Monstrous figurationsnotes for a feminist reading

Resumen

Human imagination is saturated with monsters. In order to be able to consider the Human, people have developed a very complex set of narratives both in their diverse literary traditions and, even more so, in their folklore. Therefore, to study monsters represents a way of exploring the different ways in which humans have not only defined themselves but the characteristics that they have attributed to those that were strangers to the human community. In particular, in this game of alterities in which the human stands face to face with his negative mirror image, female monsters have historically occupied a relevant position. Women have been historically represented as the Other in this human/nonhuman dyad. Starting from an etymological approximation to the word monstrum, I have argued that the monster is a complex, multi-layered cultural object that, due to its internal plasticity and its polysemic nature, has acquired over time a number of conflicting characteristics. Moreover, (female) monstrous creatures function as double edged devices that reveal the limits of normativity and simultaneously open up a space for difference to emerge. These preliminary considerations and nineteenth and twentieth century vampires’ and zombies’ narratives have guided my analysis of a contemporary neo-gothic artefact: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter by Laurell Hamilton. In dialogue with a number of feminist contributions and considering queer notions of fluidity and performativity, I will argue that Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter represents a twenty first century series that questions social norms and envisions worlds of freedom.