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Monsters in Society: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
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This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2014.
Are monsters and the monstrous phenomena that transition time and space? If monsters were a part of our past and are a part of our present, will they be a part of our future? This volume demonstrates the universality of monsters and the ubiquitous nature of monsterisation from different perspectives and shows that the creation of monsters and our ongoing confrontation with them is bound by human sociality; so much so that the monsters we have been surrounded by and will encounter in the future bear characteristics that mirror inherently human modes of identity construction, for example via age, gender and visual appearance. This process can differ across life stages, such as childhood versus adulthood. Monsters, or what a society identifies as monstrous, are not simply cultural artefacts communicated via literature, historical accounts or modern media productions such as films or series. They are integral components of the human psyche. Therefore, they have existed in symbiosis with the homo socius, and will probably continue to do so in his future.
Are monsters and the monstrous phenomena that transition time and space? If monsters were a part of our past and are a part of our present, will they be a part of our future? This volume demonstrates the universality of monsters and the ubiquitous nature of monsterisation from different perspectives and shows that the creation of monsters and our ongoing confrontation with them is bound by human sociality; so much so that the monsters we have been surrounded by and will encounter in the future bear characteristics that mirror inherently human modes of identity construction, for example via age, gender and visual appearance. This process can differ across life stages, such as childhood versus adulthood. Monsters, or what a society identifies as monstrous, are not simply cultural artefacts communicated via literature, historical accounts or modern media productions such as films or series. They are integral components of the human psyche. Therefore, they have existed in symbiosis with the homo socius, and will probably continue to do so in his future.
Andrea S. Dauber lectures at UC San Diego and University of San Diego as an independent researcher and is Managing Editor at De Gruyter Open. As a sociologist she is particularly interested in gender and crime, the criminal justice system and the media. She holds a Dr. Phil. from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.