Monstrosity, Identity and Music

Taking Mary Shelley's novel as its point of departure, this collection of essays considers how her creation has not only survived but thrived over 200 years of media history, in music, film, literature, visual art and other cultural forms. In studying monstrous figures torn from the deepest and darkest imaginings of the human psyche, the essays in this book deploy the latest analytical approaches, drawn from such fields as musicology, critical race studies, feminist studies, queer theory and psychoanalysis. The book interweaves the manifold sounds, sights and stories of monstrosity into a conversation that sheds light on important social issues, aesthetic trends and cultural concerns that are as alive today as they were when Shelley's landmark novel was published 200 years ago.

Alexis Luko is Professor of Musicology and the Director of the School of Music at the University of Victoria, Canada. She is the author of Sonatas, Screams, and Silence: Music and Sound in the Films of Ingmar Bergman (2016). James K. Wright is Professor of Music in the School for Studies in Art and Culture and the College of Humanities at Carleton University, Canada. A McGill University Governor General's Gold Medal recipient, his publications include two award-winning books on Arnold Schoenberg, and They Shot, He Scored (2019), a monograph on the life and work of the prolific film composer Eldon Rathburn.

Introduction Part I: Frankenstein in Film, Theatre, Music, Comics and Visual Art 1. Frankenstein's Frontispiece, the Missing Phallus and the Pornographer: The Alchemy of Conceiving Monstrosities Marie Mulvey-Roberts, University of the West of England, UK 2. Monstrous Encounters: The Aesthetic Psychology of Screen Frankensteins Kevin J. Donnelly, University of Southampton, UK 3. Frankenstein and the Media of Serial Figures Shane Denson, Stanford University, USA 4. Musical Directions, Sound and Song in Presumption, or the Fate of Frankenstein (1823) John Higney, Carleton University, Canada 5. Birth of a 'Miserable Monster': The Theatricality of Male Self-Procreation in Stage and Screen Adaptations of Frankenstein André Loiselle, St. Thomas University, Canada 6. Excising the Repulsive: Mysticism and Psychology in Edison's Frankenstein (1910) Ethan Towns, Trent University, Canada 7. Frankenstein's Organ Transplant: Adaptation in Afro-Futurist and Electronic Dance Musics Mark McCutcheon, Athabaska University, Canada Part II: Monstrosity in Music, Film and Video Games 8. Monstrosity as a Queer Aesthetic Lloyd Whitesell, McGill University, Canada 9. Twelve-tone Terror: Representing Horror and Monstrosity in Dodecaphonic Film Music James K. Wright, Carleton University, Canada 10. The Horror, the Horror! White Women are the True Monsters in Jordan Peele's Get Out Frederick W. Gooding, Jr., Texas Christian University, USA 11. Indigeneity as Monstrosity in The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake Murray Leeder, University of Manitoba, Canada 12. A 'Distaste for. . . Allegory' or: In the Bowels of Horror Daniel Humphrey, Texas A&M University, USA 13.Tragic Wraiths, Seductive Sirens and Man-Eating Vampires: Female Monstrosity in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Video Game Sarah Stang, Brock University, Canada Acknowledgements Bibliography Filmography Index