Monstrous Textualities: Writing the Other in Gothic Narratives of Resistance

Monstrous textuality is when Gothic narratives reflect the monstrous in their narrative structure to create narratives of resistance, allowing writers to meta-narratively reflect their own poetics and textual production and reclaim authority over their work. This book explores the representation of other Others through Black feminist hauntology, fat freak embodiment, and critical posthumanist and cyborg theory.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 15 June 2021
Publisher: University of Wales Press

Monstrous textuality takes center stage when Gothic narratives, such as Frankenstein, embrace the monstrous within their narrative structure to craft narratives of resistance. This literary phenomenon empowers writers to engage in meta-narrative reflection, exploring their own poetics and textual production while reclaiming authority over their work in the face of systemic cultural oppression and Othering. This captivating book delves into the representation of "other Others" through Black feminist hauntology in Toni Morrison's Beloved (1987) and Love (2003). It further explores fat freak embodiment as a feminist resistance strategy in Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus (1984) and Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle (1976). By employing a critical posthumanist and cyborg theoretical framework, the book interprets Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy (2003-13) and Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl (1995) within a broader context. The outcome is a comprehensive argument that sheds light on how these texts can be read, challenging the boundaries of knowledge production and epistemological exploration beyond the confines of the humanist paradigm.

Weight: 544g
Dimension: 223 x 144 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781786837585