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Browsing Undergraduate Works by Subject "19th Century"

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    Buried at the Crossroads: Exploring the Intersections Between Monstrosity and Queer Storytelling
    (University of Oregon, 2023-05) Byrne, Casper; Miller, Quinn; Southworth, Helen
    Since the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1819, Gothic monsters have become dominant figures of difference in the canon of Western media. Existing at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and geography, Gothic monsters embody the signifiers that their creators associate with deviancy and danger. These constructions often target queer-identifying people as deviant, a pattern which has persisted across the last 200 years. However, despite their vilification within the Gothic monster genre, monsters and horror media are incredibly popular within the larger queer community. This paper, through a mixture of personal narrative and academic research, explores the historic relationship between monsters and queer identity, as well as contemporary attempts to subvert the queer monster into an empowering force. I will pull from the original texts of Frankenstein (1819) and Dracula (1897) to understand the popular origins of Gothic monsters and compare them to Frankissstein (2019) and Interview with the Vampire (1976), which are queer retellings of each novel. In comparing these works I will explore how queer readings of the original texts have evolved, and how these modern adaptations have dealt (or not dealt) with the legacies of their source materials. While not the only factor, the length to which authors go to unpack the relationship between queer identity and monstrosity can largely affect the impact their works can have as authentic pieces of queer media.