All Hail Cthulhu! On Lovecraft, Monstress, and Asian American Bildung

This study identifies Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda's epic fantasy Monstress as a flashpoint for contemporary Asian American subject formation and the literary history of the bildungsroman. Though it follows the templates of both European and Asian American bildung, the graphic novel rejects the genre's foundational tenets of assimilation and stability in favor of social justice and revolution. By analyzing Monstress through bildungsroman ideology, fantasy world building, H. P. Lovecraft's racial history, and post-1965 Asian American political realignments, the author argues that the protagonist, Maika Halfwolf, represents a novel model of ethnic identity formation, one whose arranged marriage to a Lovecraftian demon and war against state institutions critique passive integration into a structurally racist society. The result is a hero for a new generation of readers who codifies racial justice, social activism, and political protest as integral pillars of American citizenship for the twenty-first century.