Monstrous Geographies

This interdisciplinary project explores the relationship between the monstrous and the geographic – being the places monsters inhabit but also places that are configured as being monstrous in and of themselves – and engaging notions of self and otherness, inclusion and exclusion, normal and aberrant, defense and contagion, and so on. From the Necropolis to the Killing Fields and from the Amityville Horror to the island of Dr. Moreau, geographical locations have acted as the repository or emanation of human evil, made monstrous by the rituals and behaviours enacted within them, or by their peculiarities of atmosphere or configuration. Whether actual or imagined, these places of wonder, fear and horror speak of the symbiotic relation between humanity and location that sees morality, ideology and emotions given physical form in the house, the forest, the island, the nation and even far away worlds in both space and time.

Indicative themes for research and development will include ;

• Monstrous Cartographies
• Monstrous Islands
• Monstrous Cosmographies
• Monstrous Environmental Geographies
• Monstrous Religious Sites
• Monstrous Political Environments
• Monstrous Landscapes of Conflict
• Uncanny Geographical Temporalities
• Monsters on the Move

The project will centre around an annual conference held each July in Oxford The work of the project is to be supported by an email discussion group, ISSN ejournal, ISBN publication series and and evolving research and resource centre.

Please contact the Project Leaders for further information.