Volume VI Special Issue V June 2026

Name of Author : Carolyn Mary Padua

Title of the paper : The Politics of Viscosity: Gender and Performativity through the Lens of Blue Humanities in Stranger Things

Abstract: This paper delves deep into the field of gendered politics and performativity, aligned with the theory of Blue Humanities as it highlights the aquatic acoustics of perception in the series Stranger Things created by Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer. The zone of the Upside Down is critically analysed as a toxic, fluid zone with blurred boundaries as it suggests the contamination through the vivid portrayal of filth and darkness thereby foregrounding the intrinsic relationship between the human and the environment. Visual techniques such as the range of low visibility, slowed time and suspension of particulate matter are read in the light of aquatic aesthetics where clarity is delayed. The black void entered by Eleven, once she is immersed in water, acts as a dominant area of discovery, enabling telepathic reach. Joyces use of Christmas lights to communicate with Will parallels the use of lights at the time of navigation underwater. The coexistence of Hawkins and Upside Down collapses the hierarchical distinctions of power and order as the two worlds act in a permeable way of communicating with its residents. Drawing on submarine spatial knowledge, the series disrupts the binaries of surface and depth. Tracing the elements of gendered performativity, the study argues that the fragmented storytelling structure mirrors the disjointed temporality. It also focuses on the topic of scientific experimentation on both the mind as well as the body of the residents of the lab, transforming them into mere objects of need through dehumanization techniques. The control of the mind as well as the body of several characters throughout the series reflect a sight of control. The study unfolds how this control acts not as weakness but as a source of power and solidarity.

Keywords : Blue Humanities, Sonic Submersion, Dehumanization, Gender, Performativity

DOI :

Page Number : 158-161