RR Pod E31 P1 Brennan Kettelle: Monster Theory, Lilith & Esotericism

Due to scheduling issues, this episode is coming to you later than planned; my apologies for the delay.

My guest this month is Brennan Kettelle.

Brennan is a PhD researcher at the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (HHP), University of Amsterdam. Brennan holds an MA in Gender and Cultural studies (2016) and a research MA in Religious Studies, specializing in Western esotericism (2021). She is currently writing her doctoral dissertation, investigating historical associations between the religiomythic demoness Lilith and queerness within artistic, literary, and occult discourses. Brennan also teaches an 8-week online course on Lilith - focusing on Lilith’s origins and cultural receptions within Western esotericism - for the Brooklyn-based organization Morbid Anatomy. Utilizing monster theory and queer theory in her research, Brennan is more broadly interested in investigating themes of the ‘monstrous-queer’ within esoteric literature, orders, and figures, as well as esoteric themes within queer subcultures, politics, and histories.

This episode is Part 1 of 2; the second part is planned for December of this year.
Brennan starts this conversation by explaining her motivations for delving into monster theory as part of her larger research into the figure of Lilith. Monster theory looks at what a group fears as well as how marginalized populations or individuals align with ‘the monstrous,’ what she’s calling (at this time) ‘stigmatized alignment.’ Monster theory is used here as the methodological axis upon which the larger research revolves.

Brennan also talks about the background of this new area of study, its postmodern critical analysis of the monster and how this has switched to looking at the monster from the monster’s perspective, how the monster is used by people, and examining which groups become monstrous themselves. We talk a bit about this process in the figure of the vampire as well as Lilith. Brennan also talks more about how she is using the figure of Lilith as ‘an esoteric example that shows the enduring historical entanglement between queerness and monstrosity.'

PROGRAM NOTES (Full Episode)

(99+) S. Brennan Kettelle | University of Amsterdam - Academia.edu
Research: Brennan Kettelle - HHP | History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents (amsterdamhermetica.nl)

The monsters and the critics, and other essays : Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Monster theory : reading culture : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Amazon.com: The Occult Imagination in Britain, 1875-1947 (Among the Victorians and Modernists): 9780367885069: Ferguson, Christine, Radford, Andrew: Books
The Monster Theory Reader: Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew: 9781517905255: Amazon.com: Books

Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories (Perverse Modernities: A Series Edited by Jack Halberstam and Lisa Lowe): Freeman, Elizabeth: 9780822348047: Amazon.com: Books
The Well of Loneliness (penguin.co.uk)
Feeling Backward: Loss and the Politics of Queer History: Love, Heather: 9780674032392: Amazon.com: Books

The Celluloid Closet (youtube.com)

All Music: Daniel P. Shea