
Look at Spike and Angel as "logical evolution" of vampire Lothario, dating back to Dracula and before.
Dechert, S. Renee, ""My Boyfriend's in the Band": Buffy and the Rhetoric of Music," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 218-226.
Edwards, Lynne, "Slaying in Black and White: Kendra as Tragic Mulatta in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 85-97.
Looks at Kendra as an example of "tragic mulatta" tale, for whom assimilation ultimately means death.
Erickson, Gregory, ""Sometimes You Need a Story": American Christianity, Vampires, and Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 108-119.
Buffy as "truly postmodern religious experience." Vampires as American Christ figures.
Fuchs, Cynthia, ""Did Anyone Ever Explain to You What 'Secret Identity' Means?" Race and Displacement in Buffy and Dark Angel," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 96-115.
Relationship between youth and race in the two shows, argument for analogy between different species and different races. Says white is a stand-in for normal in Buffy.
Green, Richard and Wayne Yen, " Why Can't We Spike Spike?: Moral Themes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, (March 2001).
Look at how Buffy's moral universe is built, what the rules are, and how this relates to real life.
Helford, Elyce Ray, ""My Emotions Give Me Power": The Containment of Girls' Anger in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 18-34.
Looks at how female anger is portrayed by three slayers, argues that only Buffy's white middle-class anger submersion into humor is prized in the Buffy world.
Hastie, Amelie, "The Epistemological Stakes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Television Criticism and Marketing Demands," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 74-95.
How TV "drives demand" for scholarship, and how this scholarship can be part of the marketing of the programs.
Hill, Annette and Ian Calcutt, "Vampire Hunters: The Scheduling and Reception of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel in the United Kingdom," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 56-77.
Look at how UK viewers saw BTVS and Angel--censored and on early, and how it was alienating.
Kearney, Mary Celeste, "The Changing Face of Teen Television, or Why We All Love Buffy," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 17-41.
Discussion of how "teen" shows, particularly Buffy, appeal to wider (pre-teen to adult) audience and how this is necessary to keep networks alive. Says Buffy attracted older viewers due to fantastic aspects, throwback to 70s superheroines, exploration of alternative practices, aethetics, and the focus on having to perform multiple roles in your life.
Keller, Donald, "Spirit Guides and Shadow Selves: From the Dream Life of Buffy (and Faith)," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 165-177.
Dream analysis of three of Buffy's dreams and Faith's long dream before she comes out of the coma. Argues that they are not communication from the figures in them, but are prophetic. Function of dreams in Buffy is "dramatizing internal attitudes, symbolically representing crucial interrelationships, summing up episodes or longer narrative arcs, and oracularly hinting at events to come.
Krimmer, Elisabeth and Shilpa Raval, ""Digging the Undead": Death and Desire in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 153-164.
Explores love-and-death motif in Buffy/Angel relationship. Subversion of traditional narrative in that a woman's body isn't used as a sacrifice to restore order and a woman's desire doesn't bring about chaos.
Krzywinska, Tanya, "Hubble-Bubble, Herbs and Grimoires: Practical Magic and Witchcraft in Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 178-194.
Discussion of magic in Buffy, specifically the way in which the show's view of witchcraft changes over time (first four seasons). Also touches on changes in how "evil" and "demon" are defined over time.
Leon, Hilary M., "Why We Love the Monsters: How Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Wound Up Dating the Enemy," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 1, (January 2001).
Comparison of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake and Buffy and discussion of why both are drawn to monsters are romantic prospects.
Levine, Elana, "Buffy and the "New Girl Order": Defining Feminism and Femininity," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 168-189.
Argument for Buffy as a third-wave feminist, rather than post-feminist, text.
Levine, Elana and Lisa Parks, "Introduction," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 1-15.
Basic into to the book, then discussion of how to study a series that has already ended, and the ways in which Buffy and other shows "live" after they are off-air (DVDs, merchandise, online communities/fan fiction, etc.)
McClelland, Bruce, "By Whose Authority? The Magical Tradition, Violence and the Legitimation of the Vampire Slayer," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 1, (January 2001).
How is Buffy's "vigilante justice" justified? Authority as derived from tradition (and from the things you kill disappearing).
McCracken, Allison, "At Stake: Angel's Body, Fantasy Masculinity, and Queer Desire in Teen Television," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 116-144.
Intense article about Angel's body as a site of violent eroticism on Buffy and the first two seasons of Angel, and how this ties into the aim of validating young female and queer sexuality in the shows.
McNeilly, Kevin, Christina Sylka, and Susan R. Fisher, " Kiss the Librarian, But Close the Hellmouth: "It's Like a Whole Big Sucking Thing" Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, (March 2001).
Look at how viewers are represented in Buffy and how the show forces you to question your passive viewer role while watching it. Focused on Giles and Xander as the characters representing the viewers at different points.
Mendlesohn, Farah, "Surpassing the Love of Vampires, Or, Why (and How) a Queer Reading of the Buffy/Willow Relationship is Denied," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 45-60.
Title kind of tells all--article is about why a queer reading of Buffy/Willow doesn't work, mostly due to Buffy's ongoing need (through season four) for male validation. Article's claims seem very outdated in light of seasons 5-7.
Middleton, Jason, "Buffy as Femme Fatale: The Cult Heroine and the Male Spectator," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 145-167.
Looks at the way Buffy has been transformed into a heterosexual male-appealing character in fandom, especially comics and horror magazines.
Money, Mary Alice, "The Undemonization of Supporting Characters in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 98-107.
Discusses characters "undemonized" in 3rd-5th seasons (Angel, Spike, Cordelia, Anya, Wesley) and how this shows human-to-demon is a range rather than a dichotomy. Says demons stand for minorities feared or hated by the majority and undemonizing them unmarginalizes them.
Murray, Susan "I Know What You Did Last Summer: Sarah Michelle Gellar and Crossover Teen Stardom," Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Duke University Press: 2007, p. 42-55.
Looks at SMG as an example of late 90s "teen crossover stardom," with film, TV, and internet aspects (as well as advertising and merchandise). Argues that the stars, like SMG, serve as ties between different products for a generation that grew up on media crossover.
Overbey, Karen Eileen and Lahney Preston-Matto, "Staking in Tongues: Speech Act as Weapon in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 73-84.
Discusses speech (Buffy's, Xander's, Willow's, and Giles') as a weapon in Buffy.
Pender, Patricia ""I'm Buffy and You're . . . History": The Postmodern Politics of Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 35-44.
Argues against criticism of Buffy as either "good" (feminist) or "bad" (regressive), saying that the femme/camp of Buffy is part of the point.
Rose, Anita, "Of Creatures and Creators: Buffy Does Frankenstein," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 133-142.
Buffy season 4 as Frankenstein story, with anxieties about science/technology and Romantic hero.
Siemann, Catherine, "Darkness Falls on the Endless Summer: Buffy as Gidget for the Fin de Siècle," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 120-129.
Comparison of Buffy and Gidget as "California girls;" analysis of how they both fit into literary fin de siecle literary movement (New Woman, Decadence, Gothic). Gothic stuff is particularly interesting.
Skwire, Sarah E., "Whose Side Are You On, Anyway? Children, Adults, and the Use of Fairy Tales in Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 195-204.
Looks at fairy tales in Killed By Death, Gingerbread, and Hush. Argues that traditional fairy tales are used by adults to teach children morality lessons by translating the literal to the metaphorical. In Buffy, they're used oppositely--children understand the truth, adults are in the dark, and the monsters are real.
Spaise, Terry L., "Necrophilia and SM: the deviant side of Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Journal of Popular Culture, May, 2005, 744-762.
Article is about the history of vampires as sexual deviants in literature and how this plays out in Buffy.
Wandless, William, "Undead Letters: Searches and Researches in Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 1, (January 2001).
How research is used in Buffy, and how lack of communal research activity drives the characters apart in Season 4.
Wilcox, Ronda, "There Will Never Be a 'Very Special' Buffy: Buffy and the Monsters of Teen Life," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, (March 2001).
Discussion of monster themes and language in Buffy and how they are used to separate teens from adults and explore typical "teen problem" themes.
Wilcox, Ronda, ""Who Died and Made Her the Boss?" Patterns of Mortality in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 3-17.
Discusses three ways in which Buffy discourages traditional male morality: patriarchal succession, mortal vulnerability of hero's love objects, and demonizing of those killed by hero.
Williams, J.P., "Choosing Your Own Mother: Mother-Daughter Conflicts in Buffy," Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: April 2002, p. 61-72.
Discussion of positive adult female role models in Buffy/bad mothering (Joyce, Willow's mom, Amy's mom). Says Buffy is "overfathered and undermothered."
Winslade, J. Lawton, "Teen Witches, Wiccans, and "Wanna-Blessed-Be's": Pop-Culture Magic in Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 1, (January 2001).
How Buffy fits in to the greater pattern of "pop-culture magic" in modern society, how language is used to police the boundaries of what is and is not magical.
Wisker, Gina, "Vampires and School Girls: High School Jinks on the Hellmouth," Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, (March 2001).
Discussion of Buffy as a figure positioned in between traditional ideas of vampires and vampire hunters, and how this makes her a new type of feminist model.