‘Engendering Globalgothic: The “hideous progeny” of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ : WestminsterResearch

Publication dates
Chapter title	‘Engendering Globalgothic: The “hideous progeny” of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’
Authors	Germanà, M.
Editors	Duncan, R.
Abstract	This chapter provocatively argues that Gothic has always been global and queer. From the onset, the genre has been preoccupied by the permeability of national boundaries, while also displaying a deep fascination with – and anxiety about – forms of desire exceeding social norms. Arguably, no other Gothic creature embodies these dual qualities so powerfully as the ‘monster’ at the centre of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein. The story’s geographical settings extend from Switzerland to Turkey, the Arctic and South America, where with the creature threatens to move after the creation of his female companion which Frankenstein aborts. Translated into multiple languages, including Japanese, Korean and Indonesian, and adapted in a multitude of formats and media (graphic novels, video games, and contemporary opera) ‘Shelley’s monster has proven to be an extremely adaptable vehicle through which to engage diverse issues across a broad spectrum of historical periods and cultures’ (Davidson and Muley Roberts 2018). Taking, as its starting point, the ‘rage politics’ of Susan Stryker’s ‘trans-monster’ manifesto – ‘My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix’ (1993) – this chapter will chart the subversive ways in which Shelley’s hybrid creation has come to embody the convergence of Gothic’s global/queer concerns through a global range of rewritings. These include Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad (2013), Kate Horsley’s The Monster's Wife (2014) Jeanette Winterson’s Frankisstein (2019), and an international range of films including the Japanese kaiju adaptation Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965, dir. Ishirō Honda), the blaxploitation re-make Blackenstein (dir. William Levey, 1973) and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (dir. Kenneth Branagh, 1994).
Keywords	Frankenstein
	Mary Shelley
	Gender
	Gothic
	Jeanette Winterson
	Frankissstein
	Ahmed Saadawi
	Frankenstein in Baghdad
	Kate Horsley
	The Monster's Wife
Book title	The Edinburgh Companion to Global Gothic
Page range	84-99
Year	2023
Publisher	Edinburgh University Press
Published	31 Jul 2023
Place of publication	Edinburgh
Edition	First
Series	Edinburgh Companions to Literature and the Humanities
ISBN	9781399510585
Web address (URL)	https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-edinburgh-companion-to-globalgothic.html

Related outputs

Vanishing Landmarks: Artivisim and Climate
Germanà, M. 2024. Vanishing Landmarks: Artivisim and Climate. The Soho Poly Nov 2024 - Jan 2025

“‘Sometimes the Old Ways Are the Best’”: A Gothic Reading of Technology and the Body in Sam Mendes’s Skyfall
Germanà, M. 2024. “‘Sometimes the Old Ways Are the Best’”: A Gothic Reading of Technology and the Body in Sam Mendes’s Skyfall. in: Hines, C., Sweeney, T. and Joy, S. (ed.) James Bond Will Return: Critical Perspectives on the 007 Film Franchise New York Wallflower Press. pp. 276-287

Skeleton Woman and the Haunted Underwater: A Three-Part Podcast Series
Germanà, M. 2023. Skeleton Woman and the Haunted Underwater: A Three-Part Podcast Series.

‘Between Desire and Control: The Fashioned Image in Muriel Spark’s Life and Fiction’
Germanà, M. 2022. ‘Between Desire and Control: The Fashioned Image in Muriel Spark’s Life and Fiction’. in: Carruthers, G. and Stoddart, H. (ed.) The Crooked Dividend: Essays on Muriel Spark Glasgow Association for Scottish Literary Studies. pp. 63-87

Ghost-Tours, Body Snatchers, and Optical Illusions: An Introduction to Haunted Scotlands
Germanà, M. 2022. Ghost-Tours, Body Snatchers, and Optical Illusions: An Introduction to Haunted Scotlands. Gothic Studies. 24 (1), pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3366/gothic.2022.0117

The Haunted Landscape of the Uncanny North: Scott Graham’s Shell (2012) and Gordon Napier’s 1745 (2017)
Germanà, M. 2022. The Haunted Landscape of the Uncanny North: Scott Graham’s Shell (2012) and Gordon Napier’s 1745 (2017). Gothic Studies. 24 (1), pp. 93-109. https://doi.org/10.3366/gothic.2022.0124

Ali Smith
Germanà, M. 2020. Ali Smith. in: The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Contemporary British and Irish Literature Oxford Wiley. pp. 451-460

Bond Girls: Body, Fashion and Gender
Germanà, M. 2019. Bond Girls: Body, Fashion and Gender. London and New York Bloomsbury Academic.

Authorship, “Ghost-filled” Islands, and the Haunting Feminine: Contemporary Scottish Female Gothic’
Germanà, M. 2017. Authorship, “Ghost-filled” Islands, and the Haunting Feminine: Contemporary Scottish Female Gothic’. in: Germanà, M. and Davison, C. (ed.) The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Gothic Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press. pp. 222-235

Ali Smith, Girl Meets Boy (2007)
Germanà, M. 2017. Ali Smith, Girl Meets Boy (2007). Studies in Scottish Literature. 43 (2), pp. 209-210.

Other Stories: Strangers and Intrusions in Ali Smith’s Fiction
Germanà, M. 2017. Other Stories: Strangers and Intrusions in Ali Smith’s Fiction. in: Acheson, J. (ed.) The Contemporary British Novel since 2000 Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press. pp. 99-108

Community Spirit? Haunting Secrets and Displaced Selves in Contemporary Scottish Fiction
Germanà, M. 2016. Community Spirit? Haunting Secrets and Displaced Selves in Contemporary Scottish Fiction. in: Lyall, S. (ed.) Community in Modern Scottish Literature Leiden Brill. pp. 235-253

The Coming of Age of Graphic Narratives
Germanà, M. 2015. The Coming of Age of Graphic Narratives . in: Berberich, C. (ed.) The Bloomsbury Introduction to Popular Fiction London Bloomsbury. pp. 163-181

Brownies
Germanà, M. 2014. Brownies. in: Weinstock, J. (ed.) Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters Ashgate. pp. 61-66

“What Are All Those Things He Once Thought He Knew, and Where Have They Gone?”: The End of the Wor(l)d in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (2003)
Germanà, M. 2014. “What Are All Those Things He Once Thought He Knew, and Where Have They Gone?”: The End of the Wor(l)d in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (2003). in: Germanà, M. and Mousoutzanis, A. (ed.) Apocalyptic Discourse in Contemporary Culture: Post-Millennial Perspectives of the End of the World New York Routledge. pp. 206-219

The Awakening of Caledonias? Scottish Literature in the 1980s
Germanà, M. 2014. The Awakening of Caledonias? Scottish Literature in the 1980s. in: Wilson, L.G., Horton, E. and Tew, P. (ed.) 1980s: A Decade of Contemporary British Fiction London Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 51-74

The Death of the Lady: Haunted Garments and (Re-)Possession in Sarah Waters’s The Little Stranger’
Germanà, M. 2013. The Death of the Lady: Haunted Garments and (Re-)Possession in Sarah Waters’s The Little Stranger’. in: Mitchell, K. (ed.) Contemporary Critical Perspectives: Sarah Waters London Bloomsbury. pp. 114-128

‘The Uncanny can happen’: Desire and Belief in Ali Smith’s The Seer’
Germanà, M. 2013. ‘The Uncanny can happen’: Desire and Belief in Ali Smith’s The Seer’. in: Germanà, M. and Horton, E. (ed.) Contemporary Critical Perspectives: Ali Smith London Bloomsbury. pp. 115-129

Madness and the city: the collapse of reason and sanity in Alan Moore’s From Hell
Germanà, M. 2013. Madness and the city: the collapse of reason and sanity in Alan Moore’s From Hell. in: Green, M. (ed.) Alan Moore and the gothic tradition Manchester Manchester University Press.

Contemporary fiction
Germanà, M. 2012. Contemporary fiction. in: Norquay, G. (ed.) The Edinburgh companion to Scottish women's writing Edinburgh University Press.

Being human? Twenty-first century monsters
Germanà, M. 2012. Being human? Twenty-first century monsters. in: Edwards, J.D. and Soltysik Monnet, A. (ed.) The Gothic in Contemporary Literature and Popular Culture: Pop Goth Routledge.

Introduction: the sick body and the fractured self: (contemporary) Scottish gothic
Germanà, M. 2011. Introduction: the sick body and the fractured self: (contemporary) Scottish gothic. Gothic Studies. 13 (2), pp. 1-8.

Becoming Hyde: excess, pleasure and cloning
Germanà, M. 2011. Becoming Hyde: excess, pleasure and cloning. Gothic Studies. 13 (2), pp. 98-115. https://doi.org/10.7227/GS.13.2.9

The dear green place
Germanà, M. 2011. The dear green place. in: Book Ashby-de-la-Zouch Inkermen Press.

From hijab to sweatshops: segregated bodies and contested space in Monica Ali’s Brick Lane
Germanà, M. 2011. From hijab to sweatshops: segregated bodies and contested space in Monica Ali’s Brick Lane. in: Teverson, A. and Upstone, S. (ed.) Postcolonial spaces: the politics of place in contemporary culture London Palgrave Macmillan.

Beyond the gaps: postmodernist representations of the metropolis
Germanà, M. 2011. Beyond the gaps: postmodernist representations of the metropolis. in: Berberich, C., Hudson, R. and Campbell, N. (ed.) Land and identity: theory, memory and practice Amsterdam Rodopi.

Scottish women's gothic and fantastic writing: fiction since 1978
Germanà, M. 2010. Scottish women's gothic and fantastic writing: fiction since 1978. Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press.

Red stiletto
Germanà, M. 2009. Red stiletto. in: Cold turkey: a Christmas selection Ashby-de-la-Zouch Inkermen Press.

Lost and found
Germanà, M. 2009. Lost and found. in: Loss Ashby-de-la-Zouch Inkermen Press.

Plagiarising the Ettrick shepherd? A note on the manuscript of Charlotte Brontë's tales of the islanders and Winifred Gérin's Emily Brontë
Germanà, M. 2008. Plagiarising the Ettrick shepherd? A note on the manuscript of Charlotte Brontë's tales of the islanders and Winifred Gérin's Emily Brontë. Notes and Queries. 55 (4), pp. 461-463. https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjn144

In and outside post-devolution Scotland: Scottish national identity and women writers
Germanà, M. 2008. In and outside post-devolution Scotland: Scottish national identity and women writers. in: Lunan, L., Macdonald, K.A. and Sassi, C. (ed.) Re-Visioning Scotland: new readings of the cultural canon Frankfurt am Main ; Oxford Peter Lang.

Crossing dream boundaries: decoding nonsense and fantastic ambiguities in Naomi Mitchison’s beyond this limit
Germanà, M. 2008. Crossing dream boundaries: decoding nonsense and fantastic ambiguities in Naomi Mitchison’s beyond this limit. in: MacPherson, P., Murray, C., Spark, G. and Corstorphine, K. (ed.) Sub-versions: cultural status, genre and critique Newcastle Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 135-148

'Une Petite Mort’: Death, Love and Liminality in the Fiction of Ali Smith
Germanà, M. 2003. 'Une Petite Mort’: Death, Love and Liminality in the Fiction of Ali Smith. Ecloga. 3 (2003).

Real Gorgons or Fantastic Chimeras? Re-shaping Myth and Tradition: Alice Thompson’s Justine
Germanà, M. 2003. Real Gorgons or Fantastic Chimeras? Re-shaping Myth and Tradition: Alice Thompson’s Justine. esharp. 1 (1).

Historical Places of Interest, Books, Tourism and Advertising: Scottish Icons in Contemporary Halifax (Nova Scotia)
Germanà, M. 2003. Historical Places of Interest, Books, Tourism and Advertising: Scottish Icons in Contemporary Halifax (Nova Scotia). International Review of Scottish Studies. (28), pp. 22-46.

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/wxy01/-engendering-globalgothic-the-hideous-progeny-of-mary-shelley-s-frankenstein

‘Engendering Globalgothic: The “hideous progeny” of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’

Related outputs

Share this

Usage statistics

Export as