Our historical obsession with the hideous and the haunting poole, w. Poole leads us on a whirlwind journey through american history and its mon sters, beginning with the first. From our colonial past to the present, the monster in all its various forms has been a staple of american culture. Our historical obsession with the hideous and the haunting is headed by an epigraph from malcolm x. Pooles central argument in monsters in america is that monster tales intertwine with americas troubled history of racism. Our historical obsession with the hideous and the haunting when he deconstructs what scares us by looking at what was happening at a specific time in our history that hid beneath the particular monster du jour. Scott poole distinguishes himself by focus ing on the american context, providing a history told through the personified expressions of our anxieties and fears. Stamped on american culture, the phrase brings to mind images of costumes, plastic masks, and parents holding the hands of little monsters as they collect candy calories. Separated by significant eras in american history, a reader gets a clear picture of how the definition of a monster changes depending on the cultural and political events of an era. Pooles connection of the monster to american history is a kind of creature features meets american cultural history.
Scott poole sets for himself in monsters in america. After youve bought this ebook, you can choose to download either the pdf. The early portions of the book those starting with colonial america and running through the 19th. Evil brutes exist inside and outside american neighborhoods. Not only do they continue to live in our midst, but, as historian scott poole shows, these monsters are an important part of our pasta hideous obsession america cannot seem to escape. In monsters in america, scott poole asks these thoughtprovoking questions while traveling through american history following the evolution of the monster over time. Monsters in america is now online at visit the new website for more about the book, upcoming events, and to keep up with scott pooles blog. Scott poole, monsters in america cambridge university press. Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, freddie krueger. Our historical obsession with the hideous and the haunting w. October 26, 2011 mark verbalvisual comments off on monsters in america poole trickortreat. Scott pooles book, now in a revised second edition. Our historical obsession with the hideous and the haunting.
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