Monstrous Children and Childish Monsters
Author | : Markus P.J. Bohlmann |
Publisher | : McFarland |
Total Pages | : 287 |
Release | : 2015-03-25 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780786494798 |
ISBN-13 | : 0786494794 |
Rating | : 4/5 (98 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Perhaps because of the wisdom received from our Romantic forbears about the purity of the child, depictions of children as monsters have held a tremendous fascination for film audiences for decades. Numerous social factors have influenced the popularity and longevity of the monster-child trope but its appeal is also rooted in the dual concepts of the child-like (innocent, angelic) and the childish (selfish, mischievous). This collection of fresh essays discusses the representation of monstrous children in popular cinema since the 1950s, with a focus on the relationship between monstrosity and "childness," a term whose implications the contributors explore.