Revisions and returns: the Gothic novel in the twenty-first century

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Smith, C, 2022. Revisions and returns: the Gothic novel in the twenty-first century. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This thesis is an investigation of the rise of the Anglophonic Gothic novel in the twenty-first century and the manner in which contemporary authors have revised the mode for a modern reader. Using a metamodern approach, this research examines how modern writers utilise the postmodern concepts of historical re-conceptualism and the historiographic metafictional novel, revising the Gothic novel for a contemporary reader.

This thesis explores six key motifs of Gothic literature: time and narrative, death, ancestry and inheritance, gender identity, religion, and queer representation. A particular focus is given to the illustration of identity in contemporary Gothic novels, both communal and individual, and applies a metamodern understanding to the idea as it represented in modern culture. Each concept is studied in detail with regards to a range of pertinent twenty-first-century Gothic novels, and this research demonstrates the evolution of these motifs from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Gothic works to the present day.

Current studies into contemporary Gothic have been aimed towards the genre’s incorporation into a variety of media – its appearance and use in film, television, fashion, and music to name a few areas – rather than a particular focus on literary studies. A range of texts from the last twenty years has been selected for analysis, varying from those that emulate a more traditional Gothic setting to those that experiment with genre hybridisation. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by focusing specifically on the Gothic novel in the twenty-first century.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Smith, C.
Date:	July 2022
Rights:	The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Arts and Humanities
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	28 Mar 2023 11:08
Last Modified:	28 Mar 2023 11:08
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/48643