The exploration and transgression of boundaries appear to be some of the most peculiar characteristics of the Gothic. Gothic fiction is, by definition, a “writing of excess” (Botting 1996: 1), i.e. a genre that is thoroughly concerned with the demarcation and subsequent trespassing of borders of several kinds. Binary oppositions in Gothic stories are initially reinforced just to be opportunely blurred at the right moment. In these narrations, the threshold between two oppositional pairs is a precarious space, real or imaginary: it does not suggest stability in the traditional hierarchical structures but rather a kind of troubling uncertainty, anxiety, and fear of contamination.
At the same time, Gothic is also about Alterity: Tabish Khair has famously defined the genre as “writing of Otherness” (2009: 5), observing that “it is when the Other enters – as Satan, demon, orphan, the outsider, vampire, ghost, non-Christian gods, sexually dangerous women, racially different characters etc. – that the action of most Gothic narratives really commences” (ibid.: 6). Alterity, therefore, becomes the fulcrum, the central point that starts the Gothic action; when the Other appears, the stability of the margins gets questioned, and clear categories blur. Departing from this understanding of the Gothic, this class will analyze a corpus of texts from the English and Anglophone worlds, spanning from the early twentieth century to the present day, to explore how the concept of the Gothic has evolved over time. It will focus on examining the figure of the Other as a fluid category, shaped by specific cultural influences.
The main objective of this course is to develop and enhance students' oral and written academic skills. Students will learn how to perform close readings of textual and audio-visual materials and effectively utilise secondary sources in their analysis. Moreover, they will receive guidance on creating a well-structured term paper, emphasising both thematic and formal aspects of the development process.
The primary teaching methods employed in this class will involve both plenary and group discussions. Therefore, students need to read the course materials (both primary and secondary sources), attend classes regularly, and actively participate in our meetings.
As the initial sessions of the course will be devoted to establishing a framework of reference for the topic, the course is particularly suited for beginners and students approaching gothic for the first time. The required readings for the semester, which students must acquire independently, may be in any edition, whether new or second-hand, in print or digital format:
- Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca (1938)
- William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954)
- Helen Oyeyemi, White is for Witching (2009)
- Trainer/in: Gianluca Calio