Defiant Deviance: The Irreality of Reality in the Cultural Imaginary

by Cristina Santos (Editor), Adriana Spahr (Editor)

This innovative study embarks, from a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, on redefining the «supernatural» as elements that fail to be framed as «natural» by their socio-cultural environment. The «supernatural» elements depicted in this study encompass such monstrous representations as witches, vampires, angels, virgins, apparitions, and other universally recognized reflections of human existence – though not all «supernatural» representations are seen as «monstrous,» but as physical and psychological embodiments of common human experience. Contributors to this project represent a wide scope of literary genres and eras, as well as differing theoretical approaches, united by the common goal of defining the «irreality of reality.»

151 pages, Paperback

First published December 16, 2005