Partecipating monsters

Through the figure of the monster understood as a form of trust, our aim is to extend the notion of the scaffolding of affective niches (cf. Colombetti & Krueger, 2017). Therefore, we propose monsters to be understood as dynamic imaginative niches. To do so we develop a visual ethnography in which we will follow the figure of the Schnappviecher who, as a transitional figure, is used for the constitution of communities both within the context of agro-pastrol alpine villages in northern Italy and within Himmler’s cultural program. To explore out notion of monsters further, we then take the liberty of using this monstrous figure to explore contemporary works of art, to consider the separation, the rift between imagination and reality (cf. Ingold, 2022).