Literature paper and film response
shawn23
sidky_-_werewolves_and_witches_powerpoint.pptxSidky – “Werewolves and Witches”
CSCL 3461 – 13 February 2017
Werewolves?
half man, half wolf
dangerous/strong
cursed to transform every full moon
loses self-control (inner beast takes over)
only killable with silver weapons
separate/sub-category of monsters (tragic/sympathetic)
Wolfman, Lupin, What We Do In the Shadows, Teen Wolf, Twilight
Examples
Examples
Cross-Cultural Concept
Sidky suggests that “[t]he idea of werewolves and were-animals… dates back to antiquity and… is found cross-culturally. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe, however, beliefs concerning werewolves and the metamorphosis of people into animals were assimilated into the demonological theory of witchcraft” (218)
Cross-Cultural Concept - Questions
Why is the phenomenon of werewolves and were-animals so long-lived and present in so many different cultures?
Why does this conception undergo a shift in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
How are werewolves integrated into the demonology surrounding witchcraft?
Grounds for Accusation
among the “common characteristics of the majority of accused werewolves” (225), Sidky notes “marginal position, reclusive lifestyle, and atypical behavior” (225) as putting one at special risk for suspicion and accusation
Grounds for Accusation - Questions
Why might a person possessing several of these characteristics be especially prone to accusations?
What do the characteristics reveal about the actual motivations behind such accusations?
How loose are the standards for generating suspicion among potential accusers?
Function of Accusations
similarly, Sidky maintains that “indictments were used to incriminate irksome neighbors or enemies for misfortunes… [and] had the same sociological functions as witch-hunts: both were public demonstrations against diabolism and deviance, and both served to explain other kinds of misfortunes… [via] beggars, non-conformists, and the socially marginal and expendable” (233)
Function of Accusations - Questions
How do werewolf accusations serve to shore up the moral center of a given society?
How do they function as a means of resolving personal conflicts?
How do those accusations act to preserve the larger society at the expense of those on its edges?
Potential Explanations
one potential explanation for the perceived presence of werewolves is disease, where “mentally disturbed individuals, exhibiting bizarre behavior, may have been suspected of lycanthropy and sent to the stake” (238)
likely diagnoses including “schizophrenia, organic brain syndrome and psychosis, psychotic depressive reaction, hysterical neurosis of the dissociative type, and manic-depressive psychosis” (239)
also, porphyria, severe autism, rabies
Potential Explanations - Questions
How would mental illness explain the behavior of “werewolves”?
Why would such behavior not be thought of in terms of illness during the period in question?
How could abandoned autistic children be seen as werewolves?
Drugs
Sidky asks “can lycanthropy be explained in terms of the actions of psychotropic drugs?” (248)
notes the traditional application of ointments as part of the transformation process
also, sensation of transformation that may accompany the consumption of some hallucinogens
Drugs - Questions
How might Sidky’s question be answered (i.e. are psychotropic drugs a partial/complete explanation)?
How do the act and aftermath of consumption fit into the notion of transformation?
How might this understanding at once demystify and remystify the transformation process?
