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Alan Moore and the Gothic tradition
The first book-length study to address Moore’s significance to the Gothic, this volume is also the first to provide in-depth analyses of his spoken-word performances, poetry and prose, as well as his comics and graphic novels.
The essays collected here identify the Gothic tradition as perhaps the most significant cultural context for understanding Moore’s work, providing unique insight into its wider social and political dimensions as well as addressing key theoretical issues in Gothic Studies, Comics Studies and Adaptation Studies.
Scholars, students and general readers alike will find fresh insights into Moore’s use of horror and terror, homage and parody, plus allusion and adaptation. The international list of contributors includes leading researchers in the field and the studies presented here enhance the understanding of Moore’s works while at the same time exploring the ways in which these serve to advance a broader appreciation of Gothic aesthetics.
The essays collected here identify the Gothic tradition as perhaps the most significant cultural context for understanding Moore’s work, providing unique insight into its wider social and political dimensions as well as addressing key theoretical issues in Gothic Studies, Comics Studies and Adaptation Studies.
Scholars, students and general readers alike will find fresh insights into Moore’s use of horror and terror, homage and parody, plus allusion and adaptation. The international list of contributors includes leading researchers in the field and the studies presented here enhance the understanding of Moore’s works while at the same time exploring the ways in which these serve to advance a broader appreciation of Gothic aesthetics.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2013
About the author
Matthew J.A. Green
3 booksDr. Matthew J.A. Green is an Associate Professor in English Literature at the University of Nottingham, England.
Dr Green holds a PhD from the University of Leeds and a BA from the University of British Columbia.
His overarching interests concern cultural inheritance and the place of literature and art within the wider community. Dr Green passionately believes that literature and related arts make considerable contributions to communities and he is especially interested in the ways in which the works and ideas of the past not only underpin much of what people do and think, but also can yield fresh insight regarding contemporary issues. His research considers the intersection of literature, art and critical theory from the eighteenth century through to the present day, with a particular emphasis on the works of William Blake and those artists, writers and theorists who have engaged with his work. He also has related interests in Gothic literature and media, as well as in the poetry of Lord Byron, particularly with regard to the intersection of politics and terror in his work.
Dr Green holds a PhD from the University of Leeds and a BA from the University of British Columbia.
His overarching interests concern cultural inheritance and the place of literature and art within the wider community. Dr Green passionately believes that literature and related arts make considerable contributions to communities and he is especially interested in the ways in which the works and ideas of the past not only underpin much of what people do and think, but also can yield fresh insight regarding contemporary issues. His research considers the intersection of literature, art and critical theory from the eighteenth century through to the present day, with a particular emphasis on the works of William Blake and those artists, writers and theorists who have engaged with his work. He also has related interests in Gothic literature and media, as well as in the poetry of Lord Byron, particularly with regard to the intersection of politics and terror in his work.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 21, 2013
First of all I must admit that modern literary criticism (unless they are books about historical Chinese literature) are my least favourite kind of academic books. I find their style awkward, their vocabulary annoying and that they often entirely miss the point. So I am not the intended audience of this book. Alan Moore is probably my favourite living author though and when I heard that an academic selection of essays had been written about his work I really wanted to read it.
I was interested to see the "gothic" side of this book. 18th, 19th and early 20th century Gothic fiction is one of my favourite genres. I love the richness of the language, the supernatural elements to the story and (in some cases) the women heroines and villains who are allowed a bigger life than they would get in the normal world. That said the authors in the is collection, while often talking about the same stories I had read, seemed to have a very different idea of what the "gothic" meant to them. Some I felt were really pushing the definition a bit too far. Needless to say some of these essays I liked better than others.
Soap opera of the paranormal by Ton Venezia looked at the Bojeffries Saga which was one of the few stories discussed I hadn't read and because of that I enjoyed it as I had no preconceived ideas about what I thought the story was about. The idea of an English Adams Family/Munsters idea, while comedy seemed to fit into the gothic theme quite well.
The next article a gothic politics looked at Swamp thing as part of the American gothic movement and how it brought ecology into play. I also enjoyed this article and thought it was one of the strongest in the collection.
Is that you our Jack? by Jochen Ecke looked at "doppelgangers" in from hell and swamp thing. But started by looking at Carmilla and the idea that Carmilla was just Laura's doppleganger. His arguments for that just made me really angry and annoyed. In a heterosexual relationship has anyone dismissed it as simply a double? It seemed to be totally against everything that I loved about Carmilla so I didn't bother reading what he thought about Alan Moore.
Nothing ever ends by Christian Schneider looked at the Apocalypse in Watchmen. I'm not really sure that "apocalypse" is a very gothic topic. It's kind of it's own thing. Mary Shelly wrote the Last man but I was failing to come up with any other examples. While the fear of the apocalypse was interesting it seemed that Christian kind of missed the point of the end of the book. Where I interpreted that Dr Manhattan DID in fact bring it about. But that it was a good thing and the only thing that would have the potential to save mankind. I think a more interesting piece of work would have been to compare the way it played out in Watchman with the happy hippie glorious apocalypse in Promethea. Unfortunately Promethea was something most of the authors in this collection seemed afraid to mention as more than a passing line or two.
Gothic liminality in V for Vendetta by Markus Oppolzer was another essay which I felt really missed the point of the end of the story. In this case he saw V (always as the male not as the androgynous) as the torturing man who victimised Evey into an exact replica of himself. Rather than giving Evey the strength to become her own person and as a more balanced person being able to take and create in the new world whereas V as the anarchist was only able to break everything down and give the chance for rebirth. But I did agree, yes there was quite a lot of liminality in the story.
Sleep of reason, by Michael Bradshaw looked at Swamp thing again. I pretty much agreed with everything he said but I must admit I didn't find it terribly insightful. Yes there are lots of american gothic elements in Swamp Thing. That was kind of the point.
Madness and the city by Monica Germand was another essay I felt missed the point. Here any sort of magic or occult significance to the story was reduced to "madness" Gull wasn't having visions of the future and pulling himself out of time. He was just going mad. I thought this was a very narrow interpretation that mostly defeated the ideas that From Hell was trying to be about. I don't think he was hallucinating from madness but having genuine visions of the future.
I fashioned a prison by Brad Ricca looked at the Castle of Otranto (not one of my favourite stories) and the Man who had everything (which I've no read) so I am sorry to say I skipped this.
Radical coterie by Clare Sheridan looked at Frankenstein and the Watchmen.
Reincarnating Mina Murray by Laura Hilton had the potential to be really good. Laura looked at the contrasts between Mina in Bram Stoker's dracula and the league comics and the film. Unfortunately she stopped after the first two books. I think the majority of Mina's character development came after this. Her ability to handle immortality is one of the central themes of the last few league books and I thought it was a huge shame that her whole journey as a character was ignored. I would have liked to have seen the discussion continue all the way into century.
These our not our promised resurrections by Christopher Murray, was another one where the magic was dismissed as madness. Rather than seeing the end of a victory of a true self reasserting itself. He saw it as a monster taking over control of the protagonist. Though we both agreed it was one of Alan's best books.
Julia Round looked at Voice of the fire. Voice of the fire is my favourite book of all time. So I was quite biased reading this essay. Mostly I agreed with what she said though.
The last essay A darker magic by Matthew Green looked at Alan's treatment of H P Lovecraft stories. However, he totally ignored What HO gods of the abyss and only considered Alan's serious treatment which I felt gave a bit of a biased view of how Alan has gone about representing Lovecraft in different ways. It gave kind of a false impression that it was all very serious. When it's not and I think all sides need to be considered. Not just a selection.
Despite their interest in the Gothic the people reviewing the books on the whole seemed unable to accept the idea of magic actually existing in the works being discussed. People were "mad" rather than experiencing true visions. It's a shame that this book was published on the "gothic" rather than the occult. Then instead of people looking at Alan's older more mainstream works a proper study could be done looking at the use of magic and the occult in his work. Which I think would be much more interesting and insightful.
That said I am grateful that this book exists and that I had a chance to read it. I think people interested in modern gothic literature discussions would find it really interesting. But perhaps not so much for Alan Moore fans.
I was interested to see the "gothic" side of this book. 18th, 19th and early 20th century Gothic fiction is one of my favourite genres. I love the richness of the language, the supernatural elements to the story and (in some cases) the women heroines and villains who are allowed a bigger life than they would get in the normal world. That said the authors in the is collection, while often talking about the same stories I had read, seemed to have a very different idea of what the "gothic" meant to them. Some I felt were really pushing the definition a bit too far. Needless to say some of these essays I liked better than others.
Soap opera of the paranormal by Ton Venezia looked at the Bojeffries Saga which was one of the few stories discussed I hadn't read and because of that I enjoyed it as I had no preconceived ideas about what I thought the story was about. The idea of an English Adams Family/Munsters idea, while comedy seemed to fit into the gothic theme quite well.
The next article a gothic politics looked at Swamp thing as part of the American gothic movement and how it brought ecology into play. I also enjoyed this article and thought it was one of the strongest in the collection.
Is that you our Jack? by Jochen Ecke looked at "doppelgangers" in from hell and swamp thing. But started by looking at Carmilla and the idea that Carmilla was just Laura's doppleganger. His arguments for that just made me really angry and annoyed. In a heterosexual relationship has anyone dismissed it as simply a double? It seemed to be totally against everything that I loved about Carmilla so I didn't bother reading what he thought about Alan Moore.
Nothing ever ends by Christian Schneider looked at the Apocalypse in Watchmen. I'm not really sure that "apocalypse" is a very gothic topic. It's kind of it's own thing. Mary Shelly wrote the Last man but I was failing to come up with any other examples. While the fear of the apocalypse was interesting it seemed that Christian kind of missed the point of the end of the book. Where I interpreted that Dr Manhattan DID in fact bring it about. But that it was a good thing and the only thing that would have the potential to save mankind. I think a more interesting piece of work would have been to compare the way it played out in Watchman with the happy hippie glorious apocalypse in Promethea. Unfortunately Promethea was something most of the authors in this collection seemed afraid to mention as more than a passing line or two.
Gothic liminality in V for Vendetta by Markus Oppolzer was another essay which I felt really missed the point of the end of the story. In this case he saw V (always as the male not as the androgynous) as the torturing man who victimised Evey into an exact replica of himself. Rather than giving Evey the strength to become her own person and as a more balanced person being able to take and create in the new world whereas V as the anarchist was only able to break everything down and give the chance for rebirth. But I did agree, yes there was quite a lot of liminality in the story.
Sleep of reason, by Michael Bradshaw looked at Swamp thing again. I pretty much agreed with everything he said but I must admit I didn't find it terribly insightful. Yes there are lots of american gothic elements in Swamp Thing. That was kind of the point.
Madness and the city by Monica Germand was another essay I felt missed the point. Here any sort of magic or occult significance to the story was reduced to "madness" Gull wasn't having visions of the future and pulling himself out of time. He was just going mad. I thought this was a very narrow interpretation that mostly defeated the ideas that From Hell was trying to be about. I don't think he was hallucinating from madness but having genuine visions of the future.
I fashioned a prison by Brad Ricca looked at the Castle of Otranto (not one of my favourite stories) and the Man who had everything (which I've no read) so I am sorry to say I skipped this.
Radical coterie by Clare Sheridan looked at Frankenstein and the Watchmen.
Reincarnating Mina Murray by Laura Hilton had the potential to be really good. Laura looked at the contrasts between Mina in Bram Stoker's dracula and the league comics and the film. Unfortunately she stopped after the first two books. I think the majority of Mina's character development came after this. Her ability to handle immortality is one of the central themes of the last few league books and I thought it was a huge shame that her whole journey as a character was ignored. I would have liked to have seen the discussion continue all the way into century.
These our not our promised resurrections by Christopher Murray, was another one where the magic was dismissed as madness. Rather than seeing the end of a victory of a true self reasserting itself. He saw it as a monster taking over control of the protagonist. Though we both agreed it was one of Alan's best books.
Julia Round looked at Voice of the fire. Voice of the fire is my favourite book of all time. So I was quite biased reading this essay. Mostly I agreed with what she said though.
The last essay A darker magic by Matthew Green looked at Alan's treatment of H P Lovecraft stories. However, he totally ignored What HO gods of the abyss and only considered Alan's serious treatment which I felt gave a bit of a biased view of how Alan has gone about representing Lovecraft in different ways. It gave kind of a false impression that it was all very serious. When it's not and I think all sides need to be considered. Not just a selection.
Despite their interest in the Gothic the people reviewing the books on the whole seemed unable to accept the idea of magic actually existing in the works being discussed. People were "mad" rather than experiencing true visions. It's a shame that this book was published on the "gothic" rather than the occult. Then instead of people looking at Alan's older more mainstream works a proper study could be done looking at the use of magic and the occult in his work. Which I think would be much more interesting and insightful.
That said I am grateful that this book exists and that I had a chance to read it. I think people interested in modern gothic literature discussions would find it really interesting. But perhaps not so much for Alan Moore fans.
October 13, 2021
Una antología de análisis a las obras de Moore (Swamp Thing, From Hell, V de Vendetta, Miracleman, Bojeffries, Liga de los Caballeros extraordinarios, etc) desde el punto de vista de cómo actualiza y renueva los cánones del género gótico. Se analizan sus protagonistas (Mina Harker, Ozymandias, V), el mecanismo narrativo (la contraposición entre el cuento de piratas y lo que se va narrando en Watchmen, un ejemplo clásico), entre otras. Muy interesante tanto para fans de Moore como a quienes les interese el gótico como género literario.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews