The Fantastic and European Gothic
History, Literature and the French Revolution
By (author) Matthew Gibson
Publication date:
28 February 2013Length of book:
272 pagesPublisher
University of Wales PressDimensions:
216x138mmISBN-13: 9780708325728
This book examines the rise of Fantastic literature on the continent in the nineteenth century, the development of a European Gothic and the influence which this exerted on British writers. By examining writers like Nodier, Hoffmann, Gautier, Feval and Stevenson, the book argues firstly how their writings subvert entirely the view of the Fantastic accepted by Todorov, Punter and others, to show that it is the reversal of a pre-Enlightenment, spiritual world-view which causes terror in these works, and further demonstrates that Gothic novels frequently use allusion and anachronism to portray a cyclical view of history opposed to that of Scott.