Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prelude to the Anatomy Act of 1832, which indulged the anatomists’ scientific ambition, granting a legitimate and sufficient source of cadavers to dissect legally. When read in concert with the history of anatomy and the historical record of body snatching, including case law and anatomy legislation, Frankenstein exemplifies the issues in medico-legal history at the turn of the nineteenth century, for Victor Frankenstein and the Creature’s stories are set amid the context of anatomical study, grave-robbery, crime, punishment and the illicit relationship between medicine and murder. This thesis accordingly addresses the medico-legal history of anatomy, the anatomist’s ambition and complex inhumanity, and the mingled identity of the anatomical subject as illegitimate and criminal. This analysis demonstrates that Frankenstein sheds light upon the anatomist’s ambition, the identity of the human cadaver, and the bioethical consequences of meddling with nature.

No description available.

Den här uppsatsen analyserar användandet av hybris som tema och motiv i tre olika skräckberättelser, Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (1818) och H.P. Lovecrafts två noveller ”The Other Gods” (1933) respektive ”From Beyond” (1934). De tre berättelserna använder alla hybris som tema och berättartekniskt verktyg för att på liknande vis gestalta karaktärer och skräck på ett sätt som blir mer specifikt för skräck som genre. Sett utifrån en klassisk syn på begreppet man kan finna i bland annat myten om Ikaros och Noël Carrolls mer moderna begrepp under namnet ”overreacher plot” som här kan länkas till hybris-begreppet, tillsammans med andra källor, lyfter uppsatsen exempel på hur hybris är en återkommande och viktig faktor för skräcken i berättelserna. Detta trots att ett sekel skiljer Shelleys och Lovecrafts verk åt.

The curriculum for Sweden’s upper secondary schools emphasises that specifically exclusion should be prevented, and that equality between all humans should permeate the education. This essay maintains that the post-colonial concept of othering, with help from Mary Shelley’s story about Frankenstein and his monster, could be used to educate upper secondary school students about these important matters. More specifically, the essay analyses how othering becomes concretised when Shelley’s original novel is used multimodally, through its graphic adaptation. The analysis shows that othering, through the discourses of racism and exoticism, becomes more visually palpable in the graphic novel. However, this also shines light on the importance to teach with ethical didactics, as othering otherwise could be reproduced. That is, the aim to make pupils more aware of how to prevent othering in real life could be inhibited if the didactic approach does not teach the students how to think constructively about the processes of othering. The study concludes that Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel could pose as a qualitative tool to teach about the importance of an inclusive world, if taught with ethical didactics. / <p>Slutgiltigt godkännandedatum: 2023-06-02</p>

No description available.

Le mot golem, un hapax biblique traduit de l’hébreu golmi, présent dans le Psaume CXXXIX,16, désigne la forme du premier homme avant son animation par le souffle divin. Le plus souvent traduit par « embryon » ou « masse informe », son sens a généré une exégèse considérable.De la tradition juive, le mot en arrivera à désigner un homme artificiel, et sa création sera attribuée à de pieux rabbins dans une perspective d’imitation Dei, selon une interprétation magique du Sefer Yetsirah ou « Livre de la Création » qui en contiendrait la clé. L’expérience doit prouver la puissance créatrice des lettres de l’alphabet hébraïque ou des lettres du Nom de Dieu, selon les maîtres de la Cabbale achkénase et européenne du Nord. Ils ont consigné les techniques de création : c’est un rituel en deux temps, façonnement de la forme humaine à partir des éléments puis animation de celle-ci grâce aux récitations de combinatoires de lettres. La réussite de l’expérience est considérée comme la pierre de touche de la perfection religieuse du créateur comme de sa puissance créatrice, à l’instar de celle des lettres de l’alphabet hébraïque.Le golem entre dans le domaine légendaire vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle et les débuts du XIXe siècle, pour prêter à de saints rabbins des pouvoirs démiurgiques. A une première légende d’origine polonaise centrée sur le Rabbin Elias Baalschem de Chelm, succède la légende pragoise un peu plus tardive qui prend le pas sur la première et attribue au Rabbin Judah Löw ben Bezalel, outre des pouvoirs surnaturels, la création d’un golem censé protéger la ville juive des accusations de crimes riruels historiques. Si c’est au créateur que nous avons choisi de nous intéresser plus particulièrement, nous n’avons manqué d’évoquer le mot « golem » lui-même, son origine ainsi que celle de la légende et en regard de parallèles anciens. Nous nous sommes appuyée sur les thèmes mis en avant itérativement par les auteurs et dans lesquels s’inscrit le thème : Cabbale juive et mystique des lettres et du Nom de Dieu ou Schem. Magie, alchimie nous ont amenée à évoquer avec les auteurs le thème de Faust puis de Frankenstein explicites dans les textes, pour souligner la création dans la création. Nous nous sommes servie du thème du Graal pour mettre l’accent, avec une interrogation sur le parallèle icône et idole, sur la littéralité du thème de la création, avant d’en arriver à mettre l’accent sur une poétique des commencements, création de l’homme artificiel et création littéraire en miroir. / The word golem, a biblical hapax which was translated from the Hebrew term “golim”, is to be found in Psalm CXXXIX,16. It refers to the shape of the first man before his being given life by the breath of God.Most of the time, translated by the word “embryo” or “shapeless mass”, its very meaning has given rise to considerable exegis.From the Jewish tradition, the word will consequently happen to describe an artificial man whose creation will be ascribed to devout rabbis who had in prospect an Imitatio Dei, according to the magic interpretation of the Sefer Yetsirah or “Book of Creation” which is supposed to hold the key of it. The experiment must prove the creative power of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet or the letters attributed to the Name of God, according to the Ashkenazi and Northern European masters of the Cabbala. They have consigned their techniques of creation; the ritual takes place in two stages: first of all, there is the building of the human shape from the elements, then its animation happens owing to the reciting and combined arrangement of letters. The success of the experiment is considered as the touchstone of the religious perfection of the maker as well as his creative power, just like that of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.The golem became part of the legendary field between the end of the XVIIIth century and the beginning of the XIXth century, giving holy rabbis such powers as demiurges.The first legend brought to light has Polish origins and is centered on Reb Elias Baalschem of Chelm. Not long after it will give precedence to the legend born in Prague which tells the story of Rabbi Löw who, besides his supernatural powers, made a golem to protect the Jewish town accused of committing ritual historical crimes.Trought I decided to take a special interest in the maker’s function, actually I did mention the word golem, its origin as well as its legends, in connection with ancient parallels. I based my study on the iterated themes regularly brought to light by authors in whose works I might find the following themes: Jewish Cabbala, the mystic of the letters and the Name of God or Schem.Magic, alchemy would lead me to evoke the themes of Faust and Frankenstein and to underluie with their authors the theme of creation within creation.I called to mind the myth of the Holy Grail too, to wonder about the paralell between icon and idol, as well as about the literality of the poetic of all beginnings with the making of the artificial man and any literay creation, acting like a mirror writing

Uppsatsen beskriver utveckling av medvetandets filosofi i science fiction mellan 1800-talet och mitten av 1900-talet. För analysen används Mary Shelleys Frankenstein och Isaac Asimovs the Bicentennial Man. Utvecklingen i science fiction går parallellt med utveckling inom filosofin. Utvecklingen går mot en fysikalisk lösning på kropp och medvetande problemet med argument från behaviorismen, identitetsteorin, samt funktionalismen.

A literatura romântica inglesa se constituiu basicamente de poesia, pois foi produzida em uma época em que ficção em prosa era vista como mero entretenimento. Alguns romancistas, excepcionalmente, são rotulados como “românticos”, mas Mary Shelley não aparece entre eles. Durante mais de um século, sua obra permaneceu restrita às sessões dos livros que tratam da exótica literatura gótica. A presente dissertação argumenta que a crítica literária não tem reconhecido a óbvia relação de Frankenstein com o romantismo inglês. Para evidenciar tal envolvimento, será apresentada uma análise do conjunto de imagens do romance que busque revelar os elementos românticos ali contidos. A análise se baseia, principalmente, nas idéias de Northrop Frye a respeito da natureza e função de imagens na literatura. O conceito de intertextualidade também será utilizado como ferramenta para a análise da inserção de imagens no romance e da inserção do romance no contexto do romantismo inglês. O trabalho é dividido em três partes. A primeira explora as relações de Frankenstein com a vida de Mary Shelley e com o romantismo inglês. A segunda expõe a base teórica em que esta dissertação se apóia. A última apresenta a minha leitura da teia de imagens do romance. Ao final, espero poder validar a tese proposta: que Frankenstein incorpora os valores estéticos e filosóficos do romantismo e merece, portanto, ser situado no seu devido lugar no cânone literário inglês como o representante legítimo do romantismo em prosa. / Romantic English literature – written at a time when prose fiction was predominantly a medium for sheer entertainment – is rooted in poetry. One or two novelists may exceptionally be granted the adjective “Romantic”, but Mary Shelley is not ranked among them. For centuries, her work has been restricted to that section in handbooks reserved for exotic Gothic literature. This thesis argues that literary criticism has failed to recognize Frankenstein’s obvious relation with the movement. The argument will be fostered by a brief look at such handbooks, and developed through the analysis of the imagery of the novel, so as to trace the Romantic elements there contained. The analysis relies mainly on the frame developed by Northrop Frye concerning the nature and function of imagery in literature. The concept of intertextuality will also be useful as a tool to account for the insertion of images in the novel, and for the novel’s insertion within the Romantic context. The work is divided into three parts. The first contextualizes the main issues set forth by Frankenstein, establishing connections with the life of the author and with the Romantic movement. The second exposes the theoretical basis on which the thesis is grounded. The last presents my reading of the novel’s web of images. In the end, I hope to validate the thesis proposed, that Frankenstein embodies the aesthetic and philosophical assessments of the English Romantic agenda, and therefore deserves to be situated in its due place in the English Literary canon as the legitimate representative of Romanticism in prose form.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-03-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:13:43Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 alegrette_ay_me_arafcl.pdf: 573460 bytes, checksum: 4e564e7284dc1d936b52f3ee5ff8275f (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A dissertação de mestrado, “Frankenstein: uma releitura do mito de criação”, tem como principal objetivo demonstrar como a escritora inglesa Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, por meio de seu romance Frankenstein, ou o moderno Prometeu (1818), conseguiu criar um novo mito, isto é, o mito de Frankenstein, contribuiu para a renovação do romance gótico e para a criação de uma nova modalidade literária - a ficção científica. No primeiro capítulo foi realizado um estudo sobre as origens, características e principais obras do romance gótico. No segundo capítulo é abordada a relação entre mito e literatura e são analisados quais mitos aparecem no enredo do romance de Mary Shelley, enfatizando-se a importância do relato mítico de Prometeu. No terceiro capítulo é estudada a construção do discurso narrativo mítico de Frankenstein e é demonstrada a intertextualidade dessa obra com outros textos, tais como poemas, romances e estudos filosóficos e científicos. No quarto e último capítulo é demonstrado a releitura do mito de criação feita por Mary Shelley, a conseqüente criação do mito de Frankenstein, e as diversas interpretações e releituras que o romance recebeu, terminando com Blade Runner (O caçador de andróides, 1982), filme do cineasta inglês Ridley Scott que, ao promover a atualização do mito de Frankenstein, deu uma contribuição significativa para sua permanência em nossa cultura / The main aim of this Master’s Thesis, “Frankenstein: a rewriting of the myth of creation, is demonstrate how the English writer Mary Shelley in her novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818), created a new kind of myth, renewed the gothic novel and gave origin to a new literary genre - science fiction. The first chapter discusses – the origins, characteristics and main works of the Gothic literature. The second chapter explores the relationships between myth and literature, and analyses which myths are present in the plot of Mary Shelley’s novel, stressing the importance of the Promethean’s story. The third chapter is concerned with the construction of mythic narrative discourse and with the novel’s intertextuality with different kind texts, such as poems, another novels and philosophical and scientific studies. The fourth and last chapter concentrates on Mary Shelley’s rewriting of the myth of creation, on the different ways her novel was interpreted and read, and it finishes with study of the film by the English director Ridley Scott, Blade Runner (1982), that offered a major contribution to update and foster the permanence of the Frankenstein’s myth in our culture

A literatura romântica inglesa se constituiu basicamente de poesia, pois foi produzida em uma época em que ficção em prosa era vista como mero entretenimento. Alguns romancistas, excepcionalmente, são rotulados como “românticos”, mas Mary Shelley não aparece entre eles. Durante mais de um século, sua obra permaneceu restrita às sessões dos livros que tratam da exótica literatura gótica. A presente dissertação argumenta que a crítica literária não tem reconhecido a óbvia relação de Frankenstein com o romantismo inglês. Para evidenciar tal envolvimento, será apresentada uma análise do conjunto de imagens do romance que busque revelar os elementos românticos ali contidos. A análise se baseia, principalmente, nas idéias de Northrop Frye a respeito da natureza e função de imagens na literatura. O conceito de intertextualidade também será utilizado como ferramenta para a análise da inserção de imagens no romance e da inserção do romance no contexto do romantismo inglês. O trabalho é dividido em três partes. A primeira explora as relações de Frankenstein com a vida de Mary Shelley e com o romantismo inglês. A segunda expõe a base teórica em que esta dissertação se apóia. A última apresenta a minha leitura da teia de imagens do romance. Ao final, espero poder validar a tese proposta: que Frankenstein incorpora os valores estéticos e filosóficos do romantismo e merece, portanto, ser situado no seu devido lugar no cânone literário inglês como o representante legítimo do romantismo em prosa. / Romantic English literature – written at a time when prose fiction was predominantly a medium for sheer entertainment – is rooted in poetry. One or two novelists may exceptionally be granted the adjective “Romantic”, but Mary Shelley is not ranked among them. For centuries, her work has been restricted to that section in handbooks reserved for exotic Gothic literature. This thesis argues that literary criticism has failed to recognize Frankenstein’s obvious relation with the movement. The argument will be fostered by a brief look at such handbooks, and developed through the analysis of the imagery of the novel, so as to trace the Romantic elements there contained. The analysis relies mainly on the frame developed by Northrop Frye concerning the nature and function of imagery in literature. The concept of intertextuality will also be useful as a tool to account for the insertion of images in the novel, and for the novel’s insertion within the Romantic context. The work is divided into three parts. The first contextualizes the main issues set forth by Frankenstein, establishing connections with the life of the author and with the Romantic movement. The second exposes the theoretical basis on which the thesis is grounded. The last presents my reading of the novel’s web of images. In the end, I hope to validate the thesis proposed, that Frankenstein embodies the aesthetic and philosophical assessments of the English Romantic agenda, and therefore deserves to be situated in its due place in the English Literary canon as the legitimate representative of Romanticism in prose form.