The Monster Underneath: Subversion and Ignored Realities in Literature in the Age of Imposed Normalcy

Veniz Maja Guzman

The Monster Underneath

Subversion and Ignored Realities in Literature in the Age of Imposed Normalcy

Authors

Veniz Maja Guzman Ateneo de Manila University

Keywords:

Violence, Panopticon, Society, Prison, Fairy Tales, Crime Fiction

Abstract

Aided by Michel Foucault’s concept of panopticon and a discussion on the function of fairy tales and modern fiction, this paper aims to deal with the question: If human beings truly are civilized, then why do we glorify the Other in our literature? History has shown that human beings have been forming and developing societies for thousands of years. This development also constantly shows that societies have been dealing with or acting upon violent impulses in order to produce a certain level of normalcy; and considering how modern societies have relied upon surveillance and discipline to produce normalization, we could say that this process of production of the normal would also produce the unacceptable non- normal, the Other. However, from the fairy tales to the more modern forms of fiction, we keep on finding this paradox: the portrayal of the non-normal Other to the point of acceptability.

Author Biography

Veniz Maja Guzman, Ateneo de Manila University

Veniz Maja V. Guzman teaches Philosophy at the Ateneo de Manila University. She is currently taking up her doctoral degree in Philosophy at De La Salle University, where she also finished her masters degree. Her research interests include environmental philosophy and Filipino philosophy. She has worked on topics such as transpersonal ecology and compassion; she is currently interested in working on blameworthiness and environmental beliefs. She is also an avid reader of fairy tales and anything suspenseful or mysterious.

The Monster Underneath: Subversion and Ignored Realities in Literature in the Age of Imposed Normalcy