This is a timely update of a seminal text which re-interprets key films of the horror genre, including Carrie, The Exorcist, The Brood and Psycho.
In the first edition, Creed draws on Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection to challenge the popular view that women in horror are almost always victims, and argues that patriarchal ideology constructs women as monstrous in relation to her sexuality and reproductive body to justify her subjugation. Although a projection of male fears and paranoid fantasies, the monstrous-feminine is nonetheless a terrifying figure. Creed’s argument contests Freudian and Lacanian theories of sexual difference to offer a provocative rereading of classical and contemporary horror.
This updated edition includes a new section examining contemporary feminist horror films in relation to nonhuman theory. Creed proposes a new concept of radical abjection to reinterpret the monstrous-feminine as a figure who embraces abjection by reclaiming her body and re-defining her otherness as nonhuman – while questioning patriarchy, anthropocentrism, misogyny and the meaning of the human. Films discussed include Ginger Snaps, Teeth, Atlantics, The Girl with All the Gifts, Border and Titane.
Barbara Creed’s classic remains as relevant as ever and this edition will be of interest to academics and students of feminist theory, nonhuman theory, critical animal studies, race, and queer theory.
By:
Barbara Creed
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 2nd edition
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 440g
ISBN: 9780367209452
ISBN 10: 0367209454
Series: Popular Fictions Series
Pages: 266
Publication Date: 02 November 2023
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface to the Second Edition Part I Faces of the Monstrous-Feminine: Abjection and the Maternal Introduction 1 Kristeva, Femininity, Abjection 2 Horror and the Archaic Mother: Alien 3 Woman as Possessed Monster: The Exorcist 4 Woman as Monstrous Womb: The Brood 5 Woman as Vampire: The Hunger 6 Woman as Witch: Carrie Part II Medusa’s Head: Psychoanalytic Theory and the Femme Castratrice Preface 7 ‘Little Hans’ Reconsidered: or ‘The Tale of Mother’s Terrifying Widdler’ 8 Medusa’s Head: the Vagina Dentata and Freudian theory 9 The femme castratrice: I spit on your grave, sisters 10 The Castrating Mother: Psycho 11 The Medusa’s Gaze Part III Revolt of the Monstrous-Feminine: Embracing the Nonhuman Introduction: The Nonhuman Turn an Women’s Horror of the New Millennium 12 Coming of Age: The Monstrous-Feminine as Virginal Dentata: Ginger Snaps: (2000), Teeth (2007), Jennifer’s Body (2009). 13 The Monstrous-Feminine as Avenging Zombie: The Girl With All The Gifts (2016), The Dark (2018), Atlantics (2019). 14 The Monstrous-Feminine as Uncanny Creatrix: Border (2018), Little Joe (2019), Titane (2021). Bibliography Filmography Index
Barbara Creed is Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of seven books, including Darwin’s Screens: Evolutionary Aesthetics, Time and Sexual Display in the Cinema (2009); and Stray: Human- Animal Ethics in the Anthropocene (2017). She is the director of the Human Rights and Animal Ethics Research Network (HRAE). She has been on the boards of Writers Week, the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
Reviews for The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis
Barbara Creed's The Monstrous Feminine is one of the most influential books to emerge in the early 90s. The Monstrous Feminine defined how our generation and our discipline viewed the horror genre. In this new edition, Creed does it again, recontextualizing the conception of the monstrous-feminine to track many of the evolutions in the horror genre and this revised edition will continue to shape our understanding of the horror genre. Aaron Kramer, Professor, and Director of the SFSU School of Cinema, San Francisco State University Creed's The Monstrous-Feminine radically changed the logic of abjection and how it is linked with women. In her profoundly original analysis of horror films, Creed upended a concept emanating from psychoanalysis, traditionally perceived as scaffolding supporting patriarchy, to demonstrate how women could be seen as the agents of abjection rather than as its passive victims. In this new edition Creed expands and updates the filmography to include horror films created by women to augment the ways in which the monstrous-feminine functions deliciously as patriarchy's retribution. Sneja Gunew, Professor Emerita (English/Social Justice Institute), University of British Columbia, Canada
