Monstrosities and biomorphisms: contemporary figurations of the human in literature and television series

From Luís Miguel Nava’s poetry and the series "Black Mirror"

Abstract

The article will have a double focus of critical reading: the poetic production of the contemporary portuguese author Luís Miguel Nava, analysed from a corpus constituted by two specific poetic works, O céu sob as entranhas (1989) and Vulcão (1994), compositions which will be put in dialogue, through an intermedial comparative approach, with the television series Black Mirror (2011), a production of the famous provider Zeppotron, later bought by the famous Netflix, written by the screenwriter Charlie Brooker. This television series will be in its turn object of analysis from three episodes: “Be Right Back” (2013), “Playtest” (2016) and “Black Museum” (2017). Thus, highlighting intrinsic theorical notions in relation to the studied mediatic fields, the subject of monstrosity will be explored under a contemporary perspective, giving significance to the topic of the body. The paper expects to contribute globally for an understanding of the contemporary literary objects in articulation with other products of the mass culture, such as television, between which more and more alternative intertextual links are being weaved.