This essay explores monstrosity in two contemporary horror stories: “The Whistlers” by Amity Argot, and “Whitefall” by C.K. Walker, focusing on how the humans in these texts are monstrously transformed. The monsters and monstrosity present in the texts are read against some of the cultural anxieties of postmodernity, and against various monstrous frameworks such as that of the zombie, the terrorist, and the monstrous space and nature. Both texts present monstrous spaces intent on perverting humans by eroding them physically until they reach a state of bare life that mimics zombification and may allegorize socioeconomic inequality, displacement, and the effects of capitalism; as well as by enticing them to commit atrocities against each other and transgress the very moral boundaries that defined them as human, up to and including cannibalism. In this way, these monsters reveal humans as their own annihilators, laying bare an innate human monstrosity that emerges from the traumatic conditions of postmodernity.

This thesis examines the themes of characterization of the character Sasha James and Not-Sasha within the media text The Magnus Archives, as well as which of the themes can be seen reflected in the visual paratextual works created by the audio dramas fan community. This is to examine what influences the visual representation created in paratextual work when the media text from which the visuals take inspiration lacks visuals and description of characters. The thesis employs a thematic-analysis approach and monster theory to understand how the horror genre and the monstrous narrative of Sasha James have helped inspire the visualizations. The result presents three themes of Sasha James' canon narrative that have impacted the visual paratextual work created by the audio dramas fan community: The “real” Sasha, Not-There, and wit. The themes showed how fans approached the subject of the monstrous body within the paratextual work by presenting a version of Not-Sasha with easily identified monstrous features, but also their willingness to employ the monster’s wit to visualize it as a humanoid version, working as a parallel to Sasha James.

This thesis looks at the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast to examine the way that this tale has been used throughout history to address the concerns of young women, as well as reinforce the culturally accepted gender roles of the time of their publication. The first chapter defines the fairy tale genre and features some of the most common criticism on the genre, it will then define and offer critical perspectives on the monster bridegroom motif which Beauty and the Beast is a part of. The second chapter will look at the first two publications of the text, the 1740 version by Mme de Villeneuve and the 1756 version by Mme de Beaumont. The final chapter will examine the first two books in the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses published in 2015 and A Court of Mist and Fury published in 2016.

In this essay, I employ Judith Butlers theories of gender performativity to examine the construction of the monstrosity in Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s two works The Outsider and The Thing on the Doorstep. Focusing on the character’s monstrous attributes, how they are seen by themselves, by others and not least by the reader, I examine how their monstrosity is created and strengthened by dehumanizing processes. I argue that Lovecraft through his narrative technique complicates the relation between monstrosity and humanity in his characters, the result of which is a reader left to determine how monstrous, or human, the creature really is. I claim that the beings, themselves remaining uncertain about their own human and monstrous sides throughout Lovecraft’s stories, are not in fact monsters for the reader until the very moment that they themselves acquiescein their own exclusion.

This study examines how Swedish media portray women's violence. The material used in thestudy are three narratives produced by the researchers Gentry and Sjoberg to analyze differentnews article perspectives when it comes to gender linked to violence within the Islamic State(IS). The method used is a critical discourse analysis based on Fairclough's three-dimensionalmodel. Which will help to see the discourses in the writing of the Swedish media. Analyzingthis is important to identify the difference between how women's violence is portrayed incomparison to men in the Swedish newspapers.

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Studien undersöker hur kvinnliga karaktärer representeras i relation till skräcktematiken i tv-serien Penny Dreadful (2014-). Syftet har varit att studera huruvida det som är typiska kännetecken för skräck kan kopplas till kvinnlighet, femininitet och feminism (det senare då man kan uppfatta ett genuskritiskt samtal i serien). Med hjälp av psykoanalytiska teorier kring abjektion visar analysen hur det som är skrämmande med kvinnor, är skrämmande på andra sätt än vad som är skrämmande med män. Det som är abjekt med kvinnan definieras ofta utifrån hennes sexualitet och biologiska egenskaper, och skapar därmed en feminin monstrositet och således är helt olik den manliga. Detta har till stor del växt fram genom historiska myter, religioner och konst, som har bidragit till könsspecifika monster utifrån stereotyp femininitet, så som häxor, sirener eller Medusa. Genom att utforska tv-seriens karaktärer med hjälp av semiotiska och psykoanalytiska verktyg avslöjas möjliga tolkningar som visar hur nämnda feminina monster tycks grunda sig i manlig rädsla och kvinnan som hot. Kastrationskomplexet som bidragande faktor och den manliga blicken tycks därför kväsa uttryck för kvinnlig frigörelse i serien, genom att sexualisera, plåga och göra kvinnan abjekt och monstruös i direkt genmäle till dessa. Serien tycks därför trots sin genuskritiska diskurs kontrolleras av en manlig blick och ett skoptofiliskt seende, något som möjligtvis bidrar till att kvinnlighet och femininitet kodas som abjekt, och i värsta fall stigmatiserar den feministiska kvinnan. / <p>Reviderad upplaga</p>

Cette thèse analyse l’évolution des imaginaires de la grossesse depuis 40 ans ainsi que certaines de ses incidences sociales.La science embryologiste avait installé depuis le 19ième siècle une tradition de représentation réaliste du foetus humain. Au cours de la 2ième moitié du 20ième, les choses semblent changer. En 1970, les photos de Lennart Nilsson notamment ont coloré, autonomisé, esthétisé et humanisé le foetus. En France, le ‟foetus anatomique” s’est vu par ailleurs retiré des muséums, son image s’absente du ‟Larousse médical illustré” et des manuels de sciences naturelles. Quant au foetus présent dans l’art contemporain, il est surdimensionné ou dégoûtant : ce qui ressemble donc le plus à un ‟vrai” foetus se déréalise. L’haptonomie et certaines technologies autour de la grossesse vont accentuer ces modifications de l’image du foetus au profit des imaginaires parentaux.Les effets sociaux de cette idéalisation foetale sont variés. L’humanisation du ‟beau foetus” enlaidissant l’anomalie, la hantise maternelle du ‟monstre foetal” est d’avantage intériorisée et trouble le travail en médecine foetale. Leur refus de l’anomalie devenant plus implicite, médecins et parents adoptent un langage euphémisé. Mais même l’image du foetus avorté s’humanise. Elle devient émouvante. Quand un foetus est condamné, il faudra donc le réparer, concrètement et symboliquement. Les soignants qui invitent les parents à voir le foetus après sa mort vont le présenter comme un bébé dormant, réparé de ses malformations. Certaines mères, surtout quand elles envisagent une nouvelle grossesse, le représentent alors comme un ange, cet ange devenu omniprésent sur les forums Internet.Ce dispositif questionne les sociétés contemporaines : les spécialistes de médecine foetale se retrouvent aujourd’hui confrontés à certains parents refusant la naissance d’un enfant atteint de malformations sans gravité. Au miroir de leur bébé surgit un indicible : l’horreur d’un foetus porteur d’anomalie. L’esthétisation ne rend-elle pas les imaginaires de l’anomalie d’autant plus puissants qu’ils n’ont plus d’espace, autre que le for intérieur, pour se déployer ? / This thesis analyses the evolution of imagination of the pregnancy for forty years as well as some of its social incidences.The science embryologist had installed since the 19 th century a realist tradition of presentation of the human foetus. During half of the 20 th, things seem to change. In 1970, the photographs of Lennart Nilsson in particular coloured, empowered, aestheticized and humanized the foetus. In France, the ‟anatomical foetus” saw itself besides out-of- the way of the museums, its image absent in in the ‟illustrated medical Larousse” and the textbooks of natural sciences. As for the foetus present in the contempory art, it is oversized or disgusting : what looks like mots of ‟real” foetus derealises. The haptonomy and certain technologies around the pregnancy are going to stress these modifications of the image of the foetus for the benefit of parental imagination.The social effects of the foetal idealization are varied. The humanisation of the ‟beautiful foetus” making ugly anomaly, the maternal obsession of the ‟foetal monster” is more interiorized and discorders work in foetal medicine. Their refusal of anomaly becoming more implicit, doctors and parents adopt an euphemized language. But, even the image of the aborted foetus fallen through humanizes. It becomes moving. When a foetus is condemned, it will thus have to be repaired concretely and symbolically. The nursing who invite the relatives to see the foetus after his death will present him as a sleeping baby, repaired by his deformations. Certain mother especially when they envisage a new pregnancy, represent him then as an angel, this angel become omnipresent on the Internet forums.This dispositf questions the contemporary societies : the specialists of foetal medicine are faced with certain parents refusing the birth of a child affected by deformations without gravity. In the miror of their baby appears an unspeakable : the horror of an expanding foetus of anomaly. Does not the esthetisation make the imagination of the anomaly all the more powerful as they do not have more space other than the heart of hearts to spread ?

La figure du monstre, au centre de notre thèse, participe d'une catégorie de personnages déterminés par leur situation hors de la norme. Nous nous intéressons tout particulièrement au monstre en tant que construction symbolique, et l'analyse de ce personnage littéraire hors du commun nous donnera la possibilité d'étudier les rouages textuels qui sont à l'origine de sa création. Nos travaux se portent sur le monstre re-présenté dans et par un texte fictionnel, permettant à ce texte une réflexion métatextuelle sur l'univers de la représentation. La créature monstrueuse est par essence une transgression absolue et c'est cela qui fascine le lecteur. Nous nous emploierons à analyser le monstre en tant que signe avertisseur, ce que d'ailleurs semble indiquer son étymologie, en effet, le terme "monstre" dérive étymologiquement du verbe latin "monstrare" dont le sens est "montrer", qui lui-même est issu du verbe "monere", signifiant "avertir". La créature monstrueuse serait donc un signe dont le sens resterait à déchiffrer pour celui qui le regarde. Notre intérêt se porte tout particulièrement sur la période de la fin du XIXème et le début du XXème siècle, cette époque charnière marque un tournant majeur où les angoisses fin-de-siècle vont être le ferment d'un renouveau de la littérature fantastique. Nos lectures interprétatives de notre corpus seront attentives à la circulation du désir dans les textes, aux formations textuelles inconscientes, ainsi qu'aux réécritures d'un substrat mythologique. Notre étude alliant une mythocritique et une textanalyse n'aura pas pour objectif de dresser un portrait-type du personnage du monstre fabriqué mais d'étudier sa complexité, sa composition littéraire, pour démontrer que le monstre avertit du pire tout en le faisant être là. La mythocritique nous offre la possibilité de mettre au jour les liens tissés entre l'imaginaire individuel de nos auteurs et un fonds anthropologique primordial. La lecture comparative nous permet l'exploration de l'intertextualité qui met tout texte en relation avec des mythes de manière patente ou latente. Enfin, à la lumière des théories freudiennes, nous tâcherons de pénétrer au cœur même de nos textes, il s'agira d'étudier le travail de l'inconscient de l'auteur, ce qui échappe à l'artiste par le mouvement même de l'écriture créatrice. / The abstract is available in French only

Em O monstro leonino que surge do mar, estuda-se a simbologia contida em Dn 7:1 a 4. Nesse capítulo, narra-se uma visão onírica em que quatro feras monstruosas emergem de um mar agitado pelos quatro ventos do céu. A primeira a surgir é semelhante a um leão com asas de águia, as quais lhe são arrancadas, e o animal é posto em pé e recebe um coração humano. Impregnada de simbolismo, a visão é seguida de uma interpretação geral dentro do próprio capítulo, mas ainda assim oculta sentidos que convidam à investigação. Este estudo propõe uma close reading desse recorte, em uma abordagem literária e sincrônica, contemplando diversas perspectivas do debate acadêmico atual. A análise se concentra nos principais elementos simbólicos do texto, culminando na aparição da fera leonina. Trata-se de um mergulho na Bíblia Hebraica (BH), bem como na literatura e iconografia do Antigo Oriente Médio (AOM), e no próprio livro de Daniel, com vistas a iluminar o objeto de estudo. Os resultados dessa investigação identificam a relação umbilical entre a visão de Dn 7 e as narrativas dos cap. 1 a 6, em torno da temática da soberania divina. A composição da cena dos quatro ventos e o grande mar (Dn 7:1, 2) aparenta ser polissêmica e alusiva ao preâmbulo de Gn 1:2 ao mesmo tempo em que mantém evidentes conexões com sentidos encontrados nos Profetas. As feras grandes, monstruosas (Dn 7:3), têm evidentes paralelos na BH, como nações destruidoras, em especial, na tradição profética. A fera semelhante a leão com asas de águia se liga à visão de Dn 2 em que o primeiro dos quatro metais da estátua representa Babilônia. Seu hibridismo comunica a combinação de capacidades, com paralelos conceituais nos mischwesen ou seres híbridos do AOM. Sua natureza política e voracidade imperial o conectam ao motivo leonino utilizado largamente na literatura e iconografia do AOM, que servia para reforçar a ideologia real. Nos Profetas, Babilônia é simbolizada pelo leão e pela águia. Por ter asas e emergir do mar em uma limitada alusão aos mitos de combate antigos, com reflexos na BH , termina por denunciar sua natureza antidivina e cosmológica. Essa fera leonina passa por processos incapacitantes da perda de mobilidade e ferocidade, inversamente ao ocorrido com o rei Nabucodonosor em Dn 4, o que prenuncia sua derrocada e ressalta a soberania de YHWH. / The leonine monster that emerges from the sea is a research on the symbology present in Dan 7:1-4. This chapter depicts a dream-vision in which four monstrous beasts come out from a \"great sea\" stirred up by \"the four winds of heaven.\" The first beast to appear is similar to a lion with eagle\'s wings, which are suddenly plucked off, and the animal is lifted up from the ground, stands as a human being, and receives a human heart. This deeply symbolic vision has a general interpretation within Dan 7 itself, but it still conceals meanings that call for an investigation. The present study does a close reading of this selected biblical text, in a literary and synchronic approach, taking into account multiple perspectives in the current scholarly debate. The analysis focuses on the main symbolic elements of the text, culminating with the appearing of the leonine beast. It delves into the Hebrew Bible, as well as the literature and iconography of the Ancient Near East, in connection with the book of Daniel itself, to cast light on the subject under investigation. The results of this research uncover the umbilical relationship between the vision of Dan 7 and the narratives of chapters 1 to 6, around the theme of divine sovereignty. The arrangement of the four winds and the great sea scene (Dan 7:1, 2) seems to be polysemic and allusive to the preamble of Gen 1:2 while maintaining strong connections with the meanings found in the Prophets. The large, monstrous beasts (Dan 7:3) have clear parallels in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the prophetic tradition, as destructive nations. The lion-like beast with eagle\'s wings (Dan 7:4) must be seen in association with the vision of Dan 2 where the first of the four metals of the statue represents Babylon. Its hybridism communicates the combination of abilities, finding conceptual parallels in the mischwesen or hybrid beings of the Ancient Near East. The lion\'s political nature and imperial voracity bridge the biblical use of the leonine motif with the widespread use of this imagery in the literature and iconography of the Ancient Near East, which served to reinforce royal ideology. In the Prophets, Babylon is symbolized by both the lion and the eagle. By having wings and emerging from the sea--a limited allusion to ancient combat myths with reflections in the Hebrew Bible--it denounces the anti-divine and cosmological overtones of such a beast. This leonine monster undergoes incapacitating processes of mobility and ferocity losses, in a reverse process to what happened to king Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 4, which foreshadows the ultimate demise of Babylon plus the other kingdoms and highlights YHWH\'s sovereignty.