LEADER 04151nam 2200721 a 450 001 9910460080403321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-06132-2 024 7 $a10.4159/harvard.9780674061323 035 $a(CKB)2670000000081287 035 $a(EBL)3300929 035 $a(OCoLC)709593091 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000471447 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11321172 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000471447 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10428105 035 $a(PQKB)10472535 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300929 035 $a(DE-B1597)178258 035 $a(OCoLC)979746510 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674061323 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300929 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10456097 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000081287 100 $a20101029d2011 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aMonsters of the Ge?vaudan$b[electronic resource] $ethe making of a beast /$fJay M. Smith 210 $aCambridge, Mass. $cHarvard University Press$d2011 215 $a1 online resource (392 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-674-04716-8 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aIntroduction: 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. 330 $aIn 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. 606 $aPopular culture$zFrance$zGe?vaudan$xHistory$y18th century 606 $aBeast of Ge?vaudan$xHistory 606 $aWolf attacks$zFrance$zGe?vaudan$xHistory$y18th century 606 $aWolves$zFrance$zGe?vaudan$vFolklore 606 $aMonsters$zFrance$zGe?vaudan$vFolklore 606 $aNarration (Rhetoric)$xSocial aspects$zFrance$xHistory 606 $aDiscourse analysis, Narrative 607 $aGe?vaudan (France)$xSocial life and customs$y18th century 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aPopular culture$xHistory 615 0$aBeast of Ge?vaudan$xHistory. 615 0$aWolf attacks$xHistory 615 0$aWolves 615 0$aMonsters 615 0$aNarration (Rhetoric)$xSocial aspects$xHistory. 615 0$aDiscourse analysis, Narrative. 676 $a599.7730944/81 700 $aSmith$b Jay M.$f1961-$01026924 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910460080403321 996 $aMonsters of the Ge?vaudan$92454657 997 $aUNINA