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Gothic: An Illustrated History
Gothic: An Illustrated History
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691229164/gothic
The word Gothic conjures associations with the dark and melancholy, the weird and feared, and haunted places and people. In Gothic, Roger Luckhurst offers readers an unprecedented look at the ways this uncanny style has manifested itself through architecture, literature, film, art, video games, and more. From the works of Victor Hugo and E. T. A. Hoffmann to Southern Gothic, ancient folklore, and classic horror movies, Luckhurst explores how an aesthetic that began in the margins has been reinvented through the centuries to become part of mainstream global culture.
Despite being published by Princeton, this isn't an academic book, and the person who wrote it isn't a professor. All in all, it's excellent, with lots of photos and illustrations. The physical copy is very handsome and definitely worth getting at a $15 discount on Amazon.
There are a few missteps:
(1) The author conflates "gothic" with a more general sense of "horror." I don't actually mind this tbh.
(2) The author gets a lot of concrete details wrong about Japanese horror. But at least he tries!
(3) The author is British.
About that last bit, the author being British is most apparent in the section called "The Compass of Horror," which is divided into chapters titled after the four points of the compass. So when the author talks about "East" and "West," it's like, east and west of what, precisely? Also, he does things like including a discussion of "yellow peril" in the same "East" chapter as a discussion of J-horror, and I think those two things should be two separate discussions!
Another aspect of the author's Britishness is that he hardcore shies away from talking about Germany. Given that you can't really explain where the concept of "Gothic" comes from without talking about Germany, the author's rhetorical maneuvering is highly amusing. Also, South Asia gets literally one paragraph in the entire book, while the author is obsessed with a fantasy of the American South. It's kind of cute, in its own way.
I'm critiquing this book because there's something wrong with me and I can't help it, but the author is so engaged and sincere that I was never actually frustrated with the writing. Mostly I was impressed with the art and photography and formatting, as well as how skillfully the author is able to weave together different threads into a broader thematic tapestry. The chapter on labyrinths is especially well-written, and also the author talks about Dark Souls. Which I always appreciate!
I took three things away from this book.
First, lots of movie recommendations! I don't really watch movies anymore, but it's fun to pretend like maybe I will one day.
Second, a motivation to create a more precise definition of "Gothic," which means something very specific to me. Like, if someone isn't trapped in a house, and if that house doesn't represent some sort of societal oppression, then it isn't Gothic.
Third, a question: Is the author just being British, or do people really not know about all the fantastic Gothic horror fiction written in English by South Asian writers? It's so fucking good, just really like, everything you want from Gothic horror: Ruins covered in plants! Family secrets! Shape-shifting dangerous men! Elegant and evil older women! Sanity sacrificed in the pursuit of knowledge!
I wonder if maybe an annotated list of South Asian Gothic horror fiction is something I should make into a larger project, but I'm not sure what form that would take. I also wonder if perhaps I should undertake this project anonymously, as there might be a danger of being perceived as "a white lady obsessed with the dark and mysterious Orient" (when really I'm just obsessed with the "dark and mysterious" regardless of where it comes from because I'm an irredeemable nerd). Or perhaps I shouldn't think too hard about it lmao.
Anyway, to conclude. As much as I enjoy making fun of England, I don't actually dislike the country. Also, as an American, I understand the irony of mocking a British person for not talking about Germany. There are a lot of cultural politics involved in what constitutes "the Gothic," but honestly, I think that's part of what makes it so interesting.
By the way, when I ordered a copy of Gothic: An Illustrated History, Amazon told me that I might also enjoy the recently published Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology. And damn if the algorithm wasn't 100% correct.
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691229164/gothic
The word Gothic conjures associations with the dark and melancholy, the weird and feared, and haunted places and people. In Gothic, Roger Luckhurst offers readers an unprecedented look at the ways this uncanny style has manifested itself through architecture, literature, film, art, video games, and more. From the works of Victor Hugo and E. T. A. Hoffmann to Southern Gothic, ancient folklore, and classic horror movies, Luckhurst explores how an aesthetic that began in the margins has been reinvented through the centuries to become part of mainstream global culture.
Despite being published by Princeton, this isn't an academic book, and the person who wrote it isn't a professor. All in all, it's excellent, with lots of photos and illustrations. The physical copy is very handsome and definitely worth getting at a $15 discount on Amazon.
There are a few missteps:
(1) The author conflates "gothic" with a more general sense of "horror." I don't actually mind this tbh.
(2) The author gets a lot of concrete details wrong about Japanese horror. But at least he tries!
(3) The author is British.
About that last bit, the author being British is most apparent in the section called "The Compass of Horror," which is divided into chapters titled after the four points of the compass. So when the author talks about "East" and "West," it's like, east and west of what, precisely? Also, he does things like including a discussion of "yellow peril" in the same "East" chapter as a discussion of J-horror, and I think those two things should be two separate discussions!
Another aspect of the author's Britishness is that he hardcore shies away from talking about Germany. Given that you can't really explain where the concept of "Gothic" comes from without talking about Germany, the author's rhetorical maneuvering is highly amusing. Also, South Asia gets literally one paragraph in the entire book, while the author is obsessed with a fantasy of the American South. It's kind of cute, in its own way.
I'm critiquing this book because there's something wrong with me and I can't help it, but the author is so engaged and sincere that I was never actually frustrated with the writing. Mostly I was impressed with the art and photography and formatting, as well as how skillfully the author is able to weave together different threads into a broader thematic tapestry. The chapter on labyrinths is especially well-written, and also the author talks about Dark Souls. Which I always appreciate!
I took three things away from this book.
First, lots of movie recommendations! I don't really watch movies anymore, but it's fun to pretend like maybe I will one day.
Second, a motivation to create a more precise definition of "Gothic," which means something very specific to me. Like, if someone isn't trapped in a house, and if that house doesn't represent some sort of societal oppression, then it isn't Gothic.
Third, a question: Is the author just being British, or do people really not know about all the fantastic Gothic horror fiction written in English by South Asian writers? It's so fucking good, just really like, everything you want from Gothic horror: Ruins covered in plants! Family secrets! Shape-shifting dangerous men! Elegant and evil older women! Sanity sacrificed in the pursuit of knowledge!
I wonder if maybe an annotated list of South Asian Gothic horror fiction is something I should make into a larger project, but I'm not sure what form that would take. I also wonder if perhaps I should undertake this project anonymously, as there might be a danger of being perceived as "a white lady obsessed with the dark and mysterious Orient" (when really I'm just obsessed with the "dark and mysterious" regardless of where it comes from because I'm an irredeemable nerd). Or perhaps I shouldn't think too hard about it lmao.
Anyway, to conclude. As much as I enjoy making fun of England, I don't actually dislike the country. Also, as an American, I understand the irony of mocking a British person for not talking about Germany. There are a lot of cultural politics involved in what constitutes "the Gothic," but honestly, I think that's part of what makes it so interesting.
By the way, when I ordered a copy of Gothic: An Illustrated History, Amazon told me that I might also enjoy the recently published Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology. And damn if the algorithm wasn't 100% correct.
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There are so many variations of Gothic just in America (Southern being not Midwestern being not Appalachian), it's not surprising that a book would gloss some aspects, but also I can't help raising my eyebrows at some of the elisions.