Proximate monstrosity from Mandeville to Spenser

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My research project will examine the representation of monstrous humans in a variety of medieval and early moderntexts, arguing that these texts both reveal and seek to allay anxieties about the fluid boundaries of monstrosity. I will buildon recent work by medievalists who have sought to trouble the dichotomies between Self and Other in the period'sliterature, arguing that many writers demonstrate a nuanced view of monstrosity and are incredibly alert to their ownOtherness. Having established a medieval context, I will move on to discuss the overlap between 'monstrous races' andmonstrous births in the early modern period, arguing that the representation of the marvellous in Protestant teratologiesallows for interesting slippages between the domestic and foreign, normative and deviant, ancient and contemporary. Myproject will also involve an extended consideration of the representation of monstrous humans in Spenser's FaerieQueene. This strand of my research - and, indeed, my project in general - will seek to trouble the dichotomies betweenhuman and monster, contemporary and ancient, domestic and foreign and, by extension, challenge the normativity of theEuropean Christian Self.