Of mermaids and monsters: Transgender history and the boundaries of the human in eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Britain

GUST, ONNI

Abstract

The figure of the monster has long been used by trans and intersex scholars, artists, and activists to articulate their sense of being in a world dominated by binary, cisgender norms. Yet what does it mean to embrace ‘the monstrous’ and how might that embrace inform the construction of transgender history? This article examines the specificities of ‘the monstrous’ in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain and empire by focusing on two figures at the boundary of the human: ‘the mermaid’ and ‘the hermaphrodite’. In doing so, it asks what the histories of these two marginal figures might tell us about the construction of ‘the human’ and argues that an alignment with the monster might enable trans historians to ally themselves with a vision of the future that goes beyond anthropocentrism.

Citation

GUST, O. (2024). Of mermaids and monsters: Transgender history and the boundaries of the human in eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Britain. Gender and History, 36(1), 112-129. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.12769

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 5, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 26, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-03
• Deposit Date: Dec 11, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 26, 2024
• Journal: Gender and History
• Print ISSN: 0953-5233
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-0424
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 112-129
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.12769
• Keywords: Transgender history; Colonialism; Eighteenth century; Human-animal boundary
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/28421132
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0424.12769