Cultural Analysis: Monster Studies & Media Theory
Decoding the evolution of fear and representation in popular media.
This section serves as a repository for my research into the cultural significance of the “monster” in film and literature. Far from being simple entertainment, monster narratives act as a mirror to the societies that create them, reflecting contemporary anxieties, political shifts, and scientific concerns.
My research focuses on the Mid-Century and Cold War eras, where I analyze how the transition from physical “creature features” to psychological thrillers mirrored the geopolitical tensions of the time. Through case studies of works like Them!, The Day of the Triffids, and various Cold War allegories, I explore the “architecture of paranoia”—investigating how media was used to process the fears of the atomic age, biological engineering, and unseen political threats.
Monster Plants on the March!
Header Image: The Day of the Triffids “Here was a plant that had learned to walk- what of that?” (Wyndham 1951, p. 42) It was 1951 when English writer John Wyndham wrote his science fiction blended horror masterpiece, The Day of the Triffids. A novel that has had a lasting impact on the science fiction-horror…
The Cold War and Monster Culture: a comparative analysis
At the beginning of the 1950s, the genre of science fiction was expanding, unleashing monstrous creations driven by scientific advancement and Cold War tensions. The British novel The Day of the Triffids (1951) with its bioengineered predatory plant monsters and the American film Them! (1954), with its radioactive mutated giant ants are two texts that…
PHOEBE LOW 