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Subverting the Gothic : a study of Isak Dinesen

Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales is part of a literary tradition whose most important feature is its subversiveness. This subversion involves supernatural or fantastic elements in the creation of a temporary alternative world. The ensuing struggle between the real and the fantastic worlds is often embodied by a bourgeois heroine and an aristocratic male villain, respectively. The role of the heroine is pivotal to the plot for it is her survival that signals the defeat of a subversive alternative world. But what happens when the villain is a woman? Can her subversion be feminist in nature? The popularity and financial success of women writers of the Gothic means they could not have contradicted dominant views of gender. Yet, Dinesen's fiction demonstrates that subversion is indeed possible. A look at her life and her nonfiction works will facilitate an investigation into the subversive nature of her Gothic tales.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.60601
Date January 1991
CreatorsCossaro-Price, Rossana
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Comparative Literature Program.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001257071, proquestno: AAIMM72205, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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