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Eylem UYANIKTÜRK
Assist. Prof. Dr. Gökşen ARAS
Topics in Fiction
24.11.22

‘’Mothers, Monsters and Machines’’ by Rosi Braidotti

In this article, Braidotti states her motives and expresses ideas related to mothers,

monsters, and machines. In the very beginning she states that this case study of hers is

multifocal and transversal. She embraces a nomadic style which is the ‘’ […] one that views

discourse as a positive, multilayered network of power relations’’ (Foucault1972, 1975). The

main aim of this case study is to analyze ‘’three interrelated notions in light of this definition

of power’’ (Braidotti 214). As the title hints, the author first provides the grounds for each

notion for the reader. For the machines part, she refers to the technological development in the

area of reproduction. The discussion over the female body in terms of its ability to produce is

born with new machines that could create a totally artificial environment for the fetus to grow.

Thus, it leads one to elaborate on the idea of ‘’life itself’’ (Rose 2001). The author later

explains that her approach to this issue is ‘’within the French tradition, following the

materialism of Bachelard, Canguilhem, and Foucault (Braidotti 215). The next notion

introduced is mothers. Within the reach of this text, mothers refer to the function of the

maternal body. There are also references to the sociopolitical status of women and the

discourse of feminism. The last notion provided in the text is monsters and its spectrum is

‘’the history and philosophy of scientific teratology and its relationship to biological

sciences’’ (Braidotti 215). Later on, these three notions and their relationship to one another

are explained under six subheadings.

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I. Teratology: Signs of Wonder and Traces of Doubt

The term teratology means ‘’ the study of malformations or serious deviations from the

normal type in developing organisms’’ (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). The monster, in this

respect, is recognized as the abnormalities and/or malfunctions of the body. ‘’Monsters are

human beings who are born with congenital malformations of their bodily organism’’

(Braidotti 216). That is the reason, throughout human history, they are interesting beings to

the eyes. Their being similar but different always attracts attention and Braidotti explains it as

a paradox: ‘’the monstrous other is both liminal and structurally central to our perception of

normal human subjectivity’’ (216). Due to being an awe for humans, monsters have an

important position in society. In addition, in the history of monstrous bodies, it could be seen

that they experience many medical examinations as well as displays. With the increasing

number of educated people, however, these displays replace with the development of new

genres in literature. People who have higher education tend to leave the superstitious stories

about the monsters, but for those who still live in rural parts, two genres that are full of these

monsters, their abnormalities, and malfunctions are born: chivalric romance and travel books

(Braidotti 217). Another significant question that has arisen from monstrous beings is what

could cause such a birth. Of course, besides being examined and displayed, their causes to

exist are also to be questioned and there are many suggestive causes such as ‘’supernatural

causes, astrological influences, seminal and menstrual factors, hybridity, mental impressions,

and philosophical and scientific explanations’’ (Braidotti 219). Through the end of this

subheading, Braidotti examines the monsters from three major periods and each period has its

own understanding of monsters. Monsters seem to have even privileges in the prescientific or

baroque era. ‘’For instance, dwarves as court jesters and fools can transgress social

conventions, say and do things that normal human beings cannot afford to say or do’’
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(Braidotti 219). The last period, the scientific era, would provide accurate information about

them.

II. The Visualization of Negative Differences

This part of the article mainly talks about the origin of the word monster and questions its

existence. ‘’[W]hat exactly are monsters a display of?’’ (Braidotti 220) is the question and

many theories follow. In different eras, monstrous births are perceived differently. In the

classical era, it is definitely a warning from the Gods. Therefore, people sacrifice the body

and its mother, most of the time, for the very same ones. Another place one can see these

monsters are the entertainment fairs and which might be called freak shows. These monsters,

as one could assume, are not just the ones who have abnormalities from their births. These

shows ‘’manifested racist and orientalist undertones: abnormally formed people were

exhibited alongside tribal people of normal stature and bodily configuration as well as exotic

animals’’ (Braidotti 221). Thus, these freak shows can be considered a place where normal

people feel relieved because they are not the others like them. At the core of both racism and

sexism, there is always the distinction between one and the other. The one is always described

as a normal, generally, European and white body. Therefore, monsters or any other examples

given above are something to look at or examine.

III. The Question of Origins, or, Women as Monsters

The questions about the origins of these monsters are asked and theories are provided in

this chapter. In addition, the difference in discourses about monsters is emphasized because,

in these discourses, the imagination plays an important role. The production of monsters can

be the cause of parents’ sins and guilts. The idea is that if the accepted norms of sex are not

followed, which are regulated by Catholic Church, then, conceiving a monster is an inevitable

result (Braidotti 223). ‘’[H]aving sexual intercourse too often or on a Sunday night or on the
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night of any major religious holiday […], the regulation of diet, sexual excess, […] the

influence of stars and planets […] divine or diabolic interventions’’ (Braidotti 224) are among

the reasons of monstrous births. Apart from all these excuses for monstrous bodies, the female

body is also questioned when she cannot conceive a boy after intercourse: ‘’the female only

happens when something goes wrong or fails to occur in the reproductive process’’ (Braidotti

224). The idea of perfect reproduction is centered on the male and the sperm. Conceiving any

female is an abnormality and it resembles the very idea of conceiving monstrous beings. Here,

the female body and monstrous bodies are equal in the eyes of patriarchal society. Braidotti

further highlights:

It is important to stress the light that psychoanalytic theory has cast upon this hatred for
the feminine and the traditional patriarchal association of women with monstrosity;
theories of conception of monsters are at times extreme versions of the deeply seated
anxiety that surrounds the issue of women’s maternal power of procreation in a patriarchal
society. (Braidotti 225)
The woman’s body which changes from time to time in the event of pregnancy is not stable

thus leading a horror in the eyes of the patriarch. She does not have the unity that a man has.

This means she lacks and is a monstrous being. She cannot be created from normal

intercourse. Everything she is related to can be considered abnormalities by male-oriented

societies. ‘’Woman is that which is assigned and has no power of self-definition. Woman is

the anomaly that confirms the positivity of the norm’’ (Braidotti 228).

IV. The Theory of the Maternal Imagination)

The imagination of the maternal body is the most attributed issue in terms of creating

monstrous bodies. Women are thought to have the power of changing, hurting, killing, or

deforming babies after they are conceived. Braidotti lists the events as follows:

1. thinking about awful things during intercourse

2. dreaming very intensely about something or somebody
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3. looking at animals or evil-looking creatures – this is the Xerox machine complex: if a

woman looked at a dog, for instance, with a certain look in her eyes, then she would
have the power of transmitting that image to the fetus and reproducing it exactly,
creating a dog-faced baby. (229)
These events, of course, lead to an abnormality during pregnancy and the mother figure have

only the power of disrupting, destructing or disturbing the fetus. None of these events

attribute to benevolent things. ‘’The female signature of the reproductive pact is unholy,

inhuman, and illegitimate […]’’ (Braidotti 230). Against the view of maternal imagination,

objections occur in the 18th century. Blondel, Buffon, Maupertius, and the Encyclopedists are

among the names. Although their discussions and objections differ from one another, they

simply do not support the idea of the effects of the maternal imagination on the fetus. The

belief of the feminine body badly influencing the reproductive process, in time, leads to a

theory of reproduction without a female body. Braidotti elaborates on this issue as follows:

‘’We find, for instance, alchemists busy at work try to produce the philosophers’ son – the

homunculus, a man-made tiny man popping out of the alchemists’ laboratories, fully formed

and endowed with language’’ (234).

V. The Racialization of Monstrous Bodies

The location of the monstrous races is discussed under this subheading. Attributions to the

places such as India, Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Persia are provided by Herodotus back in

the fifth century B.C. Besides, in Aristotle’s Politics these races can be traced:

The races that live in cold regions and those of Europe are full of courage and passion but
somewhat lacking in skill and brainpower, for this reason, while remaining generally
independent, they lack political cohesion and the ability to rule others. On the other hand,
the Asiatic races have both brains and skill but are lacking in courage and willpower; so
they have remained both enslaved and subject. The Hellenic race, occupying a mid
position geographically, has a measure of both. Hence, it has contained to be free, to have
the best political institutions and to be capable of ruling others given a single constitution.
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In this quotation, it is obvious to see that the ones who have all the norms and powers have

always treated others as the monstrous race. Starting from the early fifth century B.C., only

names and accusations change, but, the themes and objections and perspectives are all the

same at the core of this monstrous race discourse. It resembles a recycling process, from

African people to Jews, from Jews to Asian people, and from them to women (Braidotti 239).

VI. The Disenchanted Clinical Gaze

As the subheading suggests, this part of the article mainly puts an emphasis on the

disillusionment or disappointment of monstrous bodies in the following centuries. With the

development of modern sciences, there are no more mysterious or wonderous aspects of

monstrous bodies. Seeing is the inevitable understanding/knowing of living organisms. Thus,

it loses interest in the body. ‘’Foucault defined the modern era as that of biopower; power

over life and death in a worldwide extension of man’s control of outer space, of the bottom of

the oceans, as well as of the depths of the maternal body’’ (Braidotti 241). The imagination of

the maternal body, seemingly, might be a step in terms of women’s rights, however, this is

merely a small opposition to the advice created and strengthened by the scientific teratology

of the patriarchal society.

In conclusion, ‘’[t]he woman, the Jew, or the black are certainly different from the

figuration of human subjectivity based on masculinity, whiteness, and Christian values that

dominates our scientific thinking’’ (Braidotti 242). The suggestions made by the author are

about the feminists attempting to redefine the thought, she also highlights the importance of

the discursive rules and emphasizes that change is a must for this field. The fact that the world

is male-oriented is acknowledged and the author offers to ‘’construct a nomadic style of

feminism that will allow women to rethink their position in a postindustrial, postmetaphysical

world, […] to connect and negotiate new boundaries for female identity in a world where

power over the body has reached an implosive peak’’ (244).

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WORKS CITED

Braidotti, Rosi. “Mothers, Monsters, and Machines.” Nomadic Theory: The Portable Rosi
Braidotti, Columbia University Press, 2011, pp. 213–44. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/brai15190.12. Accessed 20 Nov. 2022.