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Frankenstein and frankenfoods

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Saved by frogheart@...
on August 20, 2008 at 6:02:06 pm
 

It's not the monster's name. Mary Shelley, the novel's author, called him variously, a creature, a monster, and a few other things but she never named him. Published in 1818, the book was an immediate hit and spawned a play which ran for decades in London's West End. (In today's [2008] copyright-wary environment, the play would likely not even get a reading let alone a production.) It was the play which helped to establish Frankenstein in the popular imagination and led to the publication of the better known amongst literary theorists 1831 edition.[1][2]

 

The story's reputation as a cautionary tale about the dangerous consequences of thoughtless scientific experimentation is not entirely deserved but the misperception about Mary Shelley's story seems unlikely to be corrected any time soon. 

 

The transformation of the Frankenstein story into a science cautionary tale started almost immediately and was complete within a few decades. The monster has acted as a remarkably flexible metaphor that can be applied to virtually scientific worry of the day.Tthe monster, in various plays, stories, and artistic renderings, could be animated by any scientific means that were the concern of the day prior to the 1931 movie which pretty much set the means of animation (electricity) in stone. Nonetheless, the Frankenstein myth has remained flexible enough to become a pop culture fixture as a breakfast cereal, Frankenberry; a US television series, The Munsters; and innumerable comic books.[3] 

 

1992 marked a dramatic shift in Frankenstein's role as a pop culture icon. In a letter to to the New York Time, Paul Lewis, a Boston College professor who was known for his proclamations against technology,

 

Ever since Mary Shelley's baron rolled his improved human out of the lab, scientists have been bringing just such good things to life," wrote Lewis, echoing the corporate slogan of General Electric. "If they want to sell us Frankenfood, perhaps it's time to gather the villagers, light some torches and head to the castle. (p. 288)[4]

 

'Frankenfood' spread like wildfire giving activists a means of reaching out to mobilize public opinion against genetically modified food and biotechnology generally. Eventually, scientists working in the biotechnology field experienced funding freezes. 

 

While it's tempting to take sides, ultimately it's a zero sum game. Activists, scientists, and business people all play an important role in how we determine our collective futures.

 

Jump back

Nano goes Pop

 

Jump joints

Risks

 

 

Footnotes

  1. Joseph, M. K. ed (1980) Mary Shelley Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. 1980 is the original paperback edition of the 1969 hardback edition of Shelley’s 1831 edition of Frankenstein. Oxford and New York., Oxford University Press.
  2. Hitchcock, S. T. (2007) Frankenstein; A Cultural History. New York, Long, W. W. Norton & Company.
  3. Hitchcock, S. T. (2007) Frankenstein; A Cultural History. New York, Long, W. W. Norton & Company.
  4. Hitchcock, S. T. (2007) Frankenstein; A Cultural History. New York, Long, W. W. Norton & Company.

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