On Occupation

Issue 7.2

Letter from the Editor

5 September 2023

The editorial board is very proud to share Issue 7.2 of Process, On Occupation. The summer of 2023 has brought into focus the central importance of the ways in which we occupy lands, homes, and roles. From the heatwaves and wildfires that have tragically destabilized areas long occupied by humans, such as Rhodes and Maui, to the international preoccupation with pink sparked by the Barbie movie, the past few months have shown us the many ways in which occupation can be conceptualized. The work in this issue approaches occupation from three distinct angles: the rhetoric of propaganda, the visual art of a people enduring occupation, and the literary significance of a scientific preoccupation.

In “A Monstrous Obsession: Monomania in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” Ellie Rebecca Bunker offers a psychoanalytical reading of Frankenstein’s monster, drawing on nineteenth-century psychiatry and twentieth-century psychoanalysis, to interpret Victor Frankenstein’s creation as the monstrous embodiment of his pathological preoccupation with science. In “Seeing is Believing: The Credibility of Russia’s Youth-Targeted Propaganda,” Ashley Meyer provides a close reading of “The Defenders of Peace: The Liberation Mission in Ukraine,” a piece of Russian propaganda hosted by a twelve year old and aimed at garnering children’s support for the ongoing war in Ukraine. Meyer argues that this broadcast uses isolating devices common in Russian propaganda aimed at adults and that it builds on them by emphasizing Russian youth identity to specifically target children. Finally, in “Art Under Occupation and Beyond: Contesting Expressions of Identity and Memory in Contemporary Tibetan Art,” Eesha V. Sheel examines the work of Gonkar Gyatso, Nortse, and Tenzing Rigdol. Sheel considers how their art grapples with self-fashioning, trauma, and Tibet’s oppression under the Chinese Regime, emphasizing the ways in which all three use their art to return global focus to the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Together, these three essays highlight the ways in which occupation, in both the political and psychological sense, can become the basis for creation. Meyer shows the necessity of innovation in Russian propaganda as its war against Ukraine stretches on, Sheel the masterpieces created by Tibetan artists in response to Chinese oppression and censorship, and Bunker the literary potential of portraying obsession embodied as a monster. We hope that these pieces provoke reflection and conversation moving forward. Rather than issuing a call for papers at this time, we invite our readers to stay tuned for a special issue of Process, On Fitting In, this fall. 

Sincerely,

The Process Editorial Board

A Monstrous Obsession: Monomania in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Ellie Rebecca Bunker

Ellie Rebecca Bunker offers a psychoanalytical reading of Frankenstein’s monster by drawing on nineteenth-century psychiatry and twentieth-century psychoanalysis. She interprets Victor Frankenstein’s creation as the monstrous embodiment of his pathological preoccupation with science.

Keywords: obsession, monomania, monster, psychoanalysis, Frankenstein