Topic Thinking Tool: Shaping Your Research
- Thinking Tool & Research Paper ChecklistUse the Thinking Tool worksheet to help you brainstorm concepts and questions related to your monster, helping you narrow your focus.
Research Librarian for English
Reference Sources
- The Encyclopedia Mythica: An Encyclopedia on Mythology, Folklore, and LegendAn encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, magic, including over 4200 definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters.
Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature by Call Number: Brown Library QL88.3 .C65 1999ISBN: 9780684856025Publication Date: 1999Cryptozoology A to Z, the first encyclopedia of its kind, contains nearly two hundred entries, including cryptids (the name given to these unusual beasts), new animal finds, and the explorers and scientists who search for them.
Example Print Books of Possible Interest
From Amazons to Zombies: Monsters in Latin America by
How did it happen that whole regions of Latin America--Amazonia, Patagonia, the Caribbean--are named for monstrous races of women warriors, big-footed giants and cannibals? Through history, monsters inhabit human imaginings of discovery and creation, and also degeneration, chaos, and death. Latin America's most dynamic monsters can be traced to archetypes that are found in virtually all of the world's sacred traditions, but only in Latin America did Amazons, cannibals, zombies, and other monsters become enduring symbols of regional history, character, and identity. From Amazons to Zombies presents a comprehensive account of the qualities of monstrosity, the ways in which monsters function within and among cultures, and theories and genres of the monstrous. It describes the genesis and evolution of monsters in the construction and representation of Latin America from the Ancient world and early modern Iberia to the present.
Call Number: Clemons PQ7081 .B679 2015ISBN: 9781611487060Publication Date: 2015
Monster Culture in the 21st Century by
In the past decade, our rapidly changing world faced terrorism, global epidemics, economic and social strife, new communication technologies, immigration, and climate change to name a few. These fears and tensions reflect an evermore-interconnected global environment where increased mobility of people, technologies, and disease have produced great social, political, and economical uncertainty. The essays in this collection examine how monstrosity has been used to manage these rising fears and tensions. Analyzing popular films and televisions shows, such as True Blood, Twilight, Paranormal Activity, District 9, Battlestar Galactica, and Avatar, it argues that monstrous narratives of the past decade have become omnipresent specifically because they represent collective social anxieties over resisting and embracing change in the 21st century. The first comprehensive text that uses monstrosity not just as a metaphor for change, but rather a necessary condition through which change is lived and experienced in the 21st century, this approach introduces a different perspective toward the study of monstrosity in culture.
Call Number: Clemons PN1995.9 .M6 M635 2013ISBN: 9781441187970Publication Date: 2013
Monstrosity, Disability, and the Posthuman in the Medieval and Early Modern World by
This collection examines the intersection of the discourses of "disability" and "monstrosity" in a timely and necessary intervention in the scholarly fields of Disability Studies and Monster Studies. Analyzing Medieval and Early Modern art and literature replete with images of non-normative bodies, these essays consider the pernicious history of defining people with distinctly non-normative bodies or non-normative cognition as monsters. In many cases throughout Western history, a figure marked by what Rosemarie Garland-Thomson has termed "the extraordinary body" is labeled a "monster." This volume explores the origins of this conflation, examines the problems and possibilities inherent in it, and casts both disability and monstrosity in light of emergent, empowering discourses of posthumanism.
Call Number: Clemons PN682 .P45 M66 2019ISBN: 9783030254575Publication Date: 2019
The Origins of Monsters: Image and Cognition in the First Age of Mechanical Reproduction by
It has often been claimed that "monsters"--supernatural creatures with bodies composed from multiple species--play a significant part in the thought and imagery of all people from all times. The Origins of Monsters advances an alternative view. Composite figurations are intriguingly rare and isolated in the art of the prehistoric era. Instead it was with the rise of cities, elites, and cosmopolitan trade networks that "monsters" became widespread features of visual production in the ancient world. Showing how these fantastic images originated and how they were transmitted, David Wengrow identifies patterns in the records of human image-making and embarks on a search for connections between mind and culture. Wengrow asks: Can cognitive science explain the potency of such images? Does evolutionary psychology hold a key to understanding the transmission of symbols? How is our making and perception of images influenced by institutions and technologies? Wengrow considers the work of art in the first age of mechanical reproduction, which he locates in the Middle East, where urban life began. Comparing the development and spread of fantastic imagery across a range of prehistoric and ancient societies, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and China, he explores how the visual imagination has been shaped by a complex mixture of historical and universal factors. Examining the reasons behind the dissemination of monstrous imagery in ancient states and empires, The Origins of Monsters sheds light on the relationship between culture and cognition.
Call Number: Fine Arts N5310 .W46 2014ISBN: 9780691159041Publication Date: 2013
Plant Horror: Approaches to the Monstrous Vegetal in Fiction and Film by
This collection explores artistic representations of vegetal life that imperil human life, voicing anxieties about our relationship to other life forms with which we share the earth. From medieval manuscript illustrations to modern works of science fiction and horror, plants that manifest monstrous agency defy human control, challenge anthropocentric perception, and exact a violent vengeance for our blind and exploitative practices. Plant Horror explores how depictions of monster plants reveal concerns about the viability of our prevailing belief systems and dominant ideologies-- as well as a deep-seated fear about human vulnerability in an era of deepening ecological crisis. Films discussed include The Day of the Triffids, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Wicker Man, Swamp Thing, and The Happening.
Call Number: Clemons PN1995.9 .M6 P53 2016ISBN: 9781137570628Publication Date: 2017
Real-Life Monsters: A Psychological Examination of the Serial Murderer by
This book presents an in-depth psychological analysis of the development of the serial killer personality that will fascinate all readers, from the experienced criminology student to the casual true-crime reader. Real-Life Monsters: A Psychological Examination of the Serial Murderer takes a different approach than most titles on a similar topic: the author develops and proposes an original psychological explanation, rather than simply repeating some of the long-held theories for these criminals' heinous actions. The work addresses current issues, presents detailed commentary and personal observation, and contains photographs that will fascinate general readers interested in the subjects of true crime, serial killers, and psychopathology.
Call Number: Clemons HV6515 .G462 2012ISBN: 9780313397844Publication Date: 2012
Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps by
The sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps, whether swimming vigorously, gamboling amid the waves, attacking ships, or simply displaying themselves for our appreciation, are one of the most visually engaging elements on these maps, and yet they have never been carefully studied. The subject is important not only in the history of cartography, art, and zoological illustration, but also in the history of the geography of the "marvelous" and of western conceptions of the ocean. Moreover, the sea monsters depicted on maps can supply important insights into the sources, influences, and methods of the cartographers who drew or painted them. In this highly-illustrated book the author analyzes the most important examples of sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps produced in Europe, beginning with the earliest mappaemundi on which they appear in the 10th century and continuing to the end of the 16th century.
Call Number: Ivy GA781 .V36 2013ISBN: 9780712358903Publication Date: 2013
Helpful URLs
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- Using Databases Off GroundsHave questions about accessing databases from off-grounds? Find more information here.
Streaming Media Monster Movies - For Fun
- The Ape Man (1943) Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi) and his colleague Dr. Randall (Henry Hall) are involved in a series of scientific experiments which have caused him to transform into an ape-man. In an attempt to obtain a cure Brewster believes that it will be necessary to inject himself with recently drawn human spinal fluid. When Randall refuses to help him by providing the fluid, Brewster and his captive gorilla must attempt to find an appropriate donor. Streaming video through Digitalia Film Library.
- Attack of the Giant Leeches (1958) In the Florida Everglades, a pair of larger-than-human, intelligent leeches are living in an underwater cave. They begin dragging local people down to their cave where they hold them prisoner and slowly drain them of blood. Streaming video from Digitalia Film Library
- Beast from Haunted Cave (1959) A gang of thieves set off an explosion in an old mine in order to distract the local authorities from their true objective, robbing gold out of the vault of the bank. The gang makes their way to a remote ski lodge, to wait out a storm before crossing the border into Canada, and end up taking some hostages to insure their getaway. Unfortunately for everyone staying at the lodge, their arrival has disturbed a horrible creature residing in a nearby cave, which sets out to satisfy its hunger by stalking the thieves and their hostages. Streaming video through Digitalia Film Library.
- Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) American crook Renzo Capetto sees a chance to make a bundle when a Caribbean island has a revolution. He plans to help loyalists (and the national treasury) escape on his boat, then kill the men and blame their deaths on a mythical sea monster. Trouble ensues when the "real" monster shows up! Streaming video from Digitalia Film Library.
- The Giant Gila Monster (1959) Youthful hipsters in northern Texas defend the drive-ins and sock hops of the Panhandle from a giant heel of a gila monster. Streaming video through Digitalia Film Library
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Extraterrestrial invaders mimic the likeness of humans in an insidious plot to take over Earth. Streaming video through SWANK.
- The Killer Shrews (1959) A scientist on an island is working on a project, to help with the world population problem, accidentally creates giant shrews that escape his lab and devour every animal on the island. With nothing else to eat, the giant shrews set their sights on the compound of scientists and their guests. Led by Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best), the group must make a break for his ship to escape from the ravenous shrews. Streaming video through Digitalia Film Library
- The Thing (1982) Americans at a base in Antarctica are terrorized by an otherworldly creature that can shapeshift into the form of anything it kills. Streaming video from SWANK.
- The Wasp Woman (1959) Researcher Zinthrop, has been exploring the possibilities inherent in "royal jelly," a substance produced by wasps. To his frustration, everyone writes Zinthrop off as an oddball, even as he is on the verge of a "great discovery." It's a process allowing him to extract the jelly from the queen wasp. The result is that he has learned how to "slow down the process of aging." He sells the process to Janice, a past forty cosmetics firm executive, who has built an empire on youth & beauty. Afraid of growing old and intent on holding back time, Janice becomes a human guinea pig for Zinthrop. The only trouble is, what about the side effects! Streaming video through Digitalia Film Library
Preparing for Research
This guide was created to help you prepare for research for your second essay assignment in ENWR 1510 and as a general guide to resources related to monsters and monstrous bodies.
In preparation for your assignment, you should think some about possible questions/topics of interest to start your research -- use the Thinking Tool Worksheet on the left to help you brainstorm concepts and research questions related to your monster.
You will also want to spend some time thinking about how you will conduct your research.
- Fine-tune your searches.
Think broadly when brainstorming search terms. What synonyms or related terms could stand in for your key search terms?
You can combine search terms using AND ("Frankenstein's monster" AND ethics ) and OR (Bigfoot OR Sasquatch). Place terms you want to be searched as a phrase in quotation marks " ".
In many databases, the asterisk (*) is a truncation or "wildcard" symbol that will match all possible endings for a word stem. For example, ethic* will match ethics, ethical, ethically, ethicist, etc.
Most databases have filters or facets that allow you to narrow your results by subject, date range, etc. Limit your searches to help you find the sources you need.
- Think about where you might find the type of information you are seeking.
Will you find the research you need in an e-book? An article? A newspaper? A documentary? An interview? For this assignment, you will likely be looking for journal articles and/or essays/chapters from books. In general, though, when conducting research cast a wide net when looking for the types of resources that could help answer your research question or support an argument you are making.
- Know the difference between academic and non-academic sources, and when it's appropriate to use them.
Most databases allow you to limit results to academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Be mindful of your assignment and what you're being asked to provide. Need a refresher? Watch the short video Peer Review in 3 Minutes.
- When you find a good source, use it to find other good sources.
Use the subject terms and keywords associated with an item to find other items on similar topics. Scholarly books and articles will have works cited, bibliographies, or footnotes you can mine for additional resources.
Need help? Ask a librarian.
Finding articles
The UVA Library has access to over 650 databases. Below are a few that might be useful for researching your monster of choice. I've divided the databases by broad categories. (See an A-Z list of all databases)
Multidisciplinary databases for research on monsters:
Academic Search Complete is a large general database of articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers on many topics. Updated daily, it can be the best source for resources about very current topics.
The Social Science and Humanities Library provides online access to a broad range of journal content across 14 disciplines related to social sciences and humanities, including media and communication studies, library and information science, security and defense studies, business, management and economics, and education. Includes many journals published on behalf of associations, organizations, and societies related to these disciplines.
JSTOR includes older issues of scholarly journals in many disciplines including literature, from the start to 3-5 years ago.
Project Muse offers searchable full text of nearly 600 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics, mostly from North American university presses. Older volumes are often available from JSTOR.
Monsters in Literature, Film, & Popular Culture:
MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) indexes the broadest range of resources about literature in all languages, as well as film, television, and popular culture, including over 4,000 journals as well as books and dissertations. For articles not available full-text in MLA, click on “Find article @ UVa Libraries,” or look up the journal title in Virgo, the library catalog.
Film and Television Literature Index includes reviews of films and articles on theory, preservation and restoration, writing, production, cinematography, and technical aspects of both film and television in the US and internationally.
ProQuest One Literature is for scholars who want to engage with an exhaustive and diverse set of scholarly resources around a given literary topic for research. It contains 3 million literature citations from thousands of journals, monographs, dissertations, and more than 500,000 primary works – including rare and obscure texts, multiple versions, and non-traditional sources like comics, theater performances, and author readings.
Monsters in History:
America History & Life covers the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to present with records from 2,000 English-language journals published worldwide.
Historical Abstracts covers articles about the history of the world from 1450 to the present, published in over 2,000 journals from many countries. (not the U.S. and Canada).
Psychology of Monsters:
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection includes abstracts and full-text of almost 600 journals in psychology and related fields.
Finding books & articles using Virgo
Virgo, the UVA Library’s primary search tool, contains catalog records for books, print journals, DVDs, maps, and digitized materials, as well as links to online articles from our rich array of subscription journals. You can search catalog materials and articles together - a regular search will provide tabs for books, articles, and other materials. You can also use the Filter tools on the left to limit your results by author, format, publication date, and more. To find online, set the Availability filter to Online to limit your catalog search results.
Example subject terms related to monsters:
- Animals, Mythical
- Cryptozoology
- Evil in Literature
- Folklore
- Monsters
- Monsters in Literature
- Monsters in mass media
- Monsters in motion pictures
- Monsters in popular culture
- Monsters on television
- Monsters -- Psychological aspects
- Mythology
- Psycopaths in motion pictures
- Sea monsters
- Serial murderers
Example E-Books of Possible Interest
Anthropology and Cryptozoology: Researching Encounters with Mysterious Creatures by Call Number: Ebook - Use link in Virgo record to access.ISBN: 9781317180463Publication Date: 2017Cryptozoology is best understood as the study of animals which, in the eyes of Western science, are extinct, unclassified or unrecognised. In consequence, and in part because of its selective methods and lack of epistemological rigour, cryptozoology is often dismissed as a pseudo-science. However, there is a growing recognition that social science can benefit from engaging with it, for as as social scientists are very well aware, 'scientific' categorisation and explanation represents just one of a myriad of systems used by humans to enable them to classify and make sense of the world around them. In many cultural contexts, myth, folk classification and lived experience challenge the 'truth' expounded by scientists. With a reflexive, anthropological approach and drawing on rich empirical and ethnographic studies from around the world, this volume engages with the theoretical and methodological issues raised by reported sightings of unrecognised animals. Bringing into sharp focus the anthropological value and challenges for methodology posed by beliefs about unclassified creatures, Anthropology and Cryptozoology: Exploring encounters with mysterious creatures will be of interest to anthropologists, sociologists and geographers working in the fields of research methods, anthrozoology, mythology and folklore and human-animal interaction.
The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous by Call Number: E-book: Use link in Virgo record to accessISBN: 9781409407546Publication Date: 2012The field of monster studies has been growing dramatically over the past few years and this companion provides a comprehensive guide to the study of monsters and the monstrous from historical, regional and thematic perspectives.
Creating Cultural Monsters: Serial Murder in America by Call Number: E-book: Use link in Virgo record to accessISBN: 9781439851548Publication Date: 2011Serial murderers generate an abundance of public interest, media coverage, and law enforcement attention, yet after decades of studies, serial murder researchers have been unable to answer the most important question: Why? Providing a unique and comprehensive exploration, Creating Cultural Monsters: Serial Murder in America explains connections between American culture and the incidence of serial murder, including reasons why most identified serial murderers are white, male Americans. It describes the omnipresence of serial murder in American media and investigates what it would take to decrease its occurrence.
Monsters, Demons and Psychopaths: Psychiatry and Horror Film by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781315353920Publication Date: 2016Descriptions of monsters, vampires, demonic possessions, and psychopaths in horror films have been inspired by psychiatric knowledge about mental illness, leading to several stereotyped models of horror that have prevailed through decades. Some scholars have proposed that horror films can be a teaching tool for psychopathology, but for the most part the genre has been underutilized as a learning tool. This book explores the idea of relating horror films to psychiatric ideas as a way of engaging people in learning.
Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors by Call Number: E-book: Use link in Virgo record to access (also in print)ISBN: 9780812220889Publication Date: 2009The human mind needs monsters. In every culture and in every epoch in human history, from ancient Egypt to modern Hollywood, imaginary beings have haunted dreams and fantasies, provoking in young and old shivers of delight, thrills of terror, and endless fascination. All known folklores brim with visions of looming and ferocious monsters, often in the role as adversaries to great heroes. But while heroes have been closely studied by mythologists, monsters have been neglected, even though they are equally important as pan-human symbols and reveal similar insights into ways the mind works. In Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors, anthropologist David D. Gilmore explores what human traits monsters represent and why they are so ubiquitous in people's imaginations and share so many features across different cultures. Using colorful and absorbing evidence from virtually all times and places, Monsters is the first attempt by an anthropologist to delve into the mysterious, frightful abyss of mythical beasts and to interpret their role in the psyche and in society. After many hair-raising descriptions of monstrous beings in art, folktales, fantasy, literature, and community ritual, including such avatars as Dracula and Frankenstein, Hollywood ghouls, and extraterrestrials, Gilmore identifies many common denominators and proposes some novel interpretations. Monsters, according to Gilmore, are always enormous, man-eating, gratuitously violent, aggressive, sexually sadistic, and superhuman in power, combining our worst nightmares and our most urgent fantasies. We both abhor and worship our monsters: they are our gods as well as our demons. Gilmore argues that the immortal monster of the mind is a complex creation embodying virtually all of the inner conflicts that make us human. Far from being something alien, nonhuman, and outside us, our monsters are our deepest selves.
Monsters and the Monstrous: Myths and Metaphors of Enduing Evil by Call Number: E-book: Use link in Virgo record to accessISBN: 9789042022539Publication Date: 2007A series of papers dealing with one of the most significant creations that reflects on and critiques human existence. Both a warning and a demonstration, the monster as myth and metaphor provides an articulation of human imagination that toys with the permissible and impermissible. Monsters from zombies to cuddly cartoon characters, emerging from sewers, from pages of literature, propaganda posters, movies and heavy metal, all are covered in this challenging, scholarly collection. This volume the third in the series presents a marvellous collection of studies on the metaphor of the monster in literature, cinema, music, culture, philosophy, history and politics. Both historical reflection and concerns of our time are addressed with clarity and written in an accessible manner providing appeal for the scholar and lay reader alike. This eclectic collection will be of interest to academics and students working in a range of disciplines, such as cultural studies, film studies, political theory, philosophy and literature studies.
The Monster Theory Reader by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781452960395Publication Date: 2020A collection of scholarship on monsters and their meaning--across genres, disciplines, methodologies, and time--from foundational texts to the most recent contributions. Zombies and vampires, banshees and basilisks, demons and wendigos, goblins, gorgons, golems, and ghosts. From the mythical monstrous races of the ancient world to the murderous cyborgs of our day, monsters have haunted the human imagination, giving shape to the fears and desires of their time. And as long as there have been monsters, there have been attempts to make sense of them, to explain where they come from and what they mean. This book collects the best of what contemporary scholars have to say on the subject, in the process creating a map of the monstrous across the vast and complex terrain of the human psyche.
Monstrous Women in Comics by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 9781496827678Publication Date: 2020Monsters seem to be everywhere these days, in popular shows on television, in award-winning novels, and again and again in Hollywood blockbusters. They are figures that lurk in the margins and so, by contrast, help to illuminate the center--the embodiment of abnormality that summons the definition of normalcy by virtue of everything they are not. Samantha Langsdale and Elizabeth Rae Coody's edited volume explores the coding of woman as monstrous and how the monster as dangerously evocative of women/femininity/the female is exacerbated by the intersection of gender with sexuality, race, nationality, and disability. To analyze monstrous women is not only to examine comics, but also to witness how those constructions correspond to women's real material experiences. Each section takes a critical look at the cultural context surrounding varied monstrous voices: embodiment, maternity, childhood, power, and performance. Featured are essays on such comics as Faith, Monstress, Bitch Planet, and Batgirl and such characters as Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman. This volume probes into the patriarchal contexts wherein men are assumed to be representative of the normative, universal subject, such that women frequently become monsters.
Terrorists As Monsters: The Unmanageable Other From the French Revolution to the Islamic State by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 9780190927882Publication Date: 2019From the chilling threats of the "ISIS vampire" to the view of al-Qaeda as the "Frankenstein the CIA created," terrorism seems to be inextricably bound with monstrosity. But why do the media and government officials often portray terrorists as monsters? And perhaps more puzzling, why doterrorists sometimes want to be perceived as such?This book, the first of its kind, examines the use of archetypal metaphors of monstrosity in relation to terrorism, from the gorgons of Robespierre's "reign of terror" to the dragons and lycanthropes of anarchism, the beasts and blood-licking demons of ethnonational terrorism, and the hydras andFrankenstein's monsters of Islamic jihadism. Marco Pinfari argues that politicians frame terrorists as unmanageable monsters not only in an effort at cultural "othering" and dehumanization, but also to secure popular backing for rule-breaking behavior in counter-terrorism. The book also explores theway that terrorists themselves impersonate monsters, showing that several groups have pursued such a tactic throughout the history of terrorism. It contributes to a number of ongoing public debates by highlighting how, even when actors like the Islamic State present themselves as mad and irrational,their tactics remain in essence rational. Pinfari also provides an original historical outlook on the roots of monster metaphors and discusses several types of terrorism, including state terrorism, left-wing terrorism, anarchism, ethnonationalist terrorism, and white supremacist groups. In unpackingthe functions played by monster metaphors and by their impersonation,Terrorists as Monsters helps the reader understand the political processes that hide behind the fangs.
Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781350109612Publication Date: 2020What is it about ancient monsters that popular culture still finds so enthralling? Why do the monsters of antiquity continue to stride across the modern world? In this book, the first in-depth study of how post-classical societies use the creatures from ancient myth, Liz Gloyn reveals the trends behind how we have used monsters since the 1950s to the present day, and considers why they have remained such a powerful presence in our shared cultural imagination. She presents a new model for interpreting the extraordinary vitality that classical monsters have shown, and their enormous adaptability in finding places to dwell in popular culture without sacrificing their connection to the ancient world. Her argument takes her readers through a comprehensive tour of monsters on film and television, from the much-loved creations of Ray Harryhausen in Clash of the Titans to the monster of the week in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before looking in detail at the afterlives of the Medusa and the Minotaur. She develops a broad theory of the ancient monster and its life after antiquity, investigating its relation to gender, genre and space to offer a bold and novel exploration of what keeps drawing us back to these mythical beasts. From the siren to the centaur, all monster lovers will find something to enjoy in this stimulating and accessible book.
