French and German Gothic Fiction in the Late Eighteenth Century

von Daniel Hall

298 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

The literature of terror and horror continues to fascinate readers both casual and more critical, and it has long been recognised as an international, not merely British, phenomenon. This study provides an in-depth and text-based analysis of Gothic fiction in France and Germany from earlier literary traditions, through the influence of the English Gothic novel, to an extraordinary popularity and dominance by the end of the eighteenth century. It examines how some of the motifs most closely associated with the Gothic – secret societies, the supernatural and suspense, among others – are the product of an uncertain age, and how the use of those motifs differed not just across languages and borders, which in fact the Gothic often crossed with ease, but according to the views, concerns and sometimes insecurities of individual authors. What emerges is a complex genre more diverse than any ‘list of Gothic ingredients’ would have us believe. Many of the notions and devices explored by the French and German Gothic then continue to intrigue, disturb and unsettle today.

• Reihe: European Connections
• Themen: Biographie, Literatur und Literaturwissenschaft Geschichte und Kritik Literaturwissenschaft, allgemein 1600 bis 1800
• ISBN: 9783039100774
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 03.12.2004
• Größe: 21 x 14.8 cm
• Verlag: Peter Lang Group AG, International Academic Publishers