Bücher der Reihe Emerald Interdisciplinary Conn

Monsters show us our deepest fears and anxieties, our discomfort with difference, and our simultaneous repulsion with and fascination for the other. Understanding that the concept of the monster can be a political tool used to dehumanize opponents and a psychological tool that can help us reconsider our beliefs, Interdisciplinary Essays on Monsters and the Monstrous analyses and explores the enduring influence and imagery of monsters and the monstrous on human societies.Introducing the innovative practice of "e;imagining monsters"e; as a way to rethink the key organizing principles in our society that we have traditionally taken for granted, the authors explore not only what monsters are but, most importantly, what monsters reveal about us. This cutting-edge collection of chapters challenges us to contradict worldviews, such as the binary of gender, that have organized our thinking for millennia. Showcasing discussions loaded with ontological, ideological, socio-political, and aesthetic implications, the monstrous is rendered uncannily familiar as our own public and domestic socio-political and psycho-emotional realities are subjected to scrutiny.Launching a critical question: when faced with an existential threat, what can we do? The authors show us how the study of monsters and monstrosity is perfectly positioned to answer. Tackling this question from a unique interdisciplinary scope, the research presented in the chapters are interesting reading for a variety of researchers interested in monsters and the monstrous from across sub-disciplines.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online. Gender Violence, the Law, and Society analyses and explores the historical and cultural roots of issues of gender-based and sexual violence in Japan, India and South Africa.

A 'good woman' is hard to find. To be 'good', after all, women face expectations that are shifting, internally contradictory, emotionally extreme, and prospectively even deadly. To be divergent, on the other hand, is an expansive position, encompassing cackling witches, childfree women, struggling mothers, insecure teenagers, and persecuted innocents. Exploring divergent women from a variety of critical and creative perspectives, this edited collection puts forth a dialogic discussion of how non-conforming women are coded as 'evil', and asks, what happens when women choose to be divergent?Delving into reflective and auto-ethnographic perspectives which explore subjective responses to the influence of the representation and treatment of evil women, Divergent Women is ultimately a celebratory reclamation of the concept of feminine transgression.Featuring perspectives from North Korea to Victorian England, from Biblical to digital narratives, this boundary breaking text demonstrates that divergent women have complex inner lives, agencies, and a unique ability to inspire other women to resist social sanctions. Encompassing global perspectives and bringing together artistic and academic work, the authors invite readers to explore the possibilities for divergence that exist under the label of womanhood.

Do witches and witchcraft represent our understanding of how women who threaten the patriarchy are demonised?If to be born female is to be born deviant, how deviant is a body transformed to be female?There are few explorations of whether power exercised by women is as robust as that exercised by men, and therefore whether it is more open to abusive use. This fascinating anthology examines these questions through the lens of literary critique, history, criminology, and psychology to explore another representation of women - in relation to how they abuse power, or how they react when they are the victims of that abuse.With themes ranging from the personal consideration of female bodies, to the supernatural hidden realm, to the public condemnation of women who fall foul of either the law or of a male-dominated world, this collection of interdisciplinary essays provides an in-depth look at the fate of women who abuse or are abused by power.

Advocating for a more welcoming world involves respecting the human dignity and fundamental rights of all individuals, regardless of their place of origin or immigration status. This perspective offers a powerful insight into the dynamics of social justice across borders.