Abstract
Like Dorian Gray’s hidden portrait, the monster can be read as the exterior manifestation of the human interior (on an individual and collective level). ‘Monster’ stems from the Latin monstrare (to reveal) and monere (to warn/instruct). Therefore, the appearance of monsters within our cultural products (literature, folklore, film etc.) serve to reveal something about ourselves and to teach us. Similarly, the field of Economics and Humanities, center themselves around the human experience. Economics is the study of human behavior in the face of scarcity, and the Humanities center around the human experience as individuals and societies. This presentation proposes to use the monster as the lens through which we can bridge these two disciplines (Economics and the Humanities) to observe and learn more about ourselves and our choices. Building off theory from Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s seminal work, Monster Theory: Reading Culture (1996) this paper explores how the human experience within the industrialized economy to the knowledge economy can be understood through the representation of the monster within various texts and film. While the study of monsters as a depiction of certain economic phenomena is not new, this study explores the evolution of monstrous representation across two differing economies: the industrial and the knowledge economy. Looking at works such as The Time Machine (1895), White Zombie (1932), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Daybreakers (2009), and Lucy (2014), we tease out the ways in which the corporeal depiction of the monster shifts and evolves to illustrate certain economies.
Presenters
Cynthia JonesAssistant Professor of French, Department of World Languages & Cultures, Weber State University, Utah, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Monsters, Culture, Economics, Humanities, Film, Literature, Theory
