Holy Monsters, Sacred Grotesques

Monstrosity and Religion in Europe and the United States

Edited by Michael E. Heyes - Contributions by Linda C. Ceriello; Thomas S. Franke; John Block Friedman; John W. Ellis-Etchison; Michael E. Heyes; Minji Lee; Susanne Margarit McColeman; Cathleen McKague; AnaMaria Seglie and Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock

Holy Monsters, Sacred Grotesques examines the intersection of religion and monstrosity in a variety of different time periods in the hopes of addressing two gaps in scholarship within the field of monster studies. The first part of the volume—running from the medieval to the Early Modern period—focuses upon the view of the monster through non-majority voices and accounts from those who were themselves branded as monsters. Overlapping partially with the Early Modern and proceeding to the present day, the contributions of the second part of the volume attempt to problematize the dichotomy of secular/religious through a close look at the monsters this period has wrought.

Lexington Books

Pages: 296 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-5076-5 • Hardback • August 2018 • $142.00 • (£109.00)

978-1-4985-5077-2 • eBook • August 2018 • $134.50 • (£104.00)

Subjects: Religion / Christianity / Literature & the Arts, Art / History / European / Medieval, Literary Criticism / Medieval, Literary Criticism / Shakespeare, Performing Arts / Film / Genres / Science Fiction & Fantasy

Holy Monsters, Sacred Grotesques

Monstrosity and Religion in Europe and the United States

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Holy Monsters, Sacred Grotesques examines the intersection of religion and monstrosity in a variety of different time periods in the hopes of addressing two gaps in scholarship within the field of monster studies. The first part of the volume—running from the medieval to the Early Modern period—focuses upon the view of the monster through non-majority voices and accounts from those who were themselves branded as monsters. Overlapping partially with the Early Modern and proceeding to the present day, the contributions of the second part of the volume attempt to problematize the dichotomy of secular/religious through a close look at the monsters this period has wrought.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 296 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-5076-5 • Hardback • August 2018 • $142.00 • (£109.00)

978-1-4985-5077-2 • eBook • August 2018 • $134.50 • (£104.00)

Subjects: Religion / Christianity / Literature & the Arts, Art / History / European / Medieval, Literary Criticism / Medieval, Literary Criticism / Shakespeare, Performing Arts / Film / Genres / Science Fiction & Fantasy

Author

Michael E. Heyes is assistant professor of religion at Lycoming College.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Ecce Monstra
Michael E. Heyes

Part I: Inside the Monster, Looking Out

1. The Woman’s Body, In-Between: The Holy and Monstrous Womb in Medieval Medicine and Religion
Minji Lee
2. Miracles and Monsters: Gog and Magog, Alexander the Great, and Antichrist in the Apocalypse of the Catalan Atlas (1375)
Thomas S. Franke
3. Dressing Monstrous Men: Landsknechte Clothing in Some Early Modern Danish Church Wall Paintings
John Block Friedman
4. Twelfth Night’s “poor monster:” Viola/Cesario as Holy Grotesque
Cathleen McKague
5. Grotesques in Sacred Spaces: The Cappella dei Priori and the Cappella del Quartiere di Leone X in the Palazzo Vecchio
Susanne Margarit McColeman

Part II: Monstrous Modernity

6. Monstrous Sovereignty and the Corrupt Body Politic in Richard III and The Duchess of Malfi
John W. Ellis-Etchison
7. Reform and Romance: Catholic Monstrosity in Antebellum U.S. Fiction
AnaMaria Seglie
8. Lovecraft’s Things: Sinister Souvenirs from Other Worlds
Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock
9. The Big Bad and the Big “Aha!”: Metamodern Monsters as Transformational Figures of Instability
Linda C. Ceriello
10. From Revelation to Revolution: Explaining the Strange Success of Fox’s Sleepy Hollow
Michael E. Heyes

Reviews

This ambitious volume questions the nature of religion and secularity in relation to and embodied by the figure of the monster, addressing gaps in current conversation both in its attention to the sacred, and in its range from the medieval to the modern.
— Dana M. Oswald, University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Grotesques andcynocephali, hermaphrodites and the headless horsemen. This daring and eclectic bestiary expands the way we think about the function of monsters and the nature of monstrosity.
— Joseph P. Laycock, Texas State University

Heyes’ cadre of burgeoning and seasoned academics in English, the Humanities, History, Art History, Religion, and Medieval Studies offers lucidly written studies at the intersections of the sacred and the horrific with an eye for both the scholar and general public. Explorations of modern monstrosity and religiosity, monstrous wombs, hermaphrodites, architectural grotesqueries in sacred spaces, Catholic monstrosity in antebellum America fiction, as well as more recent forays into the sacred monstrous with H. P. Lovecraft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), and Sleepy Hollow (2013–2017), together comprise a volume that is intellectually invaluable and much needed for the niche it fills.
— John Edgar Browning, Georgia Institute of Technology

This wide-ranging collection brings together numerous cutting-edge essays on the rapidly growing field of Monster Studies. Drawing from the work of noted academics, this engaging anthology covers an eclectic range from Shakespeare to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In providing thoughtful analysis of traditional and contemporary materials from a variety of critical approaches, this represents an important contribution.
— Peter J. Dendle, Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto