Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Gothic
- The Cambridge History of the Gothic
- The Cambridge History of the Gothic
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: A History of Gothic Studies in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 3.1 Gothic and Silent Cinema
- 3.2 Gothic, the Great War and the Rise of Modernism, 1910‒1936
- 3.3 Gothic and the American South, 1919‒1962
- 3.4 Hollywood Gothic, 1930–1960
- 3.5 Gothic and War, 1930‒1991
- 3.6 Gothic and the Postcolonial Moment
- 3.7 Gothic and the Heritage Movement in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 3.8 Gothic Enchantment: The Magical Strain in Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century Anglo-American Gothic
- 3.9 Psychoanalysis and the American Popular Gothic, 1954–1980
- 3.10 Gothic and the Counterculture, 1958‒Present
- 3.11 Gothic Television
- 3.12 Gothic and the Rise of Feminism
- 3.13 Gothic, AIDS and Sexuality, 1981–Present
- 3.14 The Gothic in the Age of Neo-Liberalism, 1990‒Present
- 3.15 The Gothic and Remix Culture
- 3.16 Postdigital Gothic
- 3.17 Gothic Multiculturalism
- 3.18 Gothic, Neo-Imperialism and the War on Terror
- 3.19 Global Gothic 1: Islamic Gothic
- 3.20 Global Gothic 2: East Asian Gothic
- 3.21 Global Gothic 3: Gothic in Modern Scandinavia
- 3.22 Gothic in an Age of Environmental Crisis
- 3.23 Gothic and the Apocalyptic Imagination
- Select Bibliography and Filmography
- Index
3.5 - Gothic and War, 1930‒1991
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2021
- The Cambridge History of the Gothic
- The Cambridge History of the Gothic
- The Cambridge History of the Gothic
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: A History of Gothic Studies in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 3.1 Gothic and Silent Cinema
- 3.2 Gothic, the Great War and the Rise of Modernism, 1910‒1936
- 3.3 Gothic and the American South, 1919‒1962
- 3.4 Hollywood Gothic, 1930–1960
- 3.5 Gothic and War, 1930‒1991
- 3.6 Gothic and the Postcolonial Moment
- 3.7 Gothic and the Heritage Movement in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 3.8 Gothic Enchantment: The Magical Strain in Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century Anglo-American Gothic
- 3.9 Psychoanalysis and the American Popular Gothic, 1954–1980
- 3.10 Gothic and the Counterculture, 1958‒Present
- 3.11 Gothic Television
- 3.12 Gothic and the Rise of Feminism
- 3.13 Gothic, AIDS and Sexuality, 1981–Present
- 3.14 The Gothic in the Age of Neo-Liberalism, 1990‒Present
- 3.15 The Gothic and Remix Culture
- 3.16 Postdigital Gothic
- 3.17 Gothic Multiculturalism
- 3.18 Gothic, Neo-Imperialism and the War on Terror
- 3.19 Global Gothic 1: Islamic Gothic
- 3.20 Global Gothic 2: East Asian Gothic
- 3.21 Global Gothic 3: Gothic in Modern Scandinavia
- 3.22 Gothic in an Age of Environmental Crisis
- 3.23 Gothic and the Apocalyptic Imagination
- Select Bibliography and Filmography
- Index
Summary
The period from 1930 to 1990 saw an extraordinary development in the use of Gothic and horror to tell narratives about war and combat, mainly for two main purposes: first, to reveal and accentuate the horrific damage caused to bodies by combat, usually in order to denounce and demystify war; and second, figuratively to depict the less visible ways in which combat and war violence affect soldiers and civilians on a psychological level, especially through fear and trauma. A third form of War Gothic involves the dehumanisation of enemies by portraying them as monsters. All three forms are concerned with the ways in which war robs humans of their humanity, though the first two are largely critical of war while the third is basically a form of militaristic jingoism. This chapter focuses on a selection of texts from the first Hollywood zombie film, White Zombie (1932), to Jacob’s Ladder (1990), focusing especially on the Second World War and its veterans, and the literature and cinema of the Vietnam War. It ends with a brief discussion of War Gothic in the film and video game representations of the First Gulf War.
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- The Cambridge History of the GothicVolume 3: Gothic in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries, pp. 99 - 117Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021