Morphology of the mythical monster
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15291/csi.626Keywords:
myth, morphology, monster, culture, ethics, aestheticsAbstract
Starting from the assumption that the power of archetypal resistance showed by the mythical monster is based on the specific morphology of its body, this paper takes the view that the monster's body stands for the body of culture which created it. Namely, in the contrast between culture and nature, the monster's body represents culture. It is entitled to this role not only because, in contrast to a highly-mimetical figure of a hero, it does not confirm itself in nature, but primarily because the life of a monster is an authentic product of the literary world and because the foundations of alternative worlds could only be laid by the laws of reality.The first part of the paper analyses the morphology of selected monsters as a basis for a further display of the morphology of the culture which produces them. The criterion for selecting a representative hero who is in conflict with a certain monster has reduced the number to thirty-one monsters taken from old traditions. The table of the morphological overview is far from being comprehensive; all the representative monsters which do not have a rival in a certain culture have been left out along with many traditions whose sources were not reliable enough.The second part of the paper, starting from the morphological overview, considers the relationship between aestethic, ontogenetic and ethical dimensions of the monster, and analyses its phychological and ideological function. Finally, a definitionofamonster is given, based on the previously presented contradictions of the mythical phenomenon of monstrosity.Downloads
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