While the political undercurrent of the American Gothic has been firmly established, few scholars have surveyed the genre's ambivalent relationship to democracy. The American Gothic routinely undercuts centralised authority by exposing the dark underbelly of the status quo; at the same time, the American Gothic tends to reflect a widespread mistrust of the masses. American readers are too afraid of democracy - and not yet fearful enough. This concise Element theorises the democratic and anti-democratic elements of the American Gothic by surveying the conflicted imaginaries of the genre's mainstays, including Charles Brockden Brown, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Stephen King.
ISBN: | 9781009539111 |
Publication date: | 3rd October 2024 |
Author: | Michael J Blouin |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Format: | Hardback |
Pagination: | 75 pages |
Series: | Elements in the Gothic |
Genres: |
Political structures: democracy Classic horror and ghost stories Social groups, communities and identities Comparative politics |