The Curse of the Wer.. - Site de Thomas - Free

PREFACE
motivated by a desire to explore beyond the boundaries of subjective
experience. Because I had long imagined the werewolf as a threat to
my sense of self (something which would literally tear me apart if it
caught me), it seemed to offer a way into such an exploration.
Explaining my research by placing it within a narrative of my own
life has in fact been peculiarly apt, because, at a more general level, it
is about the stories we have told about ourselves, and about the stories
we might yet tell about ourselves. I have sometimes even elaborated (to
those still listening) the speculative dimension of my project by referring
to my own experiences, because the dreams I have experienced
and the life I live has changed considerably during the course of my
research, in ways that have shed light upon the questions I began with.
In what was perhaps one of the most important dreams of my life, I
was a werewolf — but I could only manifest myself as a wolf in the
company of Christopher Kenworthy, who later became my husband.
Christopher’s insight, humour, generosity and love have since enriched
this book, and my life, beyond measure.
A number of other people have contributed in important ways to
this book. I would especially like to thank James Donald for his shrewd
comments and generous support. Thanks also to Kelly Hurley, Terry
Threadgold, Jane Long and Rob Stuart for their feedback on the manuscript,
and to Matthew Allen, Helen Merrick, Justine Larbelestier and
Kim Selling for their enthusiastic engagement with my work. And, of
course, thanks to my editors Philippa Brewster and Susan Lawson for
their salient advice and timely prompts.
I am especially indebted to Stephen Jones and Kim Newman for
access to their private collections, and for sharing with me their encyclopaedic
knowledge of the werewolf in fiction and the cinema. I would
also like to thank the staff at the Scholars’ Centre at the University
of Western Australia, the staff at the British Library (especially Chris
Rawlings), the British Film Institute, and the Special Collection at the
University of Sydney Library (especially Richard Ratajczak).
I am grateful for the support from colleagues at the University of
Western Australia, Curtin University of Technology and Murdoch
University, and to the Royle family and the Kenworthy family for
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