The Gothic Other

Racial and Social Constructions in the Literary Imagination

322 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

Literary use of the Gothic is marked by an anxious encounter with otherness, with the dark and mysterious unknown. From its earliest manifestations in the turbulent eighteenth century, this seemingly escapist mode has provided for authors a useful ground upon which to safely confront very real fears and horrors. The essays here examine texts in which Gothic fear is relocated onto the figure of the racial and social Other, the Other who replaces the supernatural ghost or grotesque monster as the code for mystery and danger, ultimately becoming as horrifying, threatening and unknowable as the typical Gothic manifestation. The range of essays reveals that writers from many canons and cultures are attracted to the Gothic as a ready medium for expression of racial and social anxieties. The essays are grouped into sections that focus on such topics as race, religion, class, and centers of power.

• Reihe: McFarland
• ISBN: 9780786418589
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 15.07.2004
• Größe: 232 x 154 mm
• Verlag: McFarland and Company, Inc.
• Herausgegeben von: Douglas L. Howard, Ruth Bienstock Anolik