{"id":{"repo_id":"bielefeld","oai_identifier":"oai:pub.uni-bielefeld.de:3004125"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/bielefeld/oai:pub.uni-bielefeld.de:3004125","repository":{"repo_id":"bielefeld","name":"Universität Bielefeld","base_url":"https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/oai"},"display":{"title":"Monstrous Children, Powerless Parents and the Unnarratable Body in Gothic and Horror","abstract":"Monsters are not uncommon in Gothic and horror fiction. However, while the traditional vampire may be easy to recognize and categorize, others defy description. To make sense of the ineffable, a framework is created that focuses on the grotesque, the abject and the abhuman and how they relate to Gothic in order to understand both the indescribable monstrous body as well as the reaction it creates. Three Gothic texts that span roughly a century are analyzed with a focus on scenes wherein the monsters are revealed to disturbing effect, allowing for insight into romantic Gothic, fin-de-siècle Victorian Gothic and early 20th century American Gothic. The analysis finds that a common element amongst all these stories is family, as they all feature monsters that are children in some form or function and how they relate to both “regular” society and families and their own families that may feature monstrous parents. Thus, the monsters are read as disruptive, threatening the stability of family as the smallest unit of society, making manifest the anxieties and turmoil that lurk within. The monsters’ deaths are understood as futile attempts to purge the monstrous element that spreads through society like an infection. Finally, it is remarked that these patterns are not unique to Gothic literature as such, as they can be seen in both earlier and later works of various types, such as drama or film and that they might be analyzed with different approaches, suggesting avenues for further research.","abstract_html":"Monsters are not uncommon in Gothic and horror fiction. However, while the traditional vampire may be easy to recognize and categorize, others defy description. To make sense of the ineffable, a framework is created that focuses on the grotesque, the abject and the abhuman and how they relate to Gothic in order to understand both the indescribable monstrous body as well as the reaction it creates. Three Gothic texts that span roughly a century are analyzed with a focus on scenes wherein the monsters are revealed to disturbing effect, allowing for insight into romantic Gothic, fin-de-siècle Victorian Gothic and early 20th century American Gothic. The analysis finds that a common element amongst all these stories is family, as they all feature monsters that are children in some form or function and how they relate to both “regular” society and families and their own families that may feature monstrous parents. Thus, the monsters are read as disruptive, threatening the stability of family as the smallest unit of society, making manifest the anxieties and turmoil that lurk within. The monsters’ deaths are understood as futile attempts to purge the monstrous element that spreads through society like an infection. Finally, it is remarked that these patterns are not unique to Gothic literature as such, as they can be seen in both earlier and later works of various types, such as drama or film and that they might be analyzed with different approaches, suggesting avenues for further research.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kannenberg, Christopher"],"institution":"Universität Bielefeld","degree_name":null,"degree_level":"bachelor","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-27T18:50:12Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/3004125","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"source_url"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kannenberg, Christopher"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["bachelorThesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["bachelor"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Universität Bielefeld"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Monsters are not uncommon in Gothic and horror fiction. However, while the traditional vampire may be easy to recognize and categorize, others defy description. To make sense of the ineffable, a framework is created that focuses on the grotesque, the abject and the abhuman and how they relate to Gothic in order to understand both the indescribable monstrous body as well as the reaction it creates. Three Gothic texts that span roughly a century are analyzed with a focus on scenes wherein the monsters are revealed to disturbing effect, allowing for insight into romantic Gothic, fin-de-siècle Victorian Gothic and early 20th century American Gothic. The analysis finds that a common element amongst all these stories is family, as they all feature monsters that are children in some form or function and how they relate to both “regular” society and families and their own families that may feature monstrous parents. Thus, the monsters are read as disruptive, threatening the stability of family as the smallest unit of society, making manifest the anxieties and turmoil that lurk within. The monsters’ deaths are understood as futile attempts to purge the monstrous element that spreads through society like an infection. Finally, it is remarked that these patterns are not unique to Gothic literature as such, as they can be seen in both earlier and later works of various types, such as drama or film and that they might be analyzed with different approaches, suggesting avenues for further research."]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Monstrous Children, Powerless Parents and the Unnarratable Body in Gothic and Horror"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Kannenberg, Christopher"],"dc:description.abstract":["Monsters are not uncommon in Gothic and horror fiction. However, while the traditional vampire may be easy to recognize and categorize, others defy description. To make sense of the ineffable, a framework is created that focuses on the grotesque, the abject and the abhuman and how they relate to Gothic in order to understand both the indescribable monstrous body as well as the reaction it creates. Three Gothic texts that span roughly a century are analyzed with a focus on scenes wherein the monsters are revealed to disturbing effect, allowing for insight into romantic Gothic, fin-de-siècle Victorian Gothic and early 20th century American Gothic. The analysis finds that a common element amongst all these stories is family, as they all feature monsters that are children in some form or function and how they relate to both “regular” society and families and their own families that may feature monstrous parents. Thus, the monsters are read as disruptive, threatening the stability of family as the smallest unit of society, making manifest the anxieties and turmoil that lurk within. The monsters’ deaths are understood as futile attempts to purge the monstrous element that spreads through society like an infection. Finally, it is remarked that these patterns are not unique to Gothic literature as such, as they can be seen in both earlier and later works of various types, such as drama or film and that they might be analyzed with different approaches, suggesting avenues for further research."],"dc:format.medium":["application/pdf"],"dc:publisher":["Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld"],"dc:title":["Monstrous Children, Powerless Parents and the Unnarratable Body in Gothic and Horror"],"dc:type":["bachelorThesis"],"thesis:degree_level":["bachelor"],"thesis:institution_name":["Universität Bielefeld"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T18:50:12Z"}