Jeffrey Cohen is a professor of English and Director of Medieval and Early Modern Studies Institute. He specializes in many areas of research but he is famed for exploring monster; a subject that we will be looking at in this paper. I will be focusing on one of his seven theses of the monster culture by supporting his position with evidence from three different sources.
In his work, 'Monster Culture,' Jeffrey Jerome Cohen introduces a new way of studying monsters in the context of the cultures in which they are found. He argues that the best way to go is to follow in Foucault methodologies, and his archaeological ideas. The only caution he gives is to leave out Foucault's finer details as in them lies many errors. He further states that history must be approached as a multitude of fragments as opposed to a whole piece (Cohen 2). With regards to monsters, he offers seven theses that are meant to act as breakable proposes …show more content…
The monster is described as a tall skinny woman and is said to have long fingernails which are yellow in color. She often creeps on the rooftop and watches a family as they eat so that she can identify her target (Meza-Martinez & Demby n.p.). The cultural and historical objective of such monster story is to pass down a moral lesson that greed and overfeeding just before bedtime is dangerous and can interfere with one's sleep. The story is no different in Mexico, monsters have a meaning in that culture too. The children are made to grow up knowing that walking alone is dangerous especially along the borders where child trafficking is high. They have been told the story of Maria who drowned her Children because her husband abandoned her and tried to drown herself too but the heavens refused her. As a result, she roams around crying like the little children she killed and she grabs those that she finds alone (Meza-Martinez & Demby
In his work, 'Monster Culture,' Jeffrey Jerome Cohen introduces a new way of studying monsters in the context of the cultures in which they are found. He argues that the best way to go is to follow in Foucault methodologies, and his archaeological ideas. The only caution he gives is to leave out Foucault's finer details as in them lies many errors. He further states that history must be approached as a multitude of fragments as opposed to a whole piece (Cohen 2). With regards to monsters, he offers seven theses that are meant to act as breakable proposes …show more content…
The monster is described as a tall skinny woman and is said to have long fingernails which are yellow in color. She often creeps on the rooftop and watches a family as they eat so that she can identify her target (Meza-Martinez & Demby n.p.). The cultural and historical objective of such monster story is to pass down a moral lesson that greed and overfeeding just before bedtime is dangerous and can interfere with one's sleep. The story is no different in Mexico, monsters have a meaning in that culture too. The children are made to grow up knowing that walking alone is dangerous especially along the borders where child trafficking is high. They have been told the story of Maria who drowned her Children because her husband abandoned her and tried to drown herself too but the heavens refused her. As a result, she roams around crying like the little children she killed and she grabs those that she finds alone (Meza-Martinez & Demby