MONDE D'INTERACTION FEMME GOTHIQUE

THE WORLD OF IMAGINATION

THE GOTHIC GENRE

1st document: Extract of the novel« Dracula », by Bram Stoker, 1897

2nd document: Short-story « The Werewolf », Angela Carter, 1979

3rd document: Novel « The Shining » by Stephen King, 1977

I am going to talk about the notion of the world of imagination, and especially about the Gothic genre in the English literature. Imagination can be defined by the faculty of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.

Originally, the word "gothic" describes a style of European architecture between the 12th and 16th century, but the Gothic literature is characterized by elements of fear, horror, madness and dark; it's a genre which combines fiction, horror and Romanticism, and drawing on myths and folklore, it produces emotional effects and excites its readers rather than informing. In a very strict society such as the 19th century British society, writing Gothic stories was a way to reassert values (that’s why Gothic is typically British). But the main features of the Gothic genre have inspired a lot of writers, starting from the precursors of the genre to the contemporary writers, so my problem will be:

How the forerunners authors of the Gothic literature have inspired the current authors and their works?

To illustrate this question, I will use three literary documents; my first is an extract of the novel « Dracula » by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. The excerpt is situated at the beginning of the novel, and it’s an entry of Harker’s diary, where he describes his meeting with Dracula. From the opening scene, we can notice that Stoker was a pioneer of the genre, because he uses the characteristics of the typical Gothic novel: the scene is set in a remote place in the mountains, in a old castle at night. More than that, we are made to share Harker’s perceptions, by hearing a frightening loud noise, noticing the absence of color in the setting and the way the Count is dressed: the atmosphere is obviously weird. Indeed, this novel contains some ingredients to create a memorable novel in the Gothic tradition, thus contributing to inspire further authors, such as Angela Carter.

My second document is a short-story by the English novelist Angela Carter, which is titled « The Werewolf » taken from the collection of short fictions « The Bloody Chamber », and which is a rewriting of the tale « The Little Red Riding Hood ». This short-story got the typical gothic features, by the setting of the plot, in a remote and inhospitable place in a Northern country or with the presence of supernatural elements (witches and Devil are mentioned) and superstition. We can observe that Carter says that we may not be different from these Northern people, because we judge them but we can be cruel and cold-hearted like them. She gives us a moral, which is another characteristic of Gothic novels : the fact that they appeal to emotions and not to reason, but she plays on ambivalence.

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