Abstract

The title of this article embodies the key to the controversy the article raises about the study of English—should scholars insist on the fixed rules of grammar and vocabulary characteristic of the language, or consider continuous changes created by digital technologies and social media? Within this context, the researcher argues that a postmodern approach to the study of English that tolerates deconstruction of human expression can offer a better alternative to a structural approach where rules are set with the expectation of compliance. On one level, the analogy to Frankenstein’s monster, implied in the title, acknowledges the dilemma facing scholars of English, may they be linguists, translators, and/or teachers as they claim a certain authority on English, while it is undergoing such transformation matched only by a living corpus—changing, growing, and evolving in unpredictable ways. The article discusses some of the factors affecting English from a postmodern perspective that rules out a definite interpretation in favor of endless possibilities of meaning. To demonstrate, various cases illustrate subtle, evident changes both old and new that affect human discourse and are recorded digitally. The allusion to the classic horror in the title represents one of the multi-layers contributing to the aforementioned postmodern forces of transformation; namely, “intertextuality.” A considerable number of the audience would definitely recognize the allusion of “It’s alive” to the classic horror, through which the phrase has become a representation of unexpected situations where an inanimate being comes to life while the seeds of disaster predict ominous consequences, i.e. a continuously changing language. Alongside intertextuality, an array of factors are involved in the process, some of which are illustrated in the article. The researcher poses the question in the hope of contributing to the ongoing discussion regarding the English language—what are the implications of this incessant transformation?