monster culture (seven theses essay)

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• > Classic Readings on Monster Theory
• > “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”

Book contents

• Frontmatter
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: “A Marvel of Monsters”
• PART I MONSTER THEORY
• PART II: ALLIED THEORIES
• Contributor Biographies
• “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2021

WHAT I WILL propose here by way of a first foray, as entrance into this book of monstrous content, is a sketch of a new modus legendi : a method of reading cultures from the monsters they engender. In doing so, I will partially violate two of the sacred dicta of recent cultural studies: the compulsion to historical specificity and the insistence that all knowledge (and hence all cartographies of that knowledge) is local. Of the first I will say only that in cultural studies today history (disguised perhaps as “culture”) tends to be fetishized as a telos , as a final determinant of meaning; post de Man, post Foucault, post Hayden White, one must bear in mind that history is just another text in a procession of texts, and not a guarantor of any singular signification. A movement away from the longue durée and toward microeconomics (of capital or of gender) is associated most often with Foucauldian criticism; yet recent critics have found that where Foucault went wrong was mainly in his details, in his minute specifics. Nonetheless, his methodology—his archaeology of ideas, his histories of unthought—remains with good reason the chosen route of inquiry for most cultural critics today, whether they work in postmodern cyberculture or in the Middle Ages.

And so I would like to make some grand gestures. We live in an age that has rightly given up on Unified Theory, an age when we realize that history (like “individuality,” “subjectivity,” “gender,” and “culture”) is composed of a multitude of fragments, rather than of smooth epistemological wholes. Some fragments will be collected here and bound temporarily together to form a loosely integrated net—or, better, an unassimilated hybrid, a monstrous body. Rather than argue a “theory of teratology,” I offer by way of introduction to the essays that follow a set of breakable postulates in search of specific cultural moments. I offer seven theses toward understanding cultures through the monsters they bear.

Thesis I: The Monster's Body Is a Cultural Body

Vampires, burial, death: inter the corpse where the road forks, so that when it springs from the grave, it will not know which path to follow.

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• By Jeffrey Jerome Cohen
• Edited by Asa Simon Mittman , Marcus Hensel
• Book: Classic Readings on Monster Theory
• Online publication: 23 January 2021
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781942401209.006

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The Final Judgement in “Monster Culture”

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“In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state he is Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is rare for a writer to put his or her theory at risk by exposing its secret vulnerability, to set out on that fragile, shaky wooden bridge stretching across a chasm—the gap between the two cliffs of understanding. Daunting is the possibility of trust collapsing. One would be a fool to turn one’s idea against oneself. Yet, Jeffrey Cohen leads readers of his essay, “Monster Culture,” on this bridge of uncertainty when he poses a polarizing question that could either make the readers believe him completely or doubt his entire theory: “Do monsters really exist?” (20).

In “Monster Culture,” Cohen extensively discusses and analyzes monsters in connection with the cultures from which they rise. “What I will propose here by way of a first foray, as entrance into this book of monstrous content, is a sketch of a new modus legendi : a method of reading cultures from the monsters they engender,” he begins (3). Maintaining the formal tone of an academic, he contends that monsters rise at the “crossroads” of a culture, where differences emerge and anxiety heightens. The monster is an embodiment of difference—of any quality, whether it be ideological, cultural, sexual, or racial, that inspires fear and uncertainty in its creators (7). The monster is frequently a “disturbing hybrid” that defies categorization––its hybridity rebels against nature (6). And though there are fictional monsters, real people can become monsters too. In order to bring “freaks” under control, those who abide by the standard code of the day impart monstrous identities to those who do not. Anxiety is what breeds them and defines their existence. Thus locating the origin of monsters, Cohen strives to reveal our culture’s values and tendencies. For the vast majority of the essay, the monster is simply the subject of our examination, an otherworldly creature under our scrutiny.

It is when Cohen approaches the end of his essay that he adds another dimension to the monster’s entity and exposes its vulnerability:

Perhaps it is the time to ask the question that always arises when the monster is discussed seriously (the inevitability of the question a symptom of the deep anxiety about what is and what should be thinkable, an anxiety that the process of monster theory is destined to raise): Do monsters really exist? Surely they must, for if they did not, how could we? (20)

In an essay in which monsters are central, he chooses to investigate in his final paragraphs whether monsters even exist after all. This query boldly shifts the focus away from the discussion of his monster theory and introduces a counter argument, pushing readers to either end of the spectrum of their belief in monster theory. They will have to choose whether monsters exist, and whether they will believe or disregard Cohen’s work. Pressing his readers to decide, Cohen places his readers in this foggy gap between the two extremes in order to, paradoxically, eliminate their indecision about his theory.

From the first page––in fact, the first sentence––Cohen seems to be building up to this eruption, the boom moment. Grave and rather stiff in his tone, he is full of purpose––“What I propose here . . . is a sketch of a new modus legendi ” (3). By starting with a rather abrupt announcement, he lays out his objective plainly and explicitly as he launches into a “foray,” a sudden raid, to destroy the protective walls of convention and comfort (3). The risk he takes in unveiling his argument’s potential flaws and testing the readers’ judgments will bring forth the anxiety that permeates not only his essay, but also people’s minds. This sense that a quest is underway reappears in the diction of his concluding passage. His language and tone, departing from the academic study of monsters, demonstrates a serious yet playfully provoking attitude toward the audience. We see the subtle, ironic sense of humor that he has well hidden under the seriousness and technicalities of an academic. Imagine him smirking as he encourages, “Surely they must, for if they did not, how could we?”—content that he has the power to spark trouble and uneasiness in his readers. But to arrive at this point, he detoured from his scholarly discussion of his theses.

Let’s return to the beginning of the passage. The word “perhaps” marks a careful interjection that brings a pause to the flow of his ideas. It is a gentle motion to stop and think. The following phrase “it is time” displays Cohen’s anticipation: he has been building up toward this moment. Thus pulling his readers out of the text and back into reality, he raises the central question: “Do monsters really exist?” (20). The answer to this question holds the key to his theory’s credibility. Can we trust his theory, which is wholly based on the assumption that monsters do exist? His answer is a testament to his confidence, for he replies, “Surely they must” (20). Sly and expectant, his response is not only a challenge to the conventional understanding that monsters are forms of our imagination, but also a design to trigger a little indignation from the readers. For example, the word “surely” gives a sense that his answer is an obvious one that “surely” everyone should know (though he provides no more concrete evidence than his emphatic interpretation of common sense). Indeed, Cohen’s use of “must” suggests that there is no other rational answer that can be true. With these subtly forceful word choices, he appears to challenge readers’ knowledge or, more importantly, their pride in what they know. We can start to see here that Cohen is aiming at a specific part of the subconscious—the ego—that will allow him access and even control a reader’s sense of what is real.

Cohen demands a definite answer, a conviction—whether it be disregard or trust—for vacillating on that unsteady bridge is a source of anxiety in itself. But under the appearance of a perfectly probable motive lies a more intricate pursuit. By calling the question’s inevitability a “symptom of the deep anxiety about what is and what should be thinkable,” he challenges his audience’s scope of thought (20). Notice his inclusion of the word “should.” The clear, crucial distinction between what “is” and what “should” be thinkable serves to differentiate the mundane, average thinking ability from the sophisticated intellect Cohen requires from his readers. It is his way of coyly, maybe even with a hint of haughtiness, asking, “Can you handle my ideas?” In an ever-so-charming manner, he prods our ego—something that we so treasure that we will go to extreme lengths to save it from damage or belittlement. With his suave patronization as the bait, he is fishing for our overprotectiveness of our egos.

And as Cohen’s prey, the readers may feel their ego threatened and become perceptibly anxious. When Cohen calls “the inevitability of the question a symptom of the deep anxiety,” “symptom” is also a carefully chosen word that appropriately renders a disease-like quality. According to this notion, anxiety is a contagious epidemic––one that takes over people’s reason and causes them to constantly feel insecure, leading them to eventually produce monsters. Interestingly, anxiety in Cohen’s text is a revisited subject—a constantly reoccurring term—that mirrors the prevalent, lingering nature of a disease. It is ironic that his own monster theory, which analyzes the anxieties that create monsters in the first place, might itself engender anxiety—both his and his readers’. The anxiety can rise simply from the essay’s content (a solemn discourse on monster), which Cohen says inevitably prompts his central query, or it can also come from ambivalence regarding the question (of the monster’s existence) itself. “Monster Culture” brims with uncertainty and tension.

In many ways, then, reading “Monster Culture” is not just reading but rather thinking and questioning, and all the while coping with anxiety. Fueling the anxiety, Cohen establishes a dependent relationship between monsters and us. According to the rhetorical question in “Surely they must, for if they did not, how could we?” we cannot exist if monsters do not (20). But consequently, if their existence equates to our existence, does that not mean we are monsters? Here is the epitome of the break between thinkable and unthinkable. We all are monsters, and in choosing whether or not one can accept that fact is the key to complete comprehension of Cohen’s theory—and deciding on which end of the bridge we will land. In fact, with the question, Cohen allows the readers to actively experience the making of a monster. As Cohen says, we detest monsters. So, we naturally don’t want to be monsters ourselves—or casted out as different or freakish. But when Cohen suggests that we are all monsters, a non-monster (who is thus unlike all others) becomes a monster nonetheless. With this prospect, anxiety turns into panic, and as a result, his question “If they did not, how could we?” acts as reverse psychology: rather than be appalled, we are tempted to swiftly accept Cohen’s bait and concur, “Yes, you are right. I, too, am a monster.” We don’t want to be left behind on that bridge. When the essay ends and the bridge falls, we could either plummet down and flounder in that bottomless gulf of uncertainty and anxiety—with no one to pull you out, to persuade you to either side. Or, we could escape the easy way: follow his lead.

Thus, Cohen’s concluding inquiry was not a question at all, but a powerful shove to his readers toward believing him completely. Though in a glance, he appears to be simply questioning the existence of monsters, he is really testing the readers’ level of thought and urging others to question everything and everyone (even him, the author, and themselves). But, even in this, there is deception because he in fact is pushing the readers to the side the bridge that corresponds to trust and belief in him. By speaking to the readers’ egos, he actually makes readers, afraid of humiliation, want to agree with him. And with the suggestion that everyone is a monster, he entices them to accept it as a plainly apparent reality. Rather than putting his theory at risk, Cohen has convinced his readers––by causing their anxiety to rule over their reason––to want to be on his side even if they aren’t necessarily his believer. Thus, the vulnerability exposed isn’t that of his theory, but that of his readers. “Monster Culture,” then, is Cohen’s lonely battle against “un-thought,” which ironically, and unfortunately, shows the prevalence and inevitability of it (3).

WORKS CITED

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” Monster Theory: Reading Culture . Ed. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota Press, 1996. 3-25.

Emerson, Ralph W. “The American Scholar.” Speech. Phi Beta Kappa Society, Cambridge, MA. 31 Aug. 1837. EmersonCentral.com . Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

SUE BAHK '15SEAS is an undergraduate student in The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. Though she is an engineer, she considers herself also as a humanities person who believes in the value and power of writing. She was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, but started studying in the States since the 6th grade. In her free time, Sue enjoys reading, listening to music, and traveling.

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Analysis of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture

This essay about Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s “Monster Culture: Seven Theses” explores the symbolic and literal role of monsters in reflecting and shaping cultural fears and aspirations. Cohen’s detailed theses examine how monsters embody societal anxieties, challenge established norms, and prompt personal and collective introspection. The analysis illustrates how these creatures force us to confront our fears, reevaluate our boundaries, and consider the transformative potential of the monstrous in cultural and psychological contexts.

How it works

In the dynamic discourse of cultural critique, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s seminal piece “Monster Culture: Seven Theses” stands out as a profound exploration of the ways in which human fears, desires, and societal tensions intersect. Cohen’s thoughtful articulation of seven theses invites us into the complex territories of human psyche where monsters are both symbolic representations and architects of our collective imaginations.

Cohen begins with the thesis, “The Monster’s Body Is a Cultural Body,” which suggests that monsters encapsulate the fears and aspirations of a society.

From the daunting figure of Grendel to ethereal phantoms, each monster mirrors the culture it arises from, highlighting the intertwined nature of the monstrous and the mundane.

Advancing his argument, the second thesis, “The Monster Always Escapes,” speaks to the ephemeral essence of fear and the perpetual migration of monsters across eras and regions. Monsters evolve, adapt, and persist, perpetually dodging those who seek to contain them.

In his third thesis, “The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis,” Cohen emphasizes the fluidity of identity and the constructed aspects of societal norms. Here, monsters confuse and conflate categories, challenging fixed ideas and merging the familiar with the unfamiliar.

Cohen’s fourth thesis, “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference,” positions monsters as guardians of societal boundaries. These entities provoke introspection about the ‘Other’ and encourage an appreciation for the diversity that defines the human experience.

With the fifth thesis, “The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible,” Cohen challenges us to venture into the fringes of our imaginations where monsters act as both enforcers and challengers of conventional limits. They compel us to question and potentially redefine our perceptions of the possible.

Exploring the deeper emotional resonance, the sixth thesis, “Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire,” reveals the intricate attraction underlying our fear. This hidden desire for the monstrous Other draws us toward the mysterious and the unexplored.

Concluding his exploration, the seventh thesis, “The Monster Stands at the Threshold…of Becoming,” casts light on the transformative power of encountering the monstrous. These interactions provoke us to confront our fears and catalyze growth, guiding our transformation.

Through “Monster Culture: Seven Theses,” Cohen not only offers a detailed examination of the monster’s role within cultural frameworks but also provides a guide for navigating the intricate landscapes of our minds. His theses challenge us to face our deepest anxieties and desires, engage with the transformative nature of the monstrous, and thus reshape our destinies.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Literature Review — Jeffery Jerome Cohen: Monster Theory Analysis

Jeffery Jerome Cohen: Monster Theory Analysis

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Thesis 1: the monster's is a cultural, thesis 2: the monster always escapes, thesis 3: the monster is the harbinger of category crisis, thesis 4: the monster dwells at the gates of difference, thesis 5: the monster polices the borders of the possible, thesis 6: fear of the monster is really a kind of desire, thesis 7: the monster stands at the threshold of becoming.

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102 , lesson

102 Monster Culture (Seven Theses) Notes

Monster theory.

• Thesis I. The Monster’s Body Is a Cultural Body (4)
• Thesis II. The Monster Always Escapes (4)
• Thesis III. The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis (6)
• Thesis IV. The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference (7)
• Thesis V. The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible (12)
• Thesis VI. Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire (16)
• Thesis VII. The Monster Stands at the Threshold . . . of Becoming (20)

Thesis I. The Monster’s Body Is a Cultural Body

• Each culture will produce their own monsters and their own versions of monsters. “The monstrous body is pure culture” (4).
• The monsters is born as an embodiment of a certain cultural moment, a time, a feeling, and a place. A monster will always change because culture changes, our fears and beliefs are always changing (4).
• The monster signifies something other than itself: it is a displacement, it inhabits the gap between when it was created and it is received, to be born again (4).

Thesis II. The Monster Always Escapes

• “The anxiety that condenses like green vapor into the form of the vampire can be dispersed temporarily, but the revenant by definition returns” This is the unsettling feeling you get when your mind starts to wander and the feeling of insecurity when thinking about your monster
• “Monsters must be examined within the intricate matrix of relations (social, cultural, and literary-historical) that generate them” This explains that monsters tie into the persona that we assign them
• “the undead returns in slightly different clothing, each time to be read against contemporary social movements or a specific, determining event”
• Over time ideals change, adapting to our different interpretations of this monster
• “Monster Theory must therefore concern itself with strings of cultural moments, connected by a logic that always threatens to shift; invigorated by change and escape, by the impossibility of achieving what Susan Stewart calls the desired ‘fall or death, the stopping’ of its gigantic subject monstrous interpretations is as much process as epiphany, a work that must content itself with fragments”
• monster theory is the concern of culture an cultural moments connected by logic that is always changing. Monsters are always changing in culture, therefore, are always escaping.

Thesis III. The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis

• “they demand a radical rethinking of boundary and normality. The too precise laws of nature as set forth by science are gleefully violated.”  Monsters are externally incoherent bodies that resist attempts to include them in any systematic structure. They refuse easy categorization and defy the natural laws of evolution. The power to evade and undermine are coursed through the monsters blood.
• “the monstrous offers an escape from its hermetic path, an invitation to explore new spirals, new and interconnected methods of perceiving the world.” The monster always escapes and returns to its habitation at the margins of the world.
• “rebuke to boundary and enclosure” The demand radical rethinking of boundary and normality.
• Monster described as systematic phenomenon rather than object or idea of how it is perceived.
• Monster escapes because it is hard to categorize.
• Disturbing hybrid
• Externally incoherent
• Resist systematic structuration.
• Resists classification built on hierarchy or merely binary opposition.
• Demands a system allowing polyphony, mixed response (Difference in sameness, repulsion in attraction).

Thesis IV. The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference

• People who are different are viewed as monsters.
• Differences tend to be political, cultural, racial economic, sexual, not fitting into the norm.
• People make up stories that will form the different people into monsters.
• The “monsters” are a threat.
• Used to justify treating them differently.
• Going against what was considered the norm of the culture was considered monstrous. This included sexual orientation, , race, economic status, and political preference.; this allowed  actions against these “monsters”, or “not  normal” individuals to be justified.
• “Representing an anterior culture as monstrous justifies its displacement or extermination by rendering the act heroic” (Cohen).

Thesis V. The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible

• Keeping people in a bubble and keeping them from exploring the world in order to keep order.
• “To step outside this official geography is to risk attack by some monstrous border patrol or (worse)to become monstrous oneself” (Cohen).
• The Monster represents consequences of curiosity, desire, or rebellion. (As dictated by the Monster’s creator).
• The tale of a Monster discourages certain actions and behaviors as dictated by the Monster’s creator.
• The Monster can serve as an intimidation tactic to deter individuals from going to certain places.
• Monster’s may serve as an example for what is to come if one does/doesn’t do a particular thing.
• Monster’s can be a crude template for vilifying or humiliating certain individuals or groups so as to discourage intermingling.
• A Monster can also be depicted as the enemy; anything or anyone the Monster’s creator views as lesser, grotesque, or deemed worthy of destruction.

Thesis VI. Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire

• The fear of the Monster could be translated to desire because humans are inherently curious creatures and are often attracted to the taboo.
• The Monster can be a method of escapism, to ponder subjects and situations they would normally not encounter due to either outside, or self-made restrictions.
• The Monster may symbolize what we see in ourselves, the simultaneous admiration and disgust being a common struggle for some. (This simultaneous admiration and disgust may also be the attractive combination to sensationalize a Monster.)
• Monsters may also stand for the anxieties we face and our inner turmoils over existential issues and morality.
• monsters practice forbidden concepts
• offer a way to escape via fantasy
• people have a simultaneous reaction of repulsion and attraction
• represents a projection of “other”
• awakens the joy of being frightened
• uses the rush-/excitement of dressing up as a demon on Halloween. it’s something we don’t get to take on often, at least socially
• people are able to relate/live vicariously an entity that takes various forms and one that expresses different identities
• the exploration via these monsters was exciting in contrast to the imposing environment the Church was creating(a few centuries ago)
• made the taboo more accessible
• overall, monsters are something different and it sparks the dark/curious side in us.

Thesis VII. The Monster Stands at the Threshold . . . of Becoming

• represents the repressed memories of our childhood
• ultimately, they challenge our perspective, what we find acceptable
• monsters require us to question our tolerance towards different expressions
• Our own fears never fully go away just go for a little then come back stronger than before.
• Monsters bring context with their existence
• They reside in the deepest, darkest parts of our minds
• monsters can be within
• They are our fears
• can be our own minds
• Monster is linked to forbidden practices in order to normalize
• Monster attracts
• Evokes escapist fantasies, the linking of the monster with the forbidden makes it more appealing
• Monster can serve as an alter ego
• We know when we see horror films, that the jolts of horror are temporary, so we use it as a temporary escape
• The lands monsters live in are realms of happy fantasy, horizons of liberation
• Monsters serve as secondary bodies through which the possibilities of other genders, other sexual practices, and other social customs can be explored
• Making a monster desirable is accomplished by the neutralization of potentially threatening aspects with a liberal dose of comedy
• Monsters are our children
• We can hide our monsters deep in our mind, but they always return
• Monsters come back knowing more
• They ask us to reevaluate our cultural assumptions about race, gender, sexuality, our perception of difference, our tolerance toward its expression

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“Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”

From the book classic readings on monster theory.

• Jeffrey Jerome Cohen
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Monster Culture (Seven Theses)(Extract)

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What i will propose here by way of a first foray, as entrance into this book of monstrous content, is a sketch of a new modus legendi : a method of reading cultures from the monsters they engender. In doing so, I will partially violate two of the sacred dicta of recent cultural studies: the compulsion to historical specificity and the insistence that all knowledge (and hence all cartographies of that knowledge) is local. Of the first I will say only that in cultural studies today history (disguised perhaps as “culture”) tends to be fetishized as a telos , as a final determinant of meaning; post de Man, post Foucault, post Hayden White, one must bear in mind that history is just another text in a procession of texts, and not a guarantor of any singular signification. A movement away from the longue durée and toward micro economies (of capital or of gender) is associated most often with Foucauldian criticism; yet recent critics have found that where Foucault went wrong was mainly in his details, in his minute specifics. Nonetheless, his methodology—his archaeology of ideas, his histories of unthought—remains with good reason the chosen route of inquiry for most cultural critics today, whether they work in postmodern cyberculture or in the Middle Ages.

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© 2012 Caroline Joan S. Picart and John Edgar Browning

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Cohen, J.J. (2012). Monster Culture (Seven Theses)(Extract). In: Picart, C.J.S., Browning, J.E. (eds) Speaking of Monsters. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137101495_2

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