‘Frankenstein’ (1818): The Abject and the Monstrous — Masculine
“Abjection is above all ambiguity. Because, while releasing a hold, it does not radically cut off the subject from what threatens it — — on the contrary, abjection acknowledges it to be in perpetual danger.”
― Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines abject as “Brought low, miserable; craven, degraded, despicable, self abasing.” It describes abjection as a “state of misery or degradation.” However, these definitions are somewhat ambiguous and intangible. Thus, it is useful to consider how abjection is expressed. Religious abhorrence, incest, women’s bodies, human sacrifice, bodily waste, death, cannibalism, murder, decay, and perversion are aspects of humanity that society considers, abject.
In Powers Of Horror:An Essay On Abjection Kristeva identifies that we first experience abjection at the point of separation from the mother. This idea is drawn from Lacan’s psychoanalytical theory which underpins her theory of abjection. She identifies that abjection represents a revolt against that which gave us our own existence or state of being. At this point the child enters the symbolic realm, or law of the father. Thus, when we as adults confront the abject we simultaneously fear and identify with it. It provokes us into recalling a state…
