Gothic Humanization: A Useful Principle from Gothic YA by Jesse Bair

​A former English Teacher, Jesse is the LGBTQ Coordinator at Utah Tech University pursuing both his passion for social justice work and independent scholarship. When he is away from his institutional duties and community outreach, they engage in research topics anchored around the EcoGothic, MidWestern, Rural, and Film Studies.

Gothic Humanization: A Useful Principle from Gothic YA by Jesse Bair

Whereas ghosts and monsters are staples of the Gothic genre, what I hope to share with readers is that such entities are the product rather than the cause of conflict in horror stories. Jeffrey Weinstock notes, in his introduction to an anthology discussing the American Gothic, that “the central topic thematized by the Gothic is inevitably power​: who is allowed to do what based upon their subject position within a particular society at a specific moment in time” (2). In other words, what is meant to scare us is in itself a reflection of a power struggle. 
Labeling one a monster is itself the act of dehumanizing a population or force wherein the labelers gain power over whomever/whatever they aim to vilify. For example, think of Dr. Frankenstein renouncing his responsibilities as a father by declaring his creation as a monster instead of his son. Ghosts are also not spectral forces of nature that come from nowhere, but are instead supernatural representatives of disenfranchised folks striving to be heard in death since they were muted in life.
Much remains to discuss, but for the purpose of this publication, the Gothic is not so much about scary elements but rather how disempowering one group leads to said group becoming a monster to either assert its existence or by those aiming to assert control over them.

Gothic Humanization, a term I created, is then the act of readers seeing past the imagery we’ve been conditioned to fear and instead empathizing with the disenfranchised labeled as scary. Gothic Humanization is then a principle, a gift from what scares us to help ease tensions birthed from an “us versus them” mentality that spans across genres and fields of work: heroes and villains, soldiers and enemies, as well as the marginalized and the police. The United States is perhaps more divided than ever as it and nations across the globe wrestle with resolving generational crimes in lieu of the comforts bred by such inequality, yet my hope is that the book recommendations below serve as practice grounds for us to help students learn the empathy necessary to ease instead of exacerbate the tensions that vilify all of us.

Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes, and I am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina are two of my favorite pieces of Gothic YA because they are a textbook case of ghosts representing the muted voices of the departed. Both follow the deaths and spirits of two adolescent black men who lost their lives at the hands of a police officers. Guided by the ghosts of those who died before them, both narratives echo the injustices committed against African American and Black people in this country, thereby humanizing their struggles, while also humanizing the lives of the cops who shot them. As Rhodes’ piece is a novel and Medina’s is a graphic novel, both provide a bountiful opportunity as a pair or as elements in a text set discussing how all involved in systemic racism — black and white — are affected by a centuries old claim for power that asserts itself even today.

For students yearning to explore the worlds of Japanese manga, there are numerous storylines rife with examples of humanizing opposing sides but perhaps none does as good of a job than Demon Slayer by Ryoji Hirano and Koyoharu Gotouge. The story follows a classic fantasy tale of a gifted young man joining comrades in progressively defeating a supernatural villain. In this case, the young Tanjiro joins a secret organized collective of demon slayers set out to vanquish the minions of the conniving demon lord Muzan. 

Where the overall plot mirrors much of action manga, the story separates itself by humanizing its monstrous antagonists. Without giving spoilers, never have I felt more empathy nor more compassion for monsters passing on to hell for their murderous crimes. As the departed take their final steps, I dare say that the demon is left behind and the human is laid bare onto Hell’s flames, and that is why I set aside space for a potentially eye-opening read for both teachers and students looking for an independent read. 

Freaks of the Heartland by Steve Niles and Greg Ruth is an excellent graphic novel for educators looking for a Midwestern and or rural piece that tackles the negative impact that maintaining homogeny in a community can have on parents and children. The story follows a young boy as he frees his brother from the barn that his family has locked him up in for years because of his physical deformities. As they escape, the siblings come across other children with similar monster-like figures, another human-like sibling, and witness the pain of the parents who hid and, in some cases, killed their deformed offspring. A heartbreaking story at points, yet a hopeful one that encourages hope for a better tomorrow the closer the children get to leaving their hometown.

While a movie, Rob Letterman’s cinematic adaptation of Goosebumps is what led me to the idea of Gothic Humanization in the first place. Specifically, Jack Black’s characterization of R. L. Stein has a relationship with his infamous puppet Slappy is an overt allusion to Dr. Frankenstein and his unnamed monster. The humanization in this case, and what I argue the film does masterfully, is detail how both Stein and Slappy are both human and monster — worthy of empathy and worthy of scorn. If with 8th graders like I tried, or even in a unit with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for older audiences, possibilities for classroom discussion abound.

References
Weinstock, J. A. (2017). Introduction: The awareness gothic. In J. A. Weinstock (Ed), The Cambridge companion to American Gothic (pp. 1-12). Cambridge University Press.

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