The Monster's Sacrifice—Historic Time: The Uses of Mythic and Liminal Time in Monster Literature

Introduction

Monster literature may be considered a subcategory of the horror genre, which has its roots in Gothic literature. Although much has been made in recent years of the increasing popularity of horror fiction among teens (Reynolds, Brennan, and McCarron 7-10), the fact is monster stories have been popular with all ages in all ages. From Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, which appeared in 1816, to Deborah and James Howe's Bunnicula, published in 1979, to Eric Kimmel's Hassidic tale Gershon's Monster, published in 2000, monster literature has enjoyed an enthusiastic audience among adults and children alike.

Kevin McCarron states in his essay "Point Horror and the Point of Horror" from Frightening Fiction, "It is noticeable that critics of adolescent horror fiction rarely, if ever, accept that the primary concern of the genre is precisely what it appears to be—death and the fear of death" (21). This fear of death is at the heart of all monster literature and may be understood as the fear of losing one's historical identity, the fear of relinquishing one's place in time. The struggle created between categories of time that results from temporal constraints imposed on monsters is the genre's central focus.

While human beings may experience and occupy three temporal realities, monsters are limited to only two. Humans experience linear time, or beginning to end historic time, where the majority of human life is passed; mythic time, which may be entered through the performance of rituals; and liminal time, which human beings may journey into through separation from their community. The monster is restricted to mythic time and liminal time only, being unable to maintain its existence in linear time.

In order to understand the monster's experience in time we must first understand what constitutes monsterhood. The tenth edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary offers a starting point, defining monster as: "I a: an animal or plant of abnormal form or structure b: one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior or character 2: a threatening force" (752). Jerome Jeffrey Cohen's definition deepens our understanding: "monstrous difference tends to be cultural, political, racial, economic, sexual" (7). I would add age-related to Cohen's list; why will become clear as we proceed. Essentially, any individual or group that can be marginalized or viewed as standing outside the norm may be monstrosized.

Monsters are typically liminal in their physical make-up, often displaying characteristics of more than one species, and this is part of what makes them horrific. They are neither one thing nor the other. Their bodies are chaotic, incapable of complete definition, and, thus, resistant to our complete understanding or control (Cohen 6-7).

Monsters are also spatially liminal. They are boundary creatures, lurking in closets, cemeteries, deep woods, and castles on barren mountaintops. They inhabit spaces and places at the far limits of civilization, locations distant from our daily lives (see Shelley's Frankenstein, Stoker's Dracula, and Mayer's There's Something in my Attic for examples of the monster's spatial liminality).

Finally, monsters are liminal in the way they experience time, which brings us to the center of this discussion. The primary concern of monster literature is existence in linear time. For the monster, the consequences of its temporal constraints are emotional isolation and estrangement from human society, human companionship, and human love. Most of human existence takes place within, and has as its core significance the one temporal reality that is unavailable to the monster: historic time.

In her book From Mythic to Linear, Maria Nikolajeva supplies the key to understanding the heart of monster literature: "contemporary Western children's fiction is written from a philosophical viewpoint based on linear time, which has a beginning and an end, and recognizes every event in history as unique" (5). This underlying precept, that human life takes place in linear fashion from birth to death, creates a potent dynamic in monster narratives. When ordinary, historic time is juxtaposed with the other temporal realities that function in monster literature...