Les “viles” tentaculaires : réquisitions satiriques de la pieuvre (Monocelet, 2003)

A short post to point out this article (in French): Moncelet, C. (2003) Ridiculosa N°10, Les Animaux pour le dire, Université de Bretagne occidentale/ Université de Limoge, p. 43-60. Moncelet notes the pieuvre or monstrous octopus originates with Victor Hugo’s “Travailleurs de la Mer” (Toilers/Workers of the Sea).

I find this interesting as I am currently reading an article by China Miéville’s (Collapse IV, Urbanomic) in which he argues that the emergence of the Weird/tentacular can be traced back to Victor Hugo’s “Travailleurs de la Mer”. The Moncelet article is mostly a run down on the various incarnations of the octopus and serpentine/hydra as caricature. It is accompanied by a selection of cartoons and posters. Worth a look even if you can’t read French.