Cohen, Monster Culture, 7 Theses – Flashcards
Flashcard maker : Mya Day
thesis 1
monster’s body = cultural body
-never just a monster – always signifies something else
-reflection of fears/anxieties and projection of them
-tied to time/place/feeling of when they were created
-never just a monster – always signifies something else
-reflection of fears/anxieties and projection of them
-tied to time/place/feeling of when they were created
thesis 2
monster always escapes
-either gets away and comes back or you kill one and it’s replaced by more
-need to be examined in the culture and time that creates them (same monsters are used over and over again, but they have different meanings each time)
-becoming more good-accepting (blending lines between good and bad, not black and white – grey)
-either gets away and comes back or you kill one and it’s replaced by more
-need to be examined in the culture and time that creates them (same monsters are used over and over again, but they have different meanings each time)
-becoming more good-accepting (blending lines between good and bad, not black and white – grey)
thesis 3
monsters are the harbinger of category crisis
-don’t fall into neat/easy categories that are known to us (don’t fit into our known world, simply unnatural)
-dangerous because “disturbing hybrid” (zombie = dead human but alive)
-defy logic and our current knowledge
-how did it start? what causes it? how do we stop/kill them?
-don’t fall into neat/easy categories that are known to us (don’t fit into our known world, simply unnatural)
-dangerous because “disturbing hybrid” (zombie = dead human but alive)
-defy logic and our current knowledge
-how did it start? what causes it? how do we stop/kill them?
thesis 4
monster dwells at gates of difference
-embody “the other” – that’s what scares us
-how it scares us now: bad guy = Russian = alien from outside us
-history itself becomes monster
-heterosexuality vs. homosexuality, black people
-embody “the other” – that’s what scares us
-how it scares us now: bad guy = Russian = alien from outside us
-history itself becomes monster
-heterosexuality vs. homosexuality, black people
thesis 5
monster polices borders of the possible
-every monster lives 2 stories: how it came to be cultural use it serves
-borders we cannot cross
-it’s always outside society
-threat of it keeps you in your place or from going somewhere
-not only physical, also social/cultural borders
-borders of knowledge – don’t ask questions or figure out what is going on (protection vs. powerful control
-every monster lives 2 stories: how it came to be cultural use it serves
-borders we cannot cross
-it’s always outside society
-threat of it keeps you in your place or from going somewhere
-not only physical, also social/cultural borders
-borders of knowledge – don’t ask questions or figure out what is going on (protection vs. powerful control
thesis 6
fear of monster is really a kind of desire
-forbidden places
-attracts and replaces – freedom, alter ego, release (Jekyll and Hyde)
-dangerously entices – we’re scared, but we need them
-do they really exist? if not, how could we?
-part of escapist fantasy (Halloween)
-we love them (scary movies, but you’re safe)
-forbidden places
-attracts and replaces – freedom, alter ego, release (Jekyll and Hyde)
-dangerously entices – we’re scared, but we need them
-do they really exist? if not, how could we?
-part of escapist fantasy (Halloween)
-we love them (scary movies, but you’re safe)
thesis 7
monster stands at threshold of becoming
-always return
-bear human knowledge from outside
-ask us how we perceive world
-ask us to reevaluate cultural assumptions on race, gender, sexuality, perception toward differences and tolerance toward its expression
-ask us why we have created them
-we create them from imagination
-they’re always there, but we need them
-always return
-bear human knowledge from outside
-ask us how we perceive world
-ask us to reevaluate cultural assumptions on race, gender, sexuality, perception toward differences and tolerance toward its expression
-ask us why we have created them
-we create them from imagination
-they’re always there, but we need them
