Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

PL EN


2012 | 2 | 97-114

Article title

The Marginality of the Gothic: A Reconsideration

Authors

Content

Title variants

Languages of publication

EN

Abstracts

EN
It is commonly accepted that we discuss the Gothic in terms of the margin. These two seem to be inseparable and associating them appears “just natural.” However, in light of the contemporary critical debate on the ubiquity of the Gothic, the mode’s “natural” marginality might appear somewhat out of place. While the Gothic is still increasingly popular in popular culture, it has also become incredibly popular among literary scholars. In fact, it not only permeates the culture we live in, but it also appears to occupy a mainstream position in academia these days. Viewing the Gothic as a notion shaped to a certain extent by the critic, this article investigates-and reconsiders-the persistence of the Gothic margin in contemporary critical discourse. Following Paul A. Bové’s consideration of the ways in which institutionalized criticism partakes in discourse, it sees contemporary Gothic criticism as at least potentially operating within discourse in Michel Foucault’s terms, and thus considers the possibility of the Gothic margin being in fact a critical construct, functional within the contemporary discourse of criticism. Hence, the article poses questions about the origin of Gothic marginality, the contemporary status of the Gothic margin and its potential functionality, and finally, possible results of the loss of the marginal status for the Gothic as a critical object. It seeks the answers by means of scrutinizing critical accounts, such as Fred Botting and Dale Townshend’s introduction to the CriticalConcepts series on the Gothic, and by contrasting different attempts at (re)presenting the Gothic and its status. Finally, it considers the distinction between the past-the era of critical neglect-and the present-allegedly the times of the vindication of the Gothic. In so doing, it aims at determining whether and why the marginality of the Gothic could indeed turn out to be constructed by the critics.

Keywords

Year

Volume

2

Pages

97-114

Physical description

Dates

published
2012-12-01
online
2012-12-04

Contributors

  • University of Silesia

References

  • Baldick, Chris, and Robert Mighall. “Gothic Criticism.” A Companion to the Gothic. Ed. David Punter. 2000. Malden: Blackwell, 2008. 209-28. Print.
  • Botting, Fred. Gothic. London: Routledge, 1997. Print.
  • ---. “Preface: The Gothic.” The Gothic. Ed. Fred Botting. Cambridge: Brewer, 2001. 1-6. Print.
  • Botting, Fred, and Dale Townshend. “General Introduction.” Gothic: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies. Ed. Fred Botting and Dale Townshend. Vol. 1. London: Routledge, 2004. 1-18. Print.
  • ---. “Introduction.” Gothic: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies. Ed. Fred Botting and Dale Townshend. Vol. 2. London: Routledge, 2004. 1-10. Print.
  • Bové, Paul A. Mastering Discourse: The Politics of Intellectual Culture. Durham: Duke UP, 1992. Print.
  • Clery, E.J. The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762-1800. 1995. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. Print.
  • Craft, Christopher. “‘Kiss Me with Those Red Lips’: Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Gothic: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies. Ed. Fred Botting and Dale Townshend. Vol. 3. London: Routledge, 2004. 259-86. Print.
  • E. “On the Titles of Modern Novels.” Gothic Readings: The First Wave 1764-1840. Ed. Rictor Norton. London: Leicester UP, 2000. 303-04. Print.
  • Ellis, Markman. The History of Gothic Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000. Print.
  • Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality. Vol. 1. 1976. Trans. Robert Hurley. London: Penguin, 1998. Print.
  • Hoggle, Jerrold E. “The Gothic Ghost of the Counterfeit and the Progress of Abjection.” A Companion to the Gothic. Ed. David Punter. 2000. Malden: Blackwell, 2008. 293-304. Print.
  • Hoggle, Jerrold E., and Andrew Smith. “Revisiting the Gothic and Theory: An Introduction.” Gothic Studies 11.1 (2009): 1-8. EBSCO. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. Jackson, Rosemary. Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion. 1981. London: Routledge, 1998. Print.
  • Kilgour, Maggie. The Rise of the Gothic Novel. London: Routledge, 1995. Print.
  • McKeon, Michael. “Prose Fiction: Great Britain.” The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism. Ed. H.B. Nisbet and Claude Rawson. Vol. 4. 1997. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. 238-63. Print.
  • Mighall, Robert. A Geography of Victorian Gothic Fiction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.
  • Miles, Robert. Gothic Writing 1750-1820: A Genealogy. 1993. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2002. Print.
  • Patey, Douglas Lane. “The Institution of Criticism in the Eighteenth Century.” The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism. Ed. H.B. Nisbet and Claude Rawson. Vol. 4. 1997. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. 3-31. Print.
  • Punter, David. The Literature of Terror: A History of Gothic Fictions from 1765 to the Present Day. London: Longman, 1980. Print.
  • Rintoul, Suzanne. “Gothic Anxieties: Struggling with a Definition.” Eighteenth Century Fiction 17.4 (2005): 701-09. EBSCO. 17 Dec. 2007. Spooner, Catherine. “Introduction: Gothic in Contemporary Popular Culture.” Gothic Studies 9.1 (2007): 1-4. EBSCO. Web. 28 June 2009. Warwick, Alexandra. “Feeling Gothicky?” Gothic Studies 9.1 (2007): 5-15. EBSCO. Web. 28 June 2009. Watt, James. Contesting the Gothic: Fiction, Genre and Cultural Conflict, 1764-1832. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. Print.
  • Williams, Anne. Art of Darkness: A Poetics of the Gothic. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1995. Print.
  • Wordsworth, William. “Preface.” Lyrical Ballads. By Wordsworth and Coleridge. Ed. R.L. Brett and A.R. Jones. 1963. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1978. 241-70. Print.
  • ---
  • ---

Document Type

Publication order reference

Identifiers

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.hdl_11089_8474
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.