Is Man a Miracle or a Monster?

The Grotesque as an Artistic and Cultural Form in the Mid-Twentieth Century

Leontius…noticed corpses lying by the public executioner. He desired to look, but at the same time he was disgusted and made himself turn away…overpowered by the desire, he opened his eyes wide, ran toward the corpses and said: “Look, you damned wretches, take your fill of the fair sight.”

-The Republic of Plato

During the mid-twentieth century, the Weste…