A review by kalira
Monster Theory: Reading Culture by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen
slow-paced
0.5
While I did learn some things from this book, it was overwhelmingly a feeling of being despite rather than because of the authors of the various essays. Some of the cringe-inducing terminology can be explained by its publication date (1996), but some of the utterly strange topics and arguments made less so.
I got it anticipating, as it was billed, a collection of essays on monsters in mythology and stories through history. That is not what this is; it attempts to be an assessment of humanity via the lens of "the monstrous".
In the process it crashes through ableism, racism, sexism, and a variety of baseless and strange takes. (One example: Jurassic Park containing no nature, science, or philosophy, and being about 'America' (an apparent monolith, Americanising America itself?), the death of family, abortion. . . There was also, in the Jurassic Park essay, a declaration that sperm banks would bring about the end of patriarchy, and also relationships, sexuality, and love.)
Cojoined twins were used as an example of "the monstrous" in one essay. People who are transgender, likewise. Women, mentioned more than once, though at least that one was mostly in context of 'past views' rather than . . . a direct usage by the modern essayists. In at least one essay, wholesale pieces of an incredibly racist, xenophobic historical (centuries old) work were quoted, but there was no apparent argument made or explanation to go against them . . . so it felt a disingenuous way to simply carry the same message.
I got it anticipating, as it was billed, a collection of essays on monsters in mythology and stories through history. That is not what this is; it attempts to be an assessment of humanity via the lens of "the monstrous".
In the process it crashes through ableism, racism, sexism, and a variety of baseless and strange takes. (One example: Jurassic Park containing no nature, science, or philosophy, and being about 'America' (an apparent monolith, Americanising America itself?), the death of family, abortion. . . There was also, in the Jurassic Park essay, a declaration that sperm banks would bring about the end of patriarchy, and also relationships, sexuality, and love.)
Cojoined twins were used as an example of "the monstrous" in one essay. People who are transgender, likewise. Women, mentioned more than once, though at least that one was mostly in context of 'past views' rather than . . . a direct usage by the modern essayists. In at least one essay, wholesale pieces of an incredibly racist, xenophobic historical (centuries old) work were quoted, but there was no apparent argument made or explanation to go against them . . . so it felt a disingenuous way to simply carry the same message.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Ableism, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Colonisation, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Slavery, and Abortion