Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS

Gothic literature frequently employs monstrosity to reveal deep-seated cultural anxieties, symbolically confronting fears of cultural exchange, imperialism, and historical violence. This article examines how Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars and Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad utilize...

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Main Author: Bianca Mihaela Crișan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Press 2025-06-01
Series:Linguaculture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.linguaculture.ro/index.php/home/article/view/399
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author Bianca Mihaela Crișan
author_facet Bianca Mihaela Crișan
author_sort Bianca Mihaela Crișan
collection DOAJ
description Gothic literature frequently employs monstrosity to reveal deep-seated cultural anxieties, symbolically confronting fears of cultural exchange, imperialism, and historical violence. This article examines how Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars and Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad utilize resurrected Gothic beings to interrogate East-West power dynamics and imperial tensions. Employing Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection and Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis, the article argues that Queen Tera and the Whatsitsname are abject entities who embody repressed historical traumas and challenge imperialist boundaries. Through detailed textual analysis, this paper demonstrates how both novels expose anxieties around cultural appropriation and the violent legacies of imperialism, highlighting the haunting entanglements between Europe and the Middle East.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Press
record_format Article
series Linguaculture
spelling doaj-art-cf155f70ac7447f9869ca0e58ca2f8282025-08-26T05:35:58ZengAlexandru Ioan Cuza University PressLinguaculture2067-96962285-94032025-06-0116110.47743/lincu-2025-1-0399Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARSBianca Mihaela Crișan0West University of Timișoara, Romania Gothic literature frequently employs monstrosity to reveal deep-seated cultural anxieties, symbolically confronting fears of cultural exchange, imperialism, and historical violence. This article examines how Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars and Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad utilize resurrected Gothic beings to interrogate East-West power dynamics and imperial tensions. Employing Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection and Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis, the article argues that Queen Tera and the Whatsitsname are abject entities who embody repressed historical traumas and challenge imperialist boundaries. Through detailed textual analysis, this paper demonstrates how both novels expose anxieties around cultural appropriation and the violent legacies of imperialism, highlighting the haunting entanglements between Europe and the Middle East. https://journal.linguaculture.ro/index.php/home/article/view/399Gothicmonstrosityabjectionworld-systemsimperialism
spellingShingle Bianca Mihaela Crișan
Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS
Linguaculture
Gothic
monstrosity
abjection
world-systems
imperialism
title Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS
title_full Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS
title_fullStr Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS
title_full_unstemmed Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS
title_short Anxious Entanglements: Gothic Monstrosity, Abjection and World-Systems in FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD and THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS
title_sort anxious entanglements gothic monstrosity abjection and world systems in frankenstein in baghdad and the jewel of seven stars
topic Gothic
monstrosity
abjection
world-systems
imperialism
url https://journal.linguaculture.ro/index.php/home/article/view/399
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