American Gothic Culture: An Edinburgh Companion
Jason Haslam and Joel Faflak
Abstract
This Companion surveys the traditions and conventions of the dark side of American culture - its repressed memories, its anxieties and panics, its fears and horrors, its obsessions and paranoias. Featuring new critical essays by established and emerging academics from a range of national backgrounds, this collection offers new discussions and analyses of canonical and lesser-known literary and other works. Its scope ranges from the earliest manifestations of American Gothic traditions in frontier narratives and colonial myths, to its recent responses to contemporary global events. Moving from ... More
This Companion surveys the traditions and conventions of the dark side of American culture - its repressed memories, its anxieties and panics, its fears and horrors, its obsessions and paranoias. Featuring new critical essays by established and emerging academics from a range of national backgrounds, this collection offers new discussions and analyses of canonical and lesser-known literary and other works. Its scope ranges from the earliest manifestations of American Gothic traditions in frontier narratives and colonial myths, to its recent responses to contemporary global events. Moving from analyses of eighteenth-century literature to twenty-first century video games, and touching upon visual art, film, and television, serial killers, monsters, education and cityscapes, this Companion aims to demonstrate the centrality of the gothic to American culture writ large through four key sections: Gothic Histories, Gothic Identities; Gothic Genres, Gothic Sites; Gothic Media; and American Creatures.
Keywords:
Gothic,
American Studies,
Gothic literature,
Gothic film,
Gothic television,
Gothic art,
Video games
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781474401616 |
| Published to Edinburgh Scholarship Online: September 2018 |
DOI:10.3366/edinburgh/9781474401616.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Jason Haslam, editor
Dalhousie University
Joel Faflak, author
University of Western Ontario
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