Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T15:56:38.223Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Gothic Circulations

from Part I - Romantic Genealogies (1750–1790)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2024

Patrick Vincent
Affiliation:
Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Get access

Summary

Chapter Five focusses on another popular literary discourse, the Gothic, which emerged in the middle of the century and has sometimes been seen as a negative form of the sublime. Wright argues that it fuses various national and generic sources, troubling cultural boundaries and playing an important role in the development of Romantic literature despite its ‘terroristic’ association. Originating in European romance, the literary Gothic circulated around the continent via translations and free adaptations, making it difficult to identify specific sources. Walpole’s Castle of Otranto and Beckford’s Vathek, for example, rely on a combination of often unattributed British and French texts, whereas Ann Radcliffe’s European reception shows the permeability of cultural boundaries and reveals a community of tastes bridging the Channel. Wright then discusses French and especially German Gothic works, which became increasingly popular during the French Revolution, including The Book of Spectres, which indirectly influenced the age’s best-known Gothic romance, Frankenstein. As the author shows, the Gothic fostered communities of readers that transcended national borders, escaping the nationalist labels reviewers had attributed as a way of dismissing the genre, and making it truly cosmopolitan despite its local differences.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Gothic Circulations
  • Edited by Patrick Vincent, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: The Cambridge History of European Romantic Literature
  • Online publication: 10 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108683906.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Gothic Circulations
  • Edited by Patrick Vincent, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: The Cambridge History of European Romantic Literature
  • Online publication: 10 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108683906.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Gothic Circulations
  • Edited by Patrick Vincent, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: The Cambridge History of European Romantic Literature
  • Online publication: 10 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108683906.006
Available formats
×