Abstract
Monsters throughout history are always explained in terms of abjection, horror and something to be avoided in order that the system and regulation of society to be restored. Following the dynamic conception of contemporary utopia, the present paper aims at analyzing the monster or the violence in Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad (FB) 2014 in terms of utopian site of hope, freedom and justice. It intends to show in what ways the issue of the “neo-Utopianism” or a desire for grand narratives is addressed in contemporary Iraqi fiction and why this issue is significant in post- postmodern thought. The paper revolves around post-traditional thinking of monster through investigating how a monster is related to a collective desire of hope for better roles in relation to the multiple societal crises. Other than an abject or “Other”, the value of creating such a monster is to introduce a new vision to the reader accomplished with the hope and salvation instead of the fragile spirit that comes from the postmodern failure and destruction. Within this conception the paper unfolds three routes that explicitly address a utopian desire: the body, the name and the aim or the message. The article, moreover, uncovers a new dimension of monstrosity in Iraqi literature which marks a shift from postmodernism to new era characterized by a utopian revival. The paper concludes that the monster is given a new voice and vision to be accepted in symbolic order unlike its traditional image in Gothic literature, one to speak about horror or monstrosity.
Highlights
Half a millennium since Thomas More in his 1516 fictional book Utopia coined the term ―utopia‖ to describe an imaginary land . for More it is ―elsewhere‖ and ―elsewhen‖ which is not possible to be achieved on earth
Following the shift in contemporary monstrous representation, the paper examines the addressed novel Frankenstein in Baghdad (FB) as it best illustrates the ideological and cultural transformation of the monster in the Gothic literature. This transformation is an indication to move towards new era of Postpostmodernism among its main characteristics is the revival of utopianism
The evidences in the shift of monster‘s representation are collected by a close reading of the text and those evidences are read, firstly in the light of neo-utopianism,This post-postmodern reading of the text gives a positive voice for marginal voices and ―Otherness‖
Summary
Half a millennium since Thomas More in his 1516 fictional book Utopia coined the term ―utopia‖ to describe an imaginary land . for More it is ―elsewhere‖ and ―elsewhen‖ which is not possible to be achieved on earth. Half a millennium since Thomas More in his 1516 fictional book Utopia coined the term ―utopia‖ to describe an imaginary land . For More it is ―elsewhere‖ and ―elsewhen‖ which is not possible to be achieved on earth. The term is synonym with imagination, idealism, fanciful, or sometimes even with negative connotation such as dictatorship. In contemporary philosophy the term ―utopia‖ has been used differently and . It no longer means a face of perfection or an idealism, rather it is a sense of change and an alternative that longs for replacement of one condition for one better. The politics of utopia is being revolutionized for challenge and reformation instead of perfection. It has moved recently to more practical and fruitful way of living
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