As monster theory highlights, monsters are cultural symbols, guarding the borders that society creates to protect its values and norms. Adolescence is the time when one explores and aims at crossing borders to learn the rules of the culture that one will fit into as an adult. Exploring the roles of monsters in coming-of-age narratives and the need to confront and understand the monstrous, this work explores recent developments in the presentation of monsters—such as the vampire, the zombie, and the man-made monster—in maturation narratives, then moves on to discuss monsters inhabiting the psychic landscapes of child characters. Finally, it touches on monsters in science fiction, in which facing the monstrous is a variation of the New World narrative. Discussions of novels by M. R. Carey, Suzanne Collins, Neil Gaiman, Theodora Goss, Daryl Gregory, Sarah Maria Griffin, Seanan McGuire, Stephenie Meyer, Patrick Ness, and Jon Skovron are complemented by analysis of television series, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Westworld.
The Truths of Monsters: Coming of Age with Fantastic Media
Coming of Age with Fantastic Media
-
Creators
-
Series
-
Publisher
-
Release date
March 18, 2021 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781476643748
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781476643748
- File size: 3624 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
May 14, 2021
In The Truths of Monsters, Limp�r, a senior lecturer of English at P�zm�ny P�ter Catholic University in Budapest, explores the historical and contemporary narrative of the monster in fiction. Rather than focus on the classic tropes of the evil child or the evil monster versus the innocent child, Limp�r chooses to focus on adolescent dealings with monsters, and the different parts of society they occupy. She discusses how monsters inhabit the "border zone" between childhood safety and the unknowns of adulthood, and are used to represent the uncertainties with coming-of-age. Vampires, zombies, and more classic monsters feature prominently in modern forms. Using more-recent novels, movies, and TV shows, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book, Limp�r gives readers familiar references as they read about monster psychology and how the characters' reactions to their circumstances parallel real-life reactions to things out of one's control. This book is an interesting read for all lovers of fantasy and horror, and its academic tone could also make it useful for a freestyle literature course.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
-