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Artistic and Political Monstrosities in Literature and Cinema

Artistic and Political Monstrosities in Literature and Cinema

Publié le par Alexandre Gefen (Source : Oliver C. SPECK)

Vampires, Cannibals, and Other Horrific Creatures: Artistic and Political Monstrosities in Literature and Cinema

University of North Carolina Wilmington, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Fifth Annual Multidisciplinary Colloquium on Art and Politics

16-18 March, 2007: University of North Carolina Wilmington Campus

In English, the term “monster”—as the French “monstre,” Spanish, “monstruo,” Italian and Portuguese “monstro,” and German, “das Monstrum”—is derived from the Latin “monstrum,” a noun at the source of two suggestive verbs in the language. The first, “monstrare,” means to demonstrate, an action that already reveals the contentious qualities of a related verb “monere,” which means “to warn, portend, admonish.” The etymology of “monster” thus evokes essential actions related to it—to evince someone or something (monstrous) and to warn of the threat that it inherently poses. That these verbs are related to “monster” is not surprising, as the term spans a number of meanings indicating the spectacle of monstrosity. From deformed or otherwise freakish humans and animals—real or imagined—to creatures with size and strength of gargantuan proportions or evil beings who carry out cruel, horrific deeds, monsters always seem to take on a variety of negative connotations.

In our investigation of monstrosities in literature and cinema, we wish to examine the political dimensions of literary and filmic representations of monsters by calling into question the nefarious provocations frequently associated with them. What are the artist's aims and intentions of depicting monsters in literature and cinema? What roles do monsters play in a writer or filmmaker's narrative strategy and political message? Do monsters inherently warn of a fundamental threat to society? Are they unequivocally represented as Other? Do some artists portray monsters in a positive light? How can the monstrous serve as a useful model of a particular ideology or counter-ideology? Is the term “monster” an adequate blanket term for vampires, cannibals and horrific creatures in general? If so, what constitutes the unifying quality of the category, and what useful purpose might it serve? What are the specific qualities of each that permit vampires, cannibals and other horrific creatures to become tropes, models, masks, vehicles or even modes of resistance through irreducible difference? How are these tropes, models, masks and modes deployed in discourses pertaining to identity and subjectivity, especially as these are implicated in the political futures of a unified Europe, the postcolonial third world and other collectivities under the biopower of Empire?

Please send 10-page paper, as an e-mail attachment saved in Word or RTF, to Oliver C. Speck, Associate Professor of German (specko@uncw.edu), by the deadline of January 31, 2007. While submissions from all traditions and periods are welcome, papers must be written in English; accepted submissions may be expanded to 18 pages for eventual publication.

  • Responsable :
    OLIVER C. SPECK
  • Adresse :
    UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WILMINGTON