On Monsters

August 10, 2009
Asma's book zooms in on the subject of monsters, both mythical and real, past, present and future, detailing how they have fascinated and frightened the human imagination through all of recorded time. Conjuring dread, the mind's eye has embraced the Philistine giant Goliath, Grendel, the golem of Jewish lore, Frankenstein's monster, freak shows, monster spectacles and werewolves with equal parts affection and terror, writes Asma, a philosophy professor at Columbia College Chicago. Using varied media sources, from history to legend and literature, Asma studies the symbolic meaning of monsters (e.g., biblical monsters represent arrogance in the face of God's power) and their psychological function. He concludes that humans need an excuse to fight, protect and defend, as well as to transfer those horrific qualities, our own monstrous desires, to inhuman beings. A wide-ranging exploration of fear and evil, Asma's presentation and theories are original and practical, depicting those dark, repulsive notions of an unstable, turbulent world in which everybody must struggle to remain human and civilized. 30 b&w illus.

Starred review from October 1, 2009
Monsters literal and metaphorical are dissected with skill and discernment in philosopher and scholar Asmas penetrating unnatural history. Erudite, funny, and deeply attuned to the profound psychological and moral implications of monstrousness, Asma encompasses the mystical and the scientific as he ponders the simultaneous repulsion and attraction monsters arouse. Focusing on the monsters of Western civilization, he tracks our worship of monster-slaying heroes and sympathy for misunderstood monsters. He suggests that the griffinpart lion, part eaglewas conceived after the unearthing of dinosaur bones. He considers the fate of freaks of nature during different epochs and rigorously analyzes biblical monsters and the culture of fear that instigated the torture and killing of witches and individuals accused of monstrous, or heretical, thinking. Asma is insightful and entertaining in his discussion of monsters of the deep, supernatural doppelgangers, zombies, and vampires, and intense in his discussion of Freud and the science of monstrous feelings. Most stirring are his inquiries into the dehumanizing, or monstering, of various groups and cultures and such monsters of ideology as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. Asmas far-reaching book of monsterology is original, captivating, and profoundly elucidating.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)