04120nam 2200721 a 450 991081601100332120230126204757.00-674-26743-50-674-06132-210.4159/harvard.9780674061323(CKB)2670000000081287(EBL)3300929(OCoLC)709593091(SSID)ssj0000471447(PQKBManifestationID)11321172(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000471447(PQKBWorkID)10428105(PQKB)10472535(MiAaPQ)EBC3300929(DE-B1597)178258(OCoLC)979746510(DE-B1597)9780674061323(Au-PeEL)EBL3300929(CaPaEBR)ebr10456097(EXLCZ)99267000000008128720101029d2011 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrMonsters of the Gévaudan the making of a beast /Jay M. SmithCambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press20111 online resource (392 p.)Description based upon print version of record.0-674-04716-8 Includes bibliographical references and index.Introduction: The beast and its world -- Sounding the alarm -- Monsters real and imagined -- Digesting defeat -- A star is born -- The perils of publicity -- Heroes and skeptics -- Exaggerated expectations and extraordinary endings -- Narrative echoes past and present -- Conclusion: The beast in history -- Note on place names.In a brilliant, original rendition, Monsters of the Gévaudan revisits a spellbinding French tale that has captivated imaginations for over two hundred years, and offers the definitive explanation of the strange events that underlie this timeless story. In 1764 a peasant girl was killed and partially eaten while tending a flock of sheep. Eventually, over a hundred victims fell prey to a mysterious creature, or creatures, whose cunning and deadly efficiency terrorized the region and mesmerized Europe. The fearsome aggressor quickly took on mythic status, and the beast of the Gévaudan passed into French folklore. What species was this killer, why did it decapitate so many of its victims, and why did it prefer the flesh of women and children? Why did contemporaries assume that the beast was anything but a wolf, or a pack of wolves, as authorities eventually claimed, and why is the tale so often ignored in histories of the ancient régime? Smith finds the answer to these last two questions in an accident of timing. The beast was bound to be perceived as strange and anomalous because its ravages coincided with the emergence of modernity itself. Expertly situated within the social, intellectual, cultural, and political currents of French life in the 1760's, Monsters of the Gévaudan will engage a wide range of readers with both its recasting of the beast narrative and its compelling insights into the allure of the monstrous in historical memory.Popular cultureFranceGévaudanHistory18th centuryBeast of GévaudanHistoryWolf attacksFranceGévaudanHistory18th centuryWolvesFranceGévaudanFolkloreMonstersFranceGévaudanFolkloreNarration (Rhetoric)Social aspectsFranceHistoryDiscourse analysis, NarrativeGévaudan (France)Social life and customs18th centuryPopular cultureHistoryBeast of GévaudanHistory.Wolf attacksHistoryWolvesMonstersNarration (Rhetoric)Social aspectsHistory.Discourse analysis, Narrative.599.7730944/81Smith Jay M.1961-1026924MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910816011003321Monsters of the Gévaudan3982846UNINA