Abstract
Gothic fiction captivates adults probably because it always reminds them of childhood and the irrational and naïve responses to the invisible beings. In fact, fear initiated by terror intrinsic in ghost tales is not aimed to suppress desire, but turns to be an access for people to recognize their suppressed desires. Is Gothic fiction worth canonizing, deserving of the name of ¡§literature¡¨ when Gothic fiction tends to be associated with immature fear and desire, and for most people, it is particularly suited to the temporal possession for passing leisure and boring time, and then it is piled up even around the corner of the lavatory?
My dissertation, however, starts with these pejorative terms: primitiveness, childhood, fantasy, terror and disposable commodity. Truly, this kind of popular literature appeals to great numbers of people, influencing a large portion of the population in the world, but is not credited accordingly. My intention is to discover the valuable relic that Gothic fiction has left among the contemptuous debris that the moralists and scholars have thrown at it. The strategy I adopt is to represent the milieu where Gothic fiction rises and falls in a historical and cultural perspective. Abroad, the American and French Revolutions break out in tandem, which instigate heated debates over ¡¥revolution,¡¦ and ¡¥history¡¦ in Britain. And the Reign of Terror in the aftermath of the French Revolution shocks the English monarch and aristocracy. The military conflicts between Britain and France increase. Domestically, the Industrial Revolution brings great impact to English society, precipitating the rise of the bourgeoisie and working class. Coincidentally, this literature of terror becomes the allegory of cultural and political convulsions that rack this nation. And the English people, especially the rising class, find the expression of their anxieties and expectations in Gothic fiction. In addition to reconstructing the network of political, social, aesthetic strains that are integrated into Gothic fiction, I attempt to depict how power shifts, changing the relationships of different factions and ranks of English society when commerce gradually dominates in the activity of literature.
As is noted, Gothic fiction is conceived to be more than an innocent enchantment, or a palliative composed of nostalgia for childhood, or a consumable pastime. To indicate how Gothic fiction is rooted in the depth of English culture, I exemplify four English classics as well as bestsellers, and scrutinize them with the concept of ¡§spectralization¡¨ together with the theory of psychoanalysis. The four English Gothic novels I decided on are Ann Radcliffe¡¦s The Mysteries of Udolpho, Matthew Lewis¡¦s The Monk, Mary Shelley¡¦s Frankenstein, and Charles Maturin¡¦s Melmoth, the Wanderer. With the spectralization of women, sexuality, ambition, and life in individual works, I endeavor to make the latent truth manifest. Thus, the visible and invisible states of existence are juxtaposed. These motifs indeed pertain to the anxious restlessness, painful sense of insecurity, and the tantalization of suppressed desires, which confronts the middle and lower classes as English society is going through rapid vicissitudes at the turn of the nineteenth century.
Finally, I come to the conclusion that a common pattern of forming and suppressing of desire repeats itself in each novel as well as in the interactions of different participants in the establishment of the Gothic discourse. The suppression imposed on popular literature, such as thrillers and Gothic novels, in fact, originates from the bias that there are highbrow and lowbrow types of literature. And the critics, most of whom consider themselves arbiters of literary tastes and makers of literary canons, show contempt to the bestsellers in the book market. With my research, I expect to convince people that Gothic fiction can be defined as a literary asset, not a disposable forged relic. Writers and readers that favor popular literature do not have to apologize or feel ashamed for their devotion to it.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0819104-112025 |
| Date | 19 August 2004 |
| Creators | Chen, Suelien |
| Contributors | Yu-san Yu, Hsiao-yu Sun, Chiun-Hsiung Lai, Su-juen Yan, Rudolphus Teeuwen |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0819104-112025 |
| Rights | off_campus_withheld, Copyright information available at source archive |
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