Modern faerie tales: monstrosity (In)action

Abstract

Despite the increasing popularity of Young Adult Literature (YAL), there are still YAL subgenres, like fantasy, which have received little to no attention in literary criticism. This research paper hopes to remedy that gap by exploring Holly Black’s Modern Faerie Tale series through the lens of Jeffery Jerome Cohen’s “Monster Culture (7 Theses).” Black’s faeries, whose physical bodies share features with animals and plants, represent anxiety about urbanization and pollution, while their magic signifies a fear of losing bodily autonomy; the characters struggle with the desire to control the bodies of others as they themselves are controlled. Ultimately, I argue that the series depicts monstrosity as a failure to act against social injustices in order to overturn them, as inaction only reinforces systems of oppression.