The Monarch and the (Non)-Human in Literature and Cinema: Western and Global Perspectives

This collection studies the representations of the character of the monarch in literature and cinema. Being a person, an institution, a character archetype and a narrative role, the characters of the monarch and other royal or regal characters oscillate between humanity and the non-human. As such, they are hybrid forms of existence and subjectivity. The authors of this collection explore this hybridity across large spectra of genres, historical periods and cultural contexts. Some of the most prolific and widely read scholars analyze the archetype of the monarch on the page, the stage and the screen. They cover large swathes of intersecting creative and interpretive territories including ancient epic and religious poetry, Arthurian legends, British Renaissance and modern drama, British horror films and Hollywood crime and sports films. This collection also features interviews with six prominent comic book writers and artists, who discuss the influence of classical royal archetypes on their works.

Nizar Zouidi is assistant professor of English language and literature at the University of Gafsa, Tunisia. He is the author of several articles and book chapters about characters in Renaissance drama and other literary periods and genres. Nizar has recently edited a collection on the Performativity of Villainy and Evil in Anglophone Literature and Media (2021) and contributed to the Routledge Companion to Humanism and Literature (2022). He has also given talks at different international conferences.