The return of the repressed : gothic horror from the Castle of Otranto to Alien / Valdine Clemens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clemens, Valdine, 1948-

Series:

SUNY series in psychoanalysis and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Horror tales, English--History and criticism.

Horror tales, English.

Psychological fiction, English--History and criticism.

Psychological fiction, English.

Psychoanalysis and literature--England--History.

Psychoanalysis and literature.

Gothic revival (Literature)--Great Britain.

Gothic revival (Literature).

History.

Great Britain.

Gothic revival (Literature)--United States.

United States.

Horror films--History and criticism.

Horror films.

Psychoanalysis and motion pictures.

England.

Physical Description:

ix, 274 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [1999]

Summary:

Exploring the psychological and political implications of Gothic fiction, Valdine Clemens focuses on some major works in the tradition: The Castle of Otranto, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, The Shining, and Alien. She applies both psychoanalytic theory and sociohistorical contexts to offer a fresh approach to Gothic fiction, presenting new insight both about how such novels "work" and about their cultural concerns.

Clemens argues that by stimulating a sense of primordial fear in readers, Gothic horror dramatically calls attention to collective and attitudinal problems that have been unrecognized or repressed in the society at large. Gothic fiction does more, however, than simply reflect social anxieties; it actually facilitates social change. That is, in frightening us out of our collective "wits, ' Gothic fiction actually shocks us into using them in more viable ways.

Contents:

Introduction: What Gothic Nightmares Do 1

Chapter 1 Precedents for "Gothic" Fear: Medieval Life, Jacobean Drama, and Eighteenth-Century Attitudes 15

Chapter 2 Sexual Violence and Woman's Place: The Castle of Otranto 29

Chapter 3 Sentiment versus Horror: Generic Ambivalence in Female Gothic and Ann Radcliffe's: A Sicilian Romance 41

Chapter 4 Public Censorship and Personal Repression: The Monk 59

Chapter 5 The Industrial Demon: Frankenstein 89

Chapter 6 The Descent of Man and the Anxiety of Upward Mobility: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 123

Chapter 7 The Reptilian Brain at the Fin de Siecle: Dracula 153

Chapter 8 American Gothic: Historical and Psychological Critique in Stephen King's The Shining 185

Epilogue: Alien and the Future of Gothic 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-266) and index.

ISBN:

0791443272

0791443280

OCLC:

40433234