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In 1978, the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult released the song "Godzilla" as the first single from the fifth studio album Spectres. Despite not registering on popular charts, it would eventually evolve into an iconic song of its era. "Godzilla" continues to receive airplay on classic rock stations, and it remains a staple of the band's touring performances. In 2019, a cover of the song, more than forty years after its release, made its film debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though the song is primarily a tribute to the Japanese monster from which it gets its name, "Godzilla" also reflects the nuclear fear and paranoia of the 1970s Cold War era. "Godzilla's" cultural impact, the song's lyrics, the Cold War context in which it was written, and its connection to the kaiju films featuring the famous monster are examined. While this is the most popular and well-known song dedicated to Godzilla, it is not the only one. Other compositions have, but they have failed to achieve the iconic status that Blue Öyster Cult's version has attained. This song has evolved into an unofficial anthem for the great monster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a decade of dormancy following the release of Tōhō Studios' Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Godzilla and other kaijū burst back onto the scene with Legendary Pictures' Godzilla (2014). Several American sequels and a television series set in Legendary's MonsterVerse quickly followed over the next ten years. Meanwhile, Japan's Tōhō used their radioactive creation's global success to reignite their own films with Shin Godzilla (2016), an animated trilogy, and Godzilla Minus One (2023). Short-format media like Chibi Godzilla and Godziban also circulated thanks to streaming services. Similarly, Godzilla's longtime competitor Gamera also emerged from hibernation in an animated series produced by Kadokawa Corporation, Gamera Rebirth (2023). But how do these new installations relate to or depart from their predecessors' predilection to address environmental concerns? This article continues the ecocritical analysis of kaijū eiga, expanding it to the 2010s and 2020s, as a coda to our duograph Japan's Green Monsters (2018). This article picks up where we left off, examining the recent releases from an ecocritical standpoint. This analysis reveals that today's films remain steeped in environmental commentary, but both fragmented and updated for the new concerns of the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I will attempt to show how horror movies function as societies' nightmares. They can be interpreted as depictions of our collective struggle to integrate and inevitably repress national trauma. In most psychotherapeutic traditions dreams are regarded as valuable communications from the unconscious and vital for psychological maturation. Among dreams, nightmares often point to indigestible experiences on an individual level. Similarly I will argue that horror movies grapple with our collective traumas and can be interpreted just like dreams. They are our collective nightmares. The logic of this approach is based on psychodynamic and analytic theory and the shared characteristics (isomorphism) of watching a movie and having a dream. Relevant psychodynamic theory and movie analysis will be used to further this point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axial algebras are a class of commutative non-associative algebras which have a natural group of automorphisms, called the Miyamoto group. The motivating example is the Griess algebra which has the Monster sporadic simple group as its Miyamoto group. Previously, using an expansion algorithm, about 200 examples of axial algebras in the same class as the Griess algebra have been constructed in dimensions up to about 300. In this list, we see many reoccurring dimensions which suggests that there may be some unexpected isomorphisms. Such isomorphisms can be found when the full automorphism groups of the algebras are known. Hence, in this paper, we develop methods for computing the full automorphism groups of axial algebras and apply them to a number of examples of dimensions up to 151. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a theoretical exploration of one of the infinite potentialities of the monstrous body, a body that appears as deviant, non-conforming, as it escapes the pre-established boundaries of what is deemed as acceptable; it exceeds and in this exceeding it imposes its diversity while imposing a re-vision. These potentialities have been recognised by feminist, posthuman, and in particular trans* and transfeminist literature and theory, and it is the latter that will be here tackled. The trans* body is one of those bodies that are still demonised as monstrous, and it is precisely on account of that perversity to which it is associated, that, in some instances, it has chosen to identify and align with the monster. Embracing monstrosity becomes not only a symbolic but a political act of disidentification that implies embracing otherness with strength and pride: rejecting the impositions of a normative body, acknowledging one’s own multiplicity and opening up to multiplicities; becoming a figure of ‘potent fusions,’ as well as of ‘potent alliances.’

The current paper is a review of the monograph by Czech computer games researcher Jaroslav Švelch “Player vs. Monster. The Making and Breaking of Videogame Monstrosity” (2023). Švelch's work is dedicated to the figure of the monster in the gaming industry. The first chapter examines different theoretical approaches to the monstrosity. The second chapter touches on the classic gaming concept: “Player vs. Environment”. The third chapter analyzes “monster realism” as a special form of visuality. The fourth chapter of the monograph is devoted to new trends in game designers’ attitudes towards the monstrous: the manifestation of sympathy for monsters, the formlessness and incorporeality of monsters.

The present article develops an examination of the main aspects to be considered in the analysis that the philosophies of G. Canguilhem and M. Foucault devote to the problem of madness. The text stipulates the philosophical conditions of approach that both authors elaborate on to think about the problem of norms in the vital and social sphere. The question: what is crazy? then becomes the question of the social and political practices that have been developed concerning madmen and madness, evidencing the relevance that Canguilhem and Foucault give to the problem of norms, either in an ontological and/or historical-political framework of understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Universum is the property of Instituto de Estudios Humanisticos Juan Ignacio Molina, Universidad de Talca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Dystocia, a challenging condition in obstetrics, can arise from various causes, including fetal monsters with structural abnormalities. This case report presents a unique case of dystocia due to a fetal monster known as Perosomus Elumbis in a beetal breed goat from Pakistan. The 4-years-old pregnant doe presented with prolonged straining and failure to deliver the fetus after 8 hours of labor. Upon examination, the cervix was dilated, and only the forelimbs of the fetus were visible in the birth canal. The subsequent delivery involved the application of manual traction by using a dystocia kit, and the removal of edematous fluid from the legs. The monster fetus exhibited absence of hair growth, along with the absence of thoracic vertebrae. Two other fetuses were present, with one found dead and the other alive. Post-treatment involved fluid therapy, antibiotics, and supportive care for the doe. This case report sheds light on the occurrence of Perosomus Elumbis fetal monsters and their impact on dystocia in goat breeding. Understanding the underlying causes and implementing appropriate management strategies are crucial for successful outcomes in similar cases.

The narrative of a young woman who, after experiencing painful losses in her family, embarks on a journey into the unknown, where she undergoes a strange mutation, ultimately transforming into a reptile, is the subject of the novel El animal sobre la Piedra by Daniela Tarazona, originally published in 2008. The protagonist's metamorphosis sparks a discussion about monstrosity and normality, a split that marks our Western culture and is also the object of Michel Foucault's reflections in Abnormal. The "monster" is, for Foucault, the first of the "figures" or "circles" framed within the concept of "abnormality", an idea that gained a more precise configuration in the nineteenth century. In addition to Foucault, the concepts of facialization and living body, developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, and of metamorphosis, discussed by Emanuelle Coccia and Caroline Bynum, are of interest for the proposed reading. For Emanuelle Coccia, metamorphosis is a biological phenomenon that encompasses the antecedents of both the human and the non-human. The human body, in its historical process, was once that of a primate and this, in turn, also lived other previous life forms. Thus, the present study seeks to disarticulate the opposition constructed between humans and animals, perceiving how animality has always been a negative take on the Antropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dystociac ewe presented with the history of continuous straining, off feed and vaginal discharge had a fetal monster-monocephalus tetrabrachius tetrapus, which was managed by cesarean operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mónica Ojeda (Guayaquil, 1988) is an Ecuadorian writer whose literature is linked to the horror in its multiple forms. Furthermore, Las Voladoras (2020), included Ojeda in a new literary genre called Andean Gothic, a category where horror and Latin American myths convey. This paper analyzes how Ojeda adapts the disposition of the narrative elements to the Andean folklore. Moreover, it studies Ojeda’s reconstruction of the female monster by introducing the figure of a woman and its double, a hybrid between witch and animal, in order to create an alter ego effect. This article addresses how this narrative maneuver links Ojeda to Franz Kafka (1883–1924) and his vision of the monster in society.

In 1978, the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult released the song “Godzilla” as the first single from the fifth studio album Spectres. Despite not registering on popular charts, it would eventually evolve into an iconic song of its era. “Godzilla” continues to receive airplay on classic rock stations, and it remains a staple of the band’s touring performances. In 2019, a cover of the song, more than forty years after its release, made its film debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though the song is primarily a tribute to the Japanese monster from which it gets its name, “Godzilla” also reflects the nuclear fear and paranoia of the 1970s Cold War era. “Godzilla’s” cultural impact, the song’s lyrics, the Cold War context in which it was written, and its connection to the kaiju films featuring the famous monster are examined. While this is the most popular and well-known song dedicated to Godzilla, it is not the only one. Other compositions have, but they have failed to achieve the iconic status that Blue Öyster Cult’s version has attained. This song has evolved into an unofficial anthem for the great monster.

Nineteenth-century literary representations of crowds in urban landscapes convey both the radical and revolutionary aspects of the working-class movement and the anti-modern aspects of chaos and collective violence. This article explores the entangled relationships between crowds and women from the decline of the Chartists in the late 1840s to the rise of the Socialists in the 1880s. In Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton (1848) and Margaret Harkness's George Eastmont, Wanderer (1905), both narrators describe a crowd of angry rioters as the "Frankenstein-monster". This article begins by examining Gaskell's representations of her heroine and crowds in North and South, and then analyses Harkness's novels and articles while scrutinising her figurative use of the word "monster". Despite the differences in the way women's roles are represented in their novels, Gaskell and Harkness associate women's bodily actions with female political statements. This analysis of women's writing on Victorian industrial issues aims to illuminate the textuality of bodies which invites a radical reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Nexus (1900-9909) is the property of Universidad del Valle and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines the cinematic transformations of monstrosity within the context of a growing ecological awareness and the Anthropocene. The authors argue that these transformations reflect a posthumanist shift in popular culture ethics, suggesting that human nature is intertwined with the natural world, indigenous cultures should be protected, and our relationships with other beings should be nurtured. The blockbuster film franchise MonsterVerse illustrates similar shifts occurring in the portrayal of movie monsters. It creates new narratives for cinema’s most iconic monsters, the Japanese Godzilla and American King Kong. The authors analyze the types of monstrosities presented in the franchise, the narratives they are placed in, and whether the media franchise reflects posthumanist trends in contemporary culture by constructing images of monsters. In the MonsterVerse, Godzilla and American King Kong are reimagined as ecological monsters of the Anthropocene era that represent nature’s rebellion, the urgency to save the planet, and popular posthuman perspectives on ecology. MonsterVerse thus becomes one of the popular manifestations of posthuman ethics. Данная статья обращается к кинематографической трансформации монструозности в контексте нарастающего экологического сознания в эпоху антропоцена. Авторы утверждают, что описываемая трансформация является неотъемлемой частью постгуманистического поворота и шире популярных культурных этик, которые предлагают взглянуть на человеческую природу и отношения с другими с точки зрения более экологичного понимания включенности человека в мир природы, защиты культуры коренных народов и отношений с другими существами. В частности, авторы обращаются к кинофраншизе MonsterVerse, чтобы продемонстрировать сдвиги, находящие отражения в принципах создания киномонстров. MonsterVerse по-новому рассказывает истории об одних из самых популярных монстров кинематографа: японском Годзилле и американском Кинг Конге. Авторы анализируют, какие типы монструозности представлены во франшизе, в какие нарративы они помещены, и как медиафраншиза работает с постгуманистическими тенденциями современной культуры, используя образы монстров. Авторы показывают, что Годзилла и Кинг Конг перерождаются во вселенной MonsterVerse и становятся «экологическими монстрами» эпохи антропоцена, репрезентирующими восстание природы, идею сохранения планеты и популярные посгуманистические взгляды на экологию. MonsterVerse воспроизводит постчеловеческие этики в популярной форме.

Posthumanism—or, as the philosopher Francesca Ferrando calls it, the philosophy of our time—is in high demand both as a current of thought and as a theoretical tool for analyzing popular culture. The interdisciplinary field of zombie studies is also actively developing. The article proves that zombie studies are a legitimate field of humanities and social sciences. Scholars analyze zombies within the framework of sociology, ethics, neuroscience, international relations, literary studies, etc. As a theoretical tool, many of those studying zombies apply the philosophy of posthumanism. Until now, scholars have mostly been fascinated by the one zombie plot: the zombie apocalypse. However, there is another zombie-related narrative. Some call it a sentient zombie, humanizing the undead. In such a narrative, zombies are redefined, and to them the standard definition of a zombie no longer fits. A new image of the zombie can be revealed through the monster theory. The peculiar humanization of the zombie as a monster can be characterized as posthumanization. Since the classic image of the zombie in this case is redefined, we need to find a new term for the new monster. The author proposes to name the new sentient zombies post-zombies and suggests that their monstrosity should also be redefined, supporting these ideas through the analysis of Day of the Dead (1985), Warm Bodies (2013), and The Girl with All the Gifts (2016). Постгуманизм — философия нашего времени, как называет его философ Франческа Феррандо — крайне востребован и как течение мысли, и как теоретический инструмент для анализа популярной культуры. Междисциплинарная область исследований zombie studies также активно развивается. В статье доказывается, что zombie studies — легитимная область науки. Ее представители анализируют зомби в рамках социологии, этики, нейронауки, международных отношений, литературоведения и т.д. При этом многие из тех, кто изучают зомби, используют философию постгуманизма в качестве теоретического инструмента. До сих пор ученые в основном были увлечены одним нарративом о зомби — зомби-апокалипсисом. Однако автор статьи отмечает, что существует другой нарратив о зомби. Некоторые называют его «разумным зомби» — происходит гуманизация зомби. В этом нарративе зомби переопределяется, и стандартная дефиниция зомби не подходит. Для того чтобы раскрыть новый образ зомби, автор обращается к теории монстра. Так что своеобразная гуманизация зомби как монстра может быть охарактеризована как постгуманизация. Поскольку в данном случае переопределяется классический образ зомби, для нового «монстра» нам необходимо найти новый термин. Автор статьи предлагает называть новых разумных зомби «постзомби», монструозность которого тоже должна быть переопределена. Для этого автор обращается к фильмам, в которых представлен этот нарратив — «День мертвецов» (1985), «Тепло наших тел» (2013), «Новая эра Z» (2016).

Spanish horror films set in the late Franco period are a highly successful genre. However, academics have criticised its study, arguing that such films are of low quality. Nevertheless, the genre is a fundamental cultural source for understanding how fiction interacts with a society's fears as it undergoes a profound transformation. This article aims to analyse the ways rituals were represented as allegorical figures of the anxieties and conflicts in the final years of Francisco Franco's dictatorship (1968–1975). On the one hand, we will examine the three main discourses that were instrumental to the founding of monstrous cults based on gender, class and nationalism. On the other hand, we will analyse the intermingling of political violence and modernisation through the performance of rituals. Satanic rituals served as visual metaphors for a reality constructed from the Manichaean vision of Catholicism and the exclusionary nationalism of Francoism imposed through political violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our introduction to this Special Issue is premised on the fact that the rich critical work on folk horror has far from exhausted what can be (and needs to be) said about folk horror. There is a particular need for scholarship that extends its reach beyond Britain and for that which self-consciously interrogates, expands and complicates initial theoretical formulations of folk horror. There is a need, in short, for a 'second wave' of folk horror criticism that develops the first – that attends more specifically, for instance, to modes within folk horror (and folk horror as a mode), to the ways in which folk horror productions are rooted in particular places and regional lore, and to the ways in which those productions deploy literary, narrative, aesthetic, visual and acoustic strategies. There is also a need to identify and interrogate (in specific contexts) the key (defining) concepts of folk horror, especially the 'folk', folklore and horror – all three of which this introduction explores before it introduces the six essays in this Special Issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text deals with convergence and divergence in relation to the formation of images of inhumanity in Slovak Roma settlements. Slovak media, social networks, and television reports often contain negative images emphasizing the Roma's backwardness, irrationality, superstition, and cruelty, and aiming to highlight their inhumanity. This approach has become prevalent even among official state authorities such as the police of the Slovak Republic, shaping the perception of the Roma as monsters. It represents a mobilization strategy that connects and disconnects various disciplinary apparatuses, forming concrete images of monsters. By examining moments of convergence and divergence, which mainly focus on the killing and consumption of canines, the text clarifies the social and material ordering that contributes to the particular arrangement of significance used by the Slovak media and other officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the consumption of energy drinks by young adults and athletes has risen significantly, but concerns have been raised about the potential health risks associated with excessive consumption. These concerns include cardiovascular problems, nervous system disorders, and the potential for addiction. This review aims to examine the reported effects of acute or chronic abuse of energy drinks on human health. The analysis shows a significant prevalence of adverse effects, particularly on the cardiovascular and neurovegetative systems. In particular, the analysis identified nine cases of cardiac arrest, three of which were fatal. The aetiology of these adverse effects is attributed to the inherent neurostimulant properties of these beverages, of which caffeine is the predominant component. A comparison of documented effects in humans with experimental studies in animal models showed an overlap in results. This review highlights the need for greater rigour in the assessment of sudden cardiac death, particularly in young people, as legal substances such as energy drinks may be involved. We propose stricter limits on the consumption of these beverages than for caffeine, based on the evidence found and the data in the literature. This review also calls for the establishment of regulations governing the consumption of these products in view of their potential impact on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This descriptive study delves into the enigmatic nature of the “Jersey Devil,” an enduring legend of a cryptid from New Jersey (USA) while acknowledging its historical and folklore roots. The absence of tangible evidence regarding the alleged creature’s existence has often prompted explorations into metaphysical and supernatural explanations. Accordingly, three sets of theories about the creature’s origin are considered: terrestrial, interdimensional, and extraterrestrial. Events associated with the Jersey Devil compare well to, and might be linked with, documented flurries of accounts involving cryptids, UFOs, and high strangeness at alleged “paranormal” hotspots like Skinwalker Ranch in Utah and Point Pleasant in West Virginia. Caution is needed when considering esoteric theories, but the consistency of sightings over time might argue for the possibility of interdimensional or extraterrestrial entities. Finally, the paper discusses the notion of the Jersey Devil phenomenon serving as a control mechanism or a means of instilling fear of the unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath is described using animal imagery, depicted like a sea creature, a lion and bear, a dog, and scavengers' prey. I argue that these images present Goliath as not fully human, and contribute to the construction of his masculinity and ethnicity. This article traces the following trajectory: masculinity is established then undermined; the foreigner encroaches then is expelled. Goliath is introduced as a hypermasculine ultrapredator. Akin to a sea monster from the chaotic beyond, he has an exoskeleton of fish-scale armour (17:5). David then likens Goliath to lions and bears (17:34–37), imperial symbols for fearsome foreign nations. David, though, can grasp their beards (overturning their masculinity) and slay them. Goliath perceives David to be treating him like a scavenging dog (17:43)—a dishonorable creature encroaching where it does not belong. Consequently, the opponents threaten to give the other's flesh to the birds and beasts (17:44, 46). Their bodies' masculine wholeness is disarticulated by scavengers and expelled from society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between photography and monstrosity, focusing on the specific perceptual experience of encountering a "monster" and the way in which this experience was transcribed by the photographic medium. Using both medical and freakshow photography, we'll examine the ways in which the "monster" was represented, and the views these images convey. Through the analysis of several photographs of "monsters", the text will show how photography constructed the visibility of the body, according to a normative framework that conferred a legible character on the monstrous body, a condition of its visibility. If photography became an ally of the dehumanizing practices surrounding the development of the freak figure, can it, after the decline of exhibitions of the "abnormal", reclaim them and propose a different approach to the monstrous body? This question will be explored through the photographs of Diane Arbus and Joel-Peter Witkin, two "photographers of freaks".

Ivanov introduced the shape of a Majorana algebra as a record of the 2-generated subalgebras arising in that algebra. As a broad generalisation of this concept and to free it from the ambient algebra, we introduce the concept of an axet and shapes on an axet. A shape can be viewed as an algebra version of a group amalgam. Just like an amalgam, a shape leads to a unique algebra completion which may be non-trivial or it may collapse. Then for a natural family of shapes of generalised Monster type we classify all completion algebras and discover that a great majority of them collapse, confirming the observations made in an earlier paper [12]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mónica Ojeda (Guayaquil, 1988) is an Ecuadorian writer whose literature is linked to the horror in its multiple forms. Furthermore, Las Voladoras (2020), included Ojeda in a new literary genre called Andean Gothic, a category where horror and Latin American myths convey. This paper analyzes how Ojeda adapts the disposition of the narrative elements to the Andean folklore. Moreover, it studies Ojeda's reconstruction of the female monster by introducing the figure of a woman and its double, a hybrid between witch and animal, in order to create an alter ego effect. This article addresses how this narrative maneuver links Ojeda to Franz Kafka (1883-1924) and his vision of the monster in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues that the alien monster of Jordan Peele's Nope (2022) should be read as part of the long legacy of capitalist monster octopuses, and that identification and recognition of the monster octopus in this context allows for a greater understanding of Peele's specifically gothic critique of capitalism within the film. The article reviews the history of the monster octopus in literature, art, cinema, and political cartoon, outlines Nope's relationship to and development of these earlier texts, and then examines how the film uses the monster octopus to highlight capitalism as a monstrous system that we can neither survive nor afford to look away from. Critical perspectives explored in the article include Gothic Studies, Financial History, and Critical Race Theory, and Nope is examined as an example of the Economic Humanities in contemporary horror cinema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lion Attacking a Dromedary was a sensational object for its first viewers at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1867. As an entity or thing, it provoked a powerfully visceral response and, as the current essay explores, it remains a difficult object to view or display today. As we now know, the Verreaux brothers embedded human remains in the figure of the rider that had formerly been assumed to be just a clothed mannequin. (I have elected to exclude any image of this controversial diorama containing human and other animal remains because it is not necessary for this theoretical inquiry). This essay suggests that theoretical tools derived from Material Ecocriticism and Monster Theory that may help us to think about, or alongside, the affective power of this disturbing taxidermy assemblage, ever aware that this piece draws its power from the theatrical, colonial violence of extraction and extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Er(r)go: Teoria, Literatura, Kultura is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Slaskiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The research paper dissects the major characters along with their encounters with the ghosts in their daily life routine revealing the unrevealed political cards behind their narration endeavoring to achieve the utilitarian cause of contemporary Pakistani horror literature. Capitalism being an immortal malice has its own set of traumas attached to it and any revolution beyond that is believed to have its own kind of traumatic risks. The theory of 'Gothic Marxism' has been kept under scrutiny to sketch the fears aroused after apprehending the unconsciousness of capitalism which plagues a society through a particular cultural expression. All these dilemmas being clearly witnessed in the ideologies of laymen by anatomizing the genre of horror fiction depict the blind following of the unauthentic beliefs and cultural superstitions, leading the proletariats being processed into the corporeal fragility of capitalism. The cause ultimately compels to capture an aesthetic capacity along with a culturally therapeutic effect in the selected short stories of Abu's Jinn by Ayesha Muzaffar, through colossal fears engraved into cultural imaginations, on a mass level and their shift resonating with anxieties of rapid economic development historically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Universum is the property of Instituto de Estudios Humanisticos Juan Ignacio Molina, Universidad de Talca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Jaws (Spielberg 1975) is a film in which a shark is depicted as a monster. Readings and analyses of the film routinely describe the shark as a monster, and pleasures associated with the film rest on audiences reading the animal as such. The book the film is adapted from constructs the shark in similar ways, but there are notable differences between the two. This article examines how the film constructs the shark as a monster, with particular reference to differences between the book and film. It focuses specifically on the story-telling and representational norms associated with each medium, indicating how cinema's centring of the audio-visual is fundamental to its monster-making processes. Drawing on work from the 'animal turn' this article demonstrates cinema's embedded anthropocentrism and points to the implications this has for non-humans outside of cinema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By examining the songs, media, and material culture associated with the legendary monster Mothman, this paper shows how folklore can become commodified and what issues may arise as a result. By using Paredes' theory of "folklorization" and McDowell's concept of "commemoration," legend scholars can track historical developments across space and time to understand the metamorphoses a legend undergoes and why. Ultimately, this paper uses the term "narrative hijacking" to describe the process in which a historical event such as the Silver Bridge collapse of 1967 is overshadowed by its association with a legend, which in this case, is the story of the Mothman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal anomalies and monstrosities are common cause of dystocia. The occurrence of foetal monstrosities often leads to difficulty in parturition and also failed to be delivered by traction. It is important to know various types of monsters which cannot be removed without Caesarean section. The present case report describes such type of monocephalus fetal monster having four forelimbs, four hind limbs and two tails which was successfully managed by caesarean section in a 4-year-old nondescript doe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job is suffering from illness without understanding it. His impairment and exclusion render him disabled in an abled, gloating but threatened society for which he is the laughing stock despite his exceptional piety. His psychic and spiritual breakthrough comes when God makes him reflect on and in the mirror of the wild and disorderly bodies of the two monstrosities, Behemoth and Leviathan, elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible exemplifying chaos, but now unexpectedly celebrated. Even as possible relief thanks to light-hearted humour these grotesque bodies emancipate the object of body-politics by subverting the centre of certainty and power. In this study the Bakhtinian critique of the 'monologisation' of the human body and its experience promised to be fruitfully combined with psychoanalytic insights about imprisoned body-images to enrich the relevance of the book of Job. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The interface of biblical hermeneutics and exegesis with other research fields in the social sciences and humanities such as psychoanalytic theory and literary criticism expanded the horizon of insight for all parties involved, not only for biblical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article concerns the graduation puppet performance Wrocław: Escape Room, directed by Arkadiusz Buszko from the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków at the Puppetry Department in Wrocław. The narrative of the performance is set in post-apocalyptic Wrocław, and the heroes are historic figures connected with this city at various stages of their lives. An analysis of the performance, with particular emphasis on the role and form of puppets, animated objects and costumes, made it possible to assess how the staging concepts of the creators contributed to the horror effect and how they influenced the presentation of the characters. The authors of the Wrocław diploma piece utilized the puppets’ potential for formal transformations in creating characteristic, fascinating, but also quite frightening puppets and costumes made of fragments of mannequins. Therefore, the analysis of the elements of the performance was supplemented with considerations on the mannequins and their role in the theatre. The second category that is significant for the interpretation of the performance is the notion of a monster. Research on the perception of monsters in culture proved to be helpful, as it allowed for reading the characters of the performance through the lens of monstrosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Humanisticos. Filologia is the property of Universidad de Leon, Area de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Lejana: Revista Crítica de Narrativa Breve is the property of Lejana: Revista Crítica de Narrativa Breve and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Fictional representations of contagion, that is epidemic or pandemic in film, mainly fall within the genres of fantasy, horror, or science fiction, while their narratives focus on fear and panic, on disturbance of the social equilibrium. Approaching the film interpretations of the subject from the perspective of biopolitics as it is understood by Giorgio Agamben, this paper explores how media products of the postmodern era, created several decades apart and originating from different productions and geopolitical circumstances, interpret the idea of isolation in quarantine as a means of questioning the nature of humanity. Variola Vera, a Yugoslav film from the 80s, produced in Eastern Europe at the peak of postmodernism is juxtaposed against the most recent To the Lake, a TV show produced in Russia and distributed on Netflix. As fictional representations of epidemics, they demonstrate a clear and consistent pattern in the portrayal of disease and quarantine, deploying tropes of the outbreak narrative in constructing the texts and relating it to the postmodern horror film. Before all, theyask the question "If one is not a human being, what is one?" when the social management of contagion is conceived spatially: as quarantine, as isolation." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In performing the zombie game, children enact embodied literacies through movement, gesture, and sound, and through incorporating the materiality and the spatiality of the outdoor area. They communicate in many ways, both brutal and subtle, enacting their understandings with each other as well as with other adults. The repeated performance seems to function as a refrain that provides security and calm in a highly unstable world. It de- and re-territorializes the space of the preschool, making and re-making children's worlds. The performance of the game is an embodiment of social context, the enactment of the absorbed lived experience that constitutes a becoming for both zombie child and additional needs child. Through this repeated game we come to understand the agency of these children differently in their capacity to re-create their worlds through play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attitudes towards the naked body vary from culture to culture. Even within one culture, the nakedness often symbolises very different and sometimes arbitrarily contradictory things. It can be associated with eroticism, sanctity, aggression, a certain type of culture (from savagery to elitism), etc. Focusing on specific cinematic examples, the author examines the symbolism of naked male and female bodies in horror films. The author concludes that while nudity may serve to attract viewers to the cinema, it does not necessarily equate to sexuality. The nudity is frightening in its vulnerability, but it also shows how little we know about our own bodies. In cinema, the naked body is often tortured, objectified, manipulated or even sacrificed to maintain social order or nature's fertility. Female nudity in films is linked to fears of female sexuality and fertility. Often, the encounter with the naked female body turns out to be fatal for male characters, leading to their corporal transformation or loss of identity. In any case, the naked body is something out of the norm, it is marginal and destabilizing and so it scares us.

“Evolution is a beautiful thing. To witness something grow, change, and move forward—is sacred,” says Patty Stonefish in her introduction to Deer Woman: An Anthology, a 2017 comic book edited by Elizabeth LaPensée and Weshoyot Alvitre. The Native works discussed in this article re-contextualize Deer Woman, a spirit found in the oral traditions of many Native American nations. They use literature and “sequential art” (Lee Francis IV) as vehicles for retelling old stories in a contemporary setting, have myth live on, and keep tradition alive and valid, rather than lodged in the past, “adding new layers of growth […] just as living trees do” (Bruchac 8). Non-Native cultural products continue to display the tension between “fixity” and “repeatability” (Bhabha 94-95) in the monstrous representation of the “Indian,” a product of the “wétiko” (cannibalistic) impulse of colonialism and patriarchy (Forbes 22). Multiple Native voices “revision”/“re-vision” (Osborn 261) Deer Woman to articulate criticism of the colonially-rooted construction of the Indigenous and employ her tricksterism to subvert static meaning and reclaim sovereignty.

Book Review

In recent years, the consumption of energy drinks by young adults and athletes has risen significantly, but concerns have been raised about the potential health risks associated with excessive consumption. These concerns include cardiovascular problems, nervous system disorders, and the potential for addiction. This review aims to examine the reported effects of acute or chronic abuse of energy drinks on human health. The analysis shows a significant prevalence of adverse effects, particularly on the cardiovascular and neurovegetative systems. In particular, the analysis identified nine cases of cardiac arrest, three of which were fatal. The aetiology of these adverse effects is attributed to the inherent neurostimulant properties of these beverages, of which caffeine is the predominant component. A comparison of documented effects in humans with experimental studies in animal models showed an overlap in results. This review highlights the need for greater rigour in the assessment of sudden cardiac death, particularly in young people, as legal substances such as energy drinks may be involved. We propose stricter limits on the consumption of these beverages than for caffeine, based on the evidence found and the data in the literature. This review also calls for the establishment of regulations governing the consumption of these products in view of their potential impact on human health.

The text once more reconstructs the perennially fashionable “figure” within public and international law, as well as a theologized construction: an evil-doer who must be destroyed in the conflict or war. The “unjust enemy”, always mutually recognized and often indicated as the other side in every conflict (and particularly ambiguously and obscurely in the current war between Russia and Ukraine), should satisfy certain conditions for them to be linked to “evil” and “the alliance of all against evil”, in the production of world peace and infinite restraint from war. By classifying various forms of hostile protocols, my intention is to show the substantive incompleteness and weakness of the term “enemy”, and thus the impossibility and myth of a symmetric use of force.

Issues of domestication, minority, and discrimination have frequently put women in inferior position in society. When women seek equality, they are often framed as embracing monstrous attitudes. This study focuses on François Mauriac’s novel titled Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927) with the intention of exploring the meanings and the significations in its construction of women as monsters. It has been observed that women are depicted as monsters because their struggle for freedom is seen as a challenge to the patriarchal system. The aims of this study are to find out and to describe the influential aspects in the construction of women as monsters and how such construction creates meanings. The study relies on content analysis method and follows three steps of analysis: collecting data relevant to monstrosity, classifying data based on the themes and problems related to the topic, and analyzing the data using Barbara Creed’s theory of the monstrous feminine (2007). The study results in the finding that the construction of women as monsters is strongly correlated with the deep institutionalization of patriarchy in French culture. Penempatan perempuan pada posisi inferior dalam banyak narasi disebabkan oleh faktor-faktor domestifikasi, minoritas, dan diskriminasi. Ketika perempuan memperjuangkan kesetaraan, mereka dianggap membangkang dan disimbolkan sebagai monster. Konstruksi monster terhadap perempuan ini terlihat pada novel François Mauriac berjudul Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927). Tulisan ini mencoba memahami makna dan pemaknaan konstruksi perempuan sebagai monster dalam novel tersebut. Studi ini menemukan bahwa perempuan digambarkan sebagai monster karena perjuangan mereka untuk mencapai kebebasan dianggap menentang struktur patriarki. Tujuan dari studi ini adalah menemukan dan mendeskripsikan aspek-aspek yang berkaitan dengan proses pemonsteran perempuan dan bagaimana proses tersebut dimaknai. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode analisis isi cerita dan dilakukan dalam beberapa tahap. Tahap pertama adalah pengambilan data yang relevan dengan pemonsteran. Tahap kedua adalah pengklasifikasian data sesuai dengan tema dan permasalahan tentang pemonsteran perempuan. Tahap terakhir adalah analisis data temuan dengan teori Barbara Creed (2007) tentang the monstrous feminine. Studi ini menyimpulkan bahwa konstruksi perempuan sebagai monster berhubungan erat dengan kultur patriarki yang sudah terinstitusionalisasi di dalam budaya Prancis pada masa ketika novel tersebut ditulis.

In this paper, I examine the miseducation that exclusionary punishment initiates through the significance of gender in the novel Frankenstein. I focus on the minor character of Justine and place her story at the center, as a major account of exclusionary punishment and miseducation in literature. I highlight Shelley's story about Justine—in its philosophical and educational importance—as a tale about the significance of gender, exclusionary punishment, and miseducation. Justine's exclusionary punishment is notable in that she is a young girl punished for the crimes of a man and his murderous creation. While Frankenstein and his creature feel themselves to be monstrous at times, Justine is made to be a monster as she is excluded and punished for the crimes of a man. As a result, she nearly begins to believe herself to be monstrous. This is her miseducation as she internalizes her own oppression and is excluded from belonging to human community. Justine's story both reminds and cautions us that we make our own monsters. The making of Justine into a monster exposes exclusionary punishment as a false education—a miseducation. She is easily neglected through her youth, gender, and femininity as her story is couched within the toiling masculinity of Frankenstein and his creature. Through Justine, I claim that exclusionary punishment is miseducative as evidenced through the gendered experience of being educated to be more woman than person, more gender than human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through its impossible and grotesque form, the monstrous expresses an original sense of the Dionysian philosophical critique of rationality. Challenging the epistemological authority of form, structure, and identity, the monster guides the mind toward a new understanding about the nature of things. Presenting Rousseau and the rider of the chariot of life as a deformed monster, Shelley's The Triumph of Life challenges the poet's previous identity as an alienated self and paves the way for a new understanding and a restoration of his communal self that provides the basis for the New Jerusalem as the opposite of the Tower of Babel, that is, the biblical prototype of the Citadel. Using the concept of monster and applying Abraham Akkerman's myths of the Garden and the Citadel, this article will attempt to explore the modality of the transition from the Tower of Babel (the Citadel) to the New Jerusalem (the Garden) in Shelley's The Triumph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]