Document Type
Book Review
Publication Date
1-2012
Journal Title or Book Title
Speculum
Volume
87
Issue
1
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
This book review was published in Speculum and can also be seen on the journal's website.
DOI
10.1017/S0038713412000528
Abstract
The perceived gender, overt sexuality, and frightening reproductive potential of medieval monsters are placed under the cultural mico- and macro-scope in this revised dissertations, an ambitious and provocative (if sometimes self-limited) addition to the growing field of monster studies. As with most recent explorations in the filed, Dana Oswald's argument (repeated with force and regularity throughout) relives heavily on the work of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, focusing on monsters as embodiments of cultural anxiety. However, the haunting traces of monstrosity collected by Oswald lead her to proclaim that not only does the monster always escape (as theorized by Cohen), but that "the monster always returns" (p.18, for example), thus further emphasizing the particularly sexual anxieties that this collection of "human monsters" embody.
Related Pillar(s)
Study
Recommended Citation
Massey, Jeff Ph.D., "Review of Monsters, Gender, and Sexuality in Medieval English Literature by Dana Oswald" (2012). Faculty Works: ENG (1995-2016). 3.
https://digitalcommons.molloy.edu/eng_fac/3
Included in
English Language and Literature Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons
