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Special Collections to host American Library Association traveling exhibit
By Gabriel Miller
Library Communications
Posted 8/19/2004
MADISON, Wis. -- UW-Madison Libraries' Special Collections will host the traveling exhibit "Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature" from Sept. 1 - Oct. 15 in 976 Memorial Library.
The exhibit features six sections dealing with the literary, scientific, and political context in which the novel was created; ethical questions the novel raises; interpretations and distortions of the story in various media since the novel's publication; and the contrasts between science as conducted in the novel and as pursued in the 21st century. Other adjunct displays, drawn from Special Collections' rich history of science and literature collections and the new Ebling Library, will complement the traveling exhibit, providing a historical context to the unusual life of Mary Shelley.
For nearly two centuries, Frankenstein has had a powerful and enduring grip on the popular imagination. A wide range of interpretations in a myriad of stage and film adaptations have often transcended the original story and supplanted the novel in the public imagination. Technically an epistolary novel, this tale has long been regarded as the origin of modern science fiction. It can also be read as another version of the myth of the noble savage, in which a nature essentially good is corrupted by ill treatment. It is also remarkable for its descriptions of nature, strongly influenced by the author's admiration for Wordsworth and Coleridge.
Additional programming includes:
- Following Frankenstein: Medical Science and the Monster in the 20th Century
Susan Lederer, Yale University
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 4 p.m.
126 Memorial Library
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Sciences
Maureen McLane, Harvard University
Thursday, Oct. 7, 2004, 5 p.m.
Elvehjem Museum of Art, Room L140
Sponsored by the Center for the Humanities
- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: A Mini-Conference
Day-long symposium
Friday, Oct. 8, 2004
6191 Helen C. White Hall
Sponsored by the Center for the Humanities
- Screening of Der Golem
Friday, Oct. 8, 2004, 7:30 p.m.
4070 Vilas Hall
821 University Avenue
Sponsored by UW-Madison Cinematheque
"Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature" was developed by the National Library of Medicine in collaboration with the American Library Association. It has been made possible by major grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C., and the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Md. The traveling exhibition is based upon a major exhibition produced by the National Library of Medicine in 1997-1998.
