| Description |
xii, 351 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [285]-333) and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction: extraordinary beings -- Part 1: ancient monsters. Alexander fights monsters in India ; Monsters are nature's playthings ; Hermaphrodites and man-headed oxen ; Monstrous desire -- Part 2: Medieval monsters: Messages from God. Biblical monsters ; Do monsters have souls?; The monster killer ; Possessing demons and witches -- Part 3: Scientific monsters: The book of nature is riddled with typos. Natural history, freaks, and nondescripts ; The medicalization of monsters ; Darwin's mutants -- Part 4: Inner monsters: The psychological aspects. The art of human vulnerability: Angst and horror ; Criminal monsters: Psychopathology, aggression, and the malignant heart ; Torturers, terrorists, and zombies: The products of monstrous societies ; Future monsters: robots, mutants, and posthuman cyborgs. |
| Summary |
Monsters. Real or imagined, literal or metaphorical, they have exerted a dread fascination on the human mind for many centuries. They attract and repel us, intrigue and terrify us, and in the process reveal something deeply important about the darker recesses of our collective psyche. Stephen Asma's On Monsters is a wide-ranging cultural and conceptual history of monsters--how they have evolved over time, what functions they have served for us, and what shapes they are likely to take in the future. |
| Subject |
Monsters.
|
| ISBN |
9780195336160 hardcover alkaline paper |
|
019533616X hardcover alkaline paper |
|
