Isabella Dillon

Isabella’s purpose for the project is to establish a practice of reading for monstrosity. In doing so, this research will also make a contribution to the field of monster theory itself by bridging the gap between contemporary monster theories that focus only on non-human monsters and the representation of human. The aim is to establish a series of tenets to guide such a reading through an exploration of all six novels in George R.R. Martin’s epic series A Song of Ice and Fire (1996-2011). The texts will allow Isabella to offer a commentary on the enigmatic nature of the monstrous and monsters, while developing tenets or principles of a reading practice grounded in monster theory. The reading practice Isabella will develop is necessary for the growth of monster theory. Scholars have been working on the teratological approach to monsters, the representational approach, the psychoanalytical approach, and the ontological approach – all which are worthwhile and valid methodologies to explore monsters. However, what Isabella is doing is trying to find a way to bring these strands of thought together by asking: if monsters sit at the borders of the human as Jeffrey Jerome Cohen (1996) suggests, what about fictional human monsters?