(This is called defamiliarisation, another storytelling technique much used in Gothic genres, as well as in many other types of story.) Both draw their power from the combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar, or the familiar which has been distorted. In some ways, the grotesque is similar to the uncanny. The aim of the grotesque: to elicit empathy and disgust at the same time. The grotesque in literature focuses on the human body, and all the ways that the body can be distorted or exaggerated. Very strange or ugly in a way that is not normal or natural When contemporary commentators talk about “the grotesque,” their meaning is usually closer to its adjectival form: SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘GOTHIC’ AND ‘GROTESQUE’? But it took until the late 1790s for “Gothic” to take on some of the meanings we most frequently associate with it today: Gothic as synonym for grotesque, ghastly and violently superhuman. Three years after Hitchcock’s Psycho came out, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, which is also about a feminine transition, from ‘mystique’ to genuine empowerment.Įnglish author Horace Walpole is thought to have kicked the gothic genre off, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled (in its second edition) “A Gothic Story.” This story originated in England in the second half of the 18th century. Psycho is considered a turning point - the transition ‘from the family or marital comedy of the 1950s to the family horror film’ (Robin Wood, 1986).
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This applies to contemporary Gothic horror as much as to classic Gothic horror. That may sound strange, but Gothic horror relies on feminine monsters: murderous nannies who infiltrate the home, women who are monsters, houses which are feminised, women’s pregnant bodies compared to a house, you name it. The Gothic is often supposed to have emerged as a reaction against neoclassical notions of taste and propriety. Gothic stories can have any function from upholding conservative values to subverting them. If gothic novels do not need to “look” gothic – if they do not need the ‘trappings’ (as they are often called) of castles, ghosts, corrupt clergy, and so on – then what exactly defines the genre? Donna Heiland (Why not just call it horror? What special sauce makes it also “Gothic”?) There are even arguments about whether “horror” should be considered a necessary part of it, or whether horror is enough to call something “Gothic”. See also: What’s behind the wide appeal of all the horrible, brooding YA boyfriends?īear in mind, no one has yet produced a satisfying definition of Gothic which is widely agreed upon. Sometimes, paradoxically, a gothic chiller can be frightening and reassuring at the same time–perhaps it has something to do with striking that perfect balance between physical comfort and mental unease.
#GOTHIC LITERATURE DEFINITION SKIN#
When gothic is the skin of horror, it’s called “gothic horror” and so on. Dark paranormal romance is the new gothic romance and is a popular genre in young adult literature. When romance is the main focus it’s called gothic romance. A country house by moonlight by Wilfred Jenkins (UK, 1857-1936) The victim of these schemes is normally an innocent and helpless female character. In some instances, supernatural phenomena such as vampires and werewolves are later explained in perfectly natural terms, but in other works they remain completely inexplicable. Characters generally get caught up in paranormal schemes. Gothic horror is also known as gothic fiction. Where does one genre end and the gothic element begin? “Gothic” is more like a skin layered upon other genres, most often: horror, romance, science fiction and fantasy.
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Each new literary period adds is own spin. This is a type of story in constant flux. The Gothic is notoriously difficult to define.