Short description:

The Gothic World offers an overview of this popular field whilst also extending critical debate in exciting new directions such as film, politics, fashion, architecture, fine art and cyberculture.

Long description:

The Gothic World offers an overview of this popular field whilst also extending critical debate in exciting new directions such as film, politics, fashion, architecture, fine art and cyberculture. Structured around the principles of time, space and practice, and including a detailed general introduction, the five sections look at:

• Gothic Histories


• Gothic Spaces


• Gothic Readers and Writers


• Gothic Spectacle


• Contemporary Impulses.

The Gothic World seeks to account for the Gothic as a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional force, as a style, an aesthetic experience and a mode of cultural expression that traverses genres, forms, media, disciplines and national boundaries and creates, indeed, its own ?World?.

"As of now, this collection is the most inclusive, up-to-date scholarly work on the gothic, taking it beyond the literature. If one buys only one book on the subject, it should be this one. Summing Up: Essential." CHOICE, July 2014

"The list of contributors is a veritable Who?s Who in Gothic Scholarship. I have no doubt that this work will become the definitive standard by which all other books on the Gothic are measured. The pervasive scope, the erudite yet accessible prose, and the diverse viewpoints all add up to overall excellence. Highly recommended." G. Todd Davis, Chair and Associate Professor of English, Kentucky State University, US

"Edited by two of the foremost scholars in the field and containing a rich variety of essays by both established and emerging critics, The Gothic World offers multiple perspectives on Gothic from the eighteenth century to the present day. Interdisciplinary and international in scope, it is, from roots to new directions in different media, consistently illuminating. This splendid book will be indispensable for all students of the Gothic." Sue Zlosnik, Professor of Gothic Literature, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

"The Gothic World takes us on an impressive journey from the eighteenth century to the present day in which we encounter the Gothic in all its various guises from the novel to cyberspace and everything in between. The collection provides a comprehensive and intellectually stimulating overview of how we think about the Gothic and its international reach. It promises to have a long shelf life and is an essential text for anyone interested not only in the Gothic but in cultural history."Andrew Smith, University of Sheffield, UK, and co-president of the International Gothic Association

"This unique volume edited by leading scholars Glennis Byron and Dale Townshend is a wonderfully eclectic and indispensable resource for students (undergraduate and graduate) taking a course in Gothic literature, or for scholars whose area is the Gothic. Employing Bakhtin?s definition of the Gothic chronotype, the editors and contributors to this volume are able to address changing meanings of the global Gothic across three centuries. The sense of Gothic boundarylessness is liberating and compelling. The "Gothic World" envisioned here spans various times, nations, audiences, disciplines, and genres and makes fascinating connections between Gothic as a literary mode and as a cultural phenomenon. Even the layperson will embrace the discussions of how Gothic has permeated history, art, architecture, politics, psychology, cyberspace, tourism, and cinema. The overview of the changing nature of Gothic readership and various reception theories is useful in showing the ongoing appeal of the Gothic mode and genre. A brilliant collection of essays by both established and up-and-coming scholars of the Gothic." Monika Elbert, Professor of English, Montclair State University, US

"As Byron and Townshend superbly demonstrate, the Gothic is an ever-expanding universe going well beyond the multi-disciplinary to encompass the multi-dimensional. The contributions of over 40 experts are the coordinates which bring to light the twilight Gothic worlds we all inhabit. From literature, film, history, fashion, life-style, cyberculture and beyond, this is a book which will continue to advance Gothic Studies as a global phenomenon for many years to come." Marie Mulvey-Roberts, Associate Professor in English Literature, University of the West of England, UK

Table of Contents:

General Introduction,  Glennis Byron and Dale Townshend  Part 1. Gothic Histories  1. The Politics of Gothic Historiography, 1670-1800, Sean Silver  2. Gothic Antiquarianism in the Eighteenth Century, Rosemary Sweet  3. Gothic and the New American Republic, 1770-1800, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock  4. Gothic and the Celtic Fringe, 1750-1850, James Kelly  5. British Gothic Nationhood, 1760-1830, Justin D. Edwards  6. Gothic Colonies, 1850-1920, Roger Luckhurst  7. History, Trauma and the Gothic in contemporary Western culture, Jerrold E. Hogle  Part 2. Gothic Spaces  8. Gothic and the architectural Imagination, 1740-1840, Nicole Reynolds  9. Gothic Geography, 1760-1830, Benjamin A. Brabon  10. Gothic and the Victorian Home, Tamara Wagner  11. American Gothic and the environment, 1800-present, Matthew Wynn Sivils  12. Gothic Cities and Suburbs, 1880-present, Sara Wasson  13. Gothic in cyberspace, Bryan Alexander  Part 3. Gothic Readers and Writers  14. Gothic and the publishing world, 1780-1820, Anthony Mandal  15. Gothic and the history of reading, 1764-1830, Katie Halsey  16. Gothic Adaptation, 1764-1830, Diane Long Hoeveler  17. Gothic romance, 1760-1830, Sue Chaplin  18. Gothic poetry, 1700-1900, David Punter  19. Gothic translation: France, 1760-1830, Angela Wright  20. Gothic translation: Germany, 1760-1830, Barry Murnane  21.Gothic and the child reader I: 1764-1850, M.O. Grenby  22. Gothic and the child reader II: 1850-present, Chloe Buckley  23. Gothic sensations, 1850-1880, Franz J. Potter  24. Young Adults and the contemporary Gothic, Hannah Priest  25. The earliest parodies of Gothic literature, Douglass H. Thomson  26. Figuring the author in modern Gothic writing, Neil McRobert  27. Gothic and question of theory, 1900-Present, Scott Brewster  Part 4. Gothic Spectacle  28. Gothic and eighteenth-century visual art, Martin Myrone  29. Gothic visuality in the nineteenth century, Elizabeth McCarthy  30. Gothic theatre, 1765-present, Diego Saglia  31. Ghosts, monsters and spirits, 1840-1900, Alexandra Warwick  32.  Gothic horror film from The Haunted Castle (1896) to Psycho (1960), James Morgart  33. Gothic horror film, 1960-present, Xavier Aldana Reyes  34. Southeast Asian Gothic cinema, Collete Balmain  35. Defining a Gothic aesthetic in modern and contemporary visual art, Gilda Williams  5. Contemporary Impulses  36. Sonic Gothic, Isabella van Elferen  37. Gothic  lifestyle, Catherine Spooner  38. Gothic and survival horror videogames, Ewan Kirkland  39. Rewriting the canon in contemporary Gothic, Joanne Watkiss  40. Gothic tourism, Emma McEvoy  41. Gothic on the small screen, Brigid Cherry  42. Post-millenial mosters: monstrosity-no-more, Fred Botting  Index