Frankenstein: A cultural history
September 16, 2008 – 6:54 pmI’ve finally gotten around to finishing Susan Tyler Hitchcock’s Frankenstein: A Cultural History
When the book was published I hesitated, because I have a pretty good grounding in the history of horror and film, and also did a fair amount of resource gathering in my old job for Betty T. Bennett an eminent Shelley scholar.
I wasn’t certain the book would have anything new to say to me, but I took a chance on it and I have to say that it proved worthwhile. Mostly, I enjoyed how well Hitchcock maintained her focus on Frankenstein. It’s very easy for horror scholars to get too narrow or, conversely, to try to pile up so much evidence and so many examples that their prose, not to mention their topic, becomes completely opaque. It’s like they’re frantically trying to prove that horror is a worthy research area and in the process completely undermining their claims since that approach overwhelms the reader and paradoxically leaves one wondering if maybe there isn’t something to the authors insecurities.
Hitchcock never doubts the importance of her subject, but didn’t preach, either. She only touched on other topics, such as Dracula, long enough to give context, but never went completely off the rails on long scholarly tangents or engaged in the the aforementioned theoretical pretzel-making.
Most interesting to me, perhaps because it was entirely new ground, was the history of the various Frankenstein comic book series, and the evolution of their storylines to keep pace with changes in American culture. I think somewhere in the back of my brain I was aware of one of them, but I had no idea there’d been so many. Or that they’d lasted for so long.
On Monster Sightings, the blog she sporadically maintains, Hitchcock mentions that there’s an exhibit in the UVA Rotunda, “The Monster Among Us: ‘Frankenstein’ from Mary Shelley to Mel Brooks” that will be up until the end of October. Maybe I’ll actually get down there to see it.
To bring this post full-circle, I see that the exhibit was the result of a contest amongst students of Terry Bellanger’s. I never did take a class at Rare Book School, but over those 15 years I was chasing sources for that Shelley scholar, I occasionally sent him (non-Frankenstein-related) items for use at the school when they were donated to our institution but were deemed inappropriate for our own collections.
3 Responses to “Frankenstein: A cultural history”
Mean Louise, thanks for not being too mean and mentioning my book, which is rounding the bend and approaching its one-year birthday. To those interested in seeing the Rotunda exhibit, it is up through the month of October. I love the idea of Mr. Jefferson’s spectre coming in the middle of the night to commune with the many variations on the monster that we have displayed. I’ll be in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Laurel, Maryland, at events during the month of October, should anyone care to come hear more about the monster. And I’ll try to become a little less sporadic about that blog —- I admit my mind has gone on to other matters, but the monster is still out there, visible for all who are looking.
By Susan Tyler Hitchcock on Sep 17, 2008
Thanks for stopping by. The book was lots of fun and I’ve recommended it to lots of people – a sentiment that might not have come through in my post.
I’ll check your schedule and see when you’re in Laurel, it would be fun to hear you talk more about the monster. We need to go see the in-laws in Appomattox (they own a bookstore, how appropriate), we’ll try to do so before the end of October so we can see the exhibit!
cheers!
rebecca
By rebecca on Sep 17, 2008
Holy cats did I abuse commas in that post. *sigh* I should edit it, but I probably won’t….
By rebecca on Sep 17, 2008