Servants and the gothic, 1764-1831 : a half-told tale / Kathleen Hudson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hudson, Kathleen, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gothic fiction (Literary genre)--History and criticism.

Gothic fiction (Literary genre).

Household employees in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (254 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cardiff : University of Wales Press, 2019.

Summary:

This volume provides readers with a comprehensive literary and historical basis for understanding servant characters and servant narratives in the early Gothic mode. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, servants were 'othered' figures whose voices had the potential to undermine socio-political and personal identity. This study recasts servant characters within the early Gothic mode as 'narrators' who verbally or non-verbally perform dialogue, moral insights and folkloric or gossip-based stories. Examining the development of servant narrative within the early Gothic mode, Servants and the Gothic outlines the socio-historical and literary influences which defined the servant voice during the eighteenth century, as well as identifying and expanding upon the ways in which servant narratives contributed to each author's unique goals. It redefines servant narratives as a Gothic 'performance', a self-conscious self-examination of the ways in which a Gothic narrative impacts literary, social and personal identity.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781786833419

1786833417