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PAPER #2: "MONSTER CULTURE (SEVEN THESES)" DISCUSSION

For class, each of you should have read "Monster Culture (Seven Theses)" by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. It is, by far, the most difficult piece we will read all semester, and many of you probably struggled quite a bit with his intense language and cultural references. To facilitate our discussion of Cohen's explanation of what the concept of "monster" does in a culture, we're going to break down each section and have one group accept responsibility for translating it for the rest of us.

Thesis I: The Monster's Body Is a Cultural Body

Thesis II: The Monster Always Escapes

Thesis III: The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis

Thesis IV: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference

Thesis V: The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible

Thesis VI: The Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire

Thesis VII: The Monster Stands at the Threshold