The Monster Analogy : Why Fictional Characters are Frankenstein's Monsters
Varis, E. (2019). The Monster Analogy : Why Fictional Characters are Frankenstein's Monsters. SubStance, 48(1), 63-86. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/719605
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© 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press and SubStance, Inc.
The Unwritten (2009–2015), a Vertigo comics series created by Mike Carey and Peter Gross,
demonstrates through metafictional storytelling that all fictional characters share important
features with Victor Frankenstein’s infamous creature: they are simultaneously synthetic
and mimetic, human and nonhuman, textual and transtextual, crafted to serve specific
functions, yet difficult to control. This article explores how structuralist, cognitivist and
emerging transtextual theories of literary characters have attempted to grasp and reconcile
these paradoxical qualities. This allegorical cross-reading highlights previously ignored
points of connection between different theories, forming a basis for a more holistic, dynamic
and transmedial view of characters.
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Johns Hopkins University PressISSN Search the Publication Forum
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https://muse.jhu.edu/article/719605Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/28988814
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