Monsters: interdisciplinary explorations in monstrosity.
Erle, S. and Hendry, H. (2020) Monsters: interdisciplinary explorations in monstrosity. Palgrave Communications, 6 (53). ISSN 2055-1045
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Abstract
There is a continued fascination with all things monster. This is partly due to the popular reception of Mary Shelley’s Monster, termed a ‘new species’ by its overreaching but admiringly determined maker Victor Frankenstein in the eponymous novel first published in 1818. The enduring impact of Shelley’s novel, which spans a plethora of subjects and genres in imagery and themes, raises questions of origin and identity, death, birth and family relationships, as well as the contradictory qualities of the monster. Monsters serve as metaphors for anxieties of aberration and innovation (Punter and Byron, 2004). Stephen Asma (2009) notes that monsters represent evil or moral transgression and each epoch, to speak with Michel Foucault (Abnormal: lectures at the Collège de France, 1975–75, 2003, p. 66), evidences a ‘particular type of monster’. Academic debates tend to explore how social and cultural threats come to be embodied in the figure of a monster and their actions literalise our deepest fears (Gilmore, 2009; Scott, 2007). Monsters in contemporary culture, however, have become more humane than ever before. Monsters are strong, resilient, creative and sly creatures. Through their playful and invigorating energy they can be seen to disrupt and unsettle. They still cater to the appetite for horror, but they also encourage us to feel empathy. The encounter with a monster can enable us to stop, wonder and change our attitudes towards technology, our body and each other. This commentary article considers the use of the concepts of ‘monsters’ or ‘monstrosity’ in literature, contemporary research, culture and teaching contexts at the intersection of the Humanities and the Social Sciences.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | © 2020 Palgrave Macmillan. This is an author-produced version of a paper accepted for publication in Palgrave Communications. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
| Divisions: | School of Humanities |
| Depositing User: | Dr Sibylle Erle |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Mar 2020 14:37 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Apr 2020 08:21 |
| URI: | https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/722 |
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