Call for Abstracts Culture Unbound special issue on Monsters and the Law

In this special issue, we seek to explore the ways monsters interact with the law, governmental institutions, law enforcement, and vice versa. We invite scholars from all fields writing on monsters and the law. Historical as well as contemporary perspectives and narratives are welcome.

 

The idea of monsters–the type from any unbridled imagination and the type that are misunderstood and misrepresented real humans–is an old idea, littered with prejudices, misappropriations, fears, curiosities, and legend. Some monsters, through books and film, have become well known, such as Dr. Frankenstein’s “monster” or Buffy’s enemies in the form of vampires. We know monsters.

 

In some locations and cultures, monsters and the monstrous have been legislated. The law might frame what is considered monstrous and it might give us clues as to what people in a given time and place feared. Monsters within legal sources are testaments to who we are – to boundaries whether they be geographical, political, or emotional, to moral values and ethical considerations, to identities and belonging. We believe that the many times monsters and the law in various ways have interacted throughout the history of human civilizations are creative fields for investigation into humankind, as well as into the monstrous-kind.

 

For this special issue we are looking for contributions that investigate any aspect of the law (including ecclesiastical law or other religious legal systems) in any culture, country, or time period and how that law interacts with monsters or the monstrous. The paper could include aspects such as the law as monster as well as legislation for, against, or about monsters, or be elaborations on themes such as social justice, prejudice, social constraint, misappropriation, misrepresentation, or as a cultural commentary.

 

Authors should make careful use of the terms “monster” and “monstrous” in sensitive ways and use appropriate, people-first descriptions of human conditions. Acknowledging the use (misuse) of the term monster as a way of highlighting the fear and misunderstanding of a body, is not the same as using dated language.

 

Multidisciplinary approaches are particularly welcome. Please send your abstracts (max 300 words) accompanied by a short bio to wturner1@augusta.edu and sanna.handen-svensson@hek.lu.se  by 28 February 2025.  If you have an idea and want to run it by the editors, please do not hesitate to get in touch.