The monster I picked to talk about is the White Bone spirit, one of the most famous monster in East Asian region. I believe that it fits a couple of the theses Cohen pointed out in his Monster Theory that The Monster's Body Is a Cultural Body as well as The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference.
Since people in the United States may not be familiar with the White Bone Spirit as Chinese do, I'd like to take a brief introduction about is first. It was depicted as a skeleton in its true form, however, after it became a monster, it can change her appearance into any kind of human figure as it wish. The figures it transformed are so real that no one, include some of the gods are unable to distinguish it, only a few god with special ability could detect it. It use its unique and powerful ability to approach its target that it would like to eat.
Like what Cohen said, "The monster's body quite literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety,and fantasy, giving them life and an uncanny in dependence. " The White Bone Demon, as an example, is the body of desire. It casts its covetous eye on what doesn't belong to her -- the monk's meat which is said that whoever eat one piece of it can acquire endless life. It wants the meat, and tries to get it, then it goes to an end. One's uncontrollable desire will definitely destroy himself.
Also, on accounting of its hunting strategy -- it shifts its shape into other figures that may disarm its victims' wariness, which makes it easier to get them. It stands for the insidiousness and slyness. Since Chinese hold the strong belief that honesty and kindness is the characteristic of the whole nationality, the one with those negative traits is significantly different with them. So the White Bone demon is probably represent the enemy of Chinese who are insidious and sly.
Since people in the United States may not be familiar with the White Bone Spirit as Chinese do, I'd like to take a brief introduction about is first. It was depicted as a skeleton in its true form, however, after it became a monster, it can change her appearance into any kind of human figure as it wish. The figures it transformed are so real that no one, include some of the gods are unable to distinguish it, only a few god with special ability could detect it. It use its unique and powerful ability to approach its target that it would like to eat.
Like what Cohen said, "The monster's body quite literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety,and fantasy, giving them life and an uncanny in dependence. " The White Bone Demon, as an example, is the body of desire. It casts its covetous eye on what doesn't belong to her -- the monk's meat which is said that whoever eat one piece of it can acquire endless life. It wants the meat, and tries to get it, then it goes to an end. One's uncontrollable desire will definitely destroy himself.
Also, on accounting of its hunting strategy -- it shifts its shape into other figures that may disarm its victims' wariness, which makes it easier to get them. It stands for the insidiousness and slyness. Since Chinese hold the strong belief that honesty and kindness is the characteristic of the whole nationality, the one with those negative traits is significantly different with them. So the White Bone demon is probably represent the enemy of Chinese who are insidious and sly.
I had never heard of this "White Bone Spirit" story (just like you presumed, since I am American) before, so your blog post captured my attention the most. After reading your blog post, it even made me want to read more about this White Bone Spirit in more detail. In your blog post however, I think I would have to disagree with relating the creature to thesis VI, and suggest that thesis IV would be a better choice. I believe what Cohen was trying to get across in thesis VI is that the monster brings out a desire in us to want to be the monstrous, not necessarily a desire that the monster wants itself. In thesis VI he gives a great example of Halloween night. Everyone wants to dress up and be their favorite monsters for a night. This is a perfect example of us desiring to become these monsters. I think you brought up a great example in your last thought that could tie in directly with thesis IV. You said that the Chinese people have a strong belief in honesty and kindness, whereas the White Bone Spirit is the exact opposite. Cohen's fourth thesis is about the differences in cultures that the monster resembles. The White Bone Spirit would be a great example of a Chinese cultural difference being exaggerated. This creatures shows how monstrous lying and deceiving could be in the Chinese culture. This is just my opinion however, so you may disagree. Thank you for sharing this new monster story to me though!
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DeleteFirst, thanks for your time spending on my story. As the one of the most famous four traditional Chinese novels, Journey to the West really is a good novel that worth reading. It introduced variable monsters and spirits on the journey of the four main characters leading to the West. But I'm not sure the English version is as fetching as the original Chinese version.
DeleteWell, maybe I didn't state my point clearly enough. Actually I did claim that my story is related to the thesis IV rather than VI. As a matter of fact, I almost forget what the thesis VI is talking about. Next time I'll try my best to declare my view as clear as possible.
And I'm really glad that you enjoy it!