PhD Oral Exam - Elliot Mason, Religions and Cultures

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the social function of the figure of the monster in science-fiction, fantasy, and horror available in the western market. Its focus is on contemporary texts in a variety of media that position the monster as a character with which marginalized people are intended to identify, and it primarily examines texts authored by marginalized individuals. It employs a comparative, thematic approach that provides an impressionistic evaluation of a specific cultural trend, and makes the argument for a new category of monstrous affiliation under the title of the radical/resistant monster. The works under consideration are united in that they position the monster as a figure of resistance that retains its dangerous characteristics and outsider status in order to embolden marginalized audiences. The monster thus serves to reify group identity, shoring up sites of perceived difference between marginalized communities and an imagined mainstream. In specific, it examines the online monsterfucker subculture in the context of trans erotic literature, an emergent queer ecofeminist trend I have named the EcoFabulous, and Jeff VanderMeer’s use of the radical/resistant monster to imagine nonhuman animal positionalities. These texts stand in contrast against a parallel phenomenon: the rise of the assimilative monster in genre fiction, identified by Catherine Spooner. The assimilative monster, by comparison, gestures toward the capability of social outsiders, including minority and self-identified marginalized communities, to likewise assimilate to the dominant culture. The thesis examines works largely produced from 2010-2024.