The Monster Theory Reader ed. by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock (review)

The Monster Theory Reader is an impressive gathering of scholarship that explores historical and contemporary approaches to monsters and monster theory. What is a monster, after all? Why do we create them? How are they represented in film, literature, or society? What does their existence tell us about ourselves and our culture? To tackle these monstrous questions, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock assembled essays from a variety of disciplines because monsters do not inhabit a single field of study. Monsters have grabbed the attention and fascination of literary and film critics, philosophers, psychologists, and roboticists (to name a few), making "this collection [its own] kind of monster—a Frankenstein's creature assembled out of diverse approaches and perspectives" (p. 2). Yet they all fit together perfectly.

Weinstock's introduction provides a captivating overview of the genealogy of monster theory. He details how approaches to monstrosity have shifted over time from looking monstrous (birth defects) to acting monstrous (harmful behavior), as well as the twentieth-century development of viewing the monster as a victim and "giving voice to the monster" (p. 28). Important keywords and concepts are highlighted including teratology, hybridization, and cryptids. As a welcome bonus, Weinstock provides a list of "Further Reading" at the end of his introduction for those interested in continuing their monster theory research. And who isn't? Be sure to bookmark this special monster feature for later consumption.

Following the introduction is a standalone prelude chapter, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's "Monster Culture (Seven Theses)," followed by a four-part series of chapters: "The Monster Theory Toolbox," "Monsterizing Difference," "Monsters and Culture," and "The Promises of Monsters." Weinstock selected Cohen's essay as the opener because he is best known for giving monster theory its name, and his work "provides a clear set of parameters for what monsters are and how they function" (p. 29) that is referenced numerous times throughout this book.

In "The Monster Theory Toolbox," readers are introduced to the "important concepts and terminology . . . that model approaches often utilized in contemporary discussions of monsters and monstrosity" (p. 29). Included within is Sigmund Freud's essay on "The Uncanny," the concept in which "the familiar becomes strange or something strange seems oddly familiar" (p. 29). Masahiro Mori's "The Uncanny Valley" is a short chapter on the effects of making robots more humanlike. Julia Kristeva's "Approaching Abjection" is written in prose and can be a little difficult to follow, but her concept of abjection—the repulsive reaction caused by the separation of self and other—is quite popular in monster studies. Robin Wood's "An Introduction to the American Horror Film" explores repression and otherness through the evolution of horror films. Noël Carroll's "Fantastic Biologies and the Structures of Horrific Imagery," one of my favorite chapters, describes the different ways monsters can take form, whether through fusion, fission, magnification, massification, or horrific metonymy. Jack Halberstam argues in "Parasites and Perverts: An Introduction to Gothic Monstrosity" that "the monster's body . . . is a machine that, in its Gothic mode, produces meaning and can represent any horrible trait that the reader feeds into the narrative" (p. 165). Armed with the tools provided in Part I, readers will be properly equipped for the monsters encountered throughout the rest of the book.

The next 17 chapters that make up Parts II–IV focus more on examining specific types of monstrosity, such as monsterizing mothers, members of the queer community, or those associated with different races, religions, or born with genetic defects. Monsters can even take the form of evil governments, greedy corporations, deadly viruses, or Mother Nature scorned by our treatment of her. The more we understand monsters, the more we can understand the cultures that created them. When we watch a monster film, we as the viewers play a role in monsterizing what we see as different from us, although some viewers may identify with the monster and experience the film through the monster's perspective. Harry...