The Gothic Tradition

by David Stevens

Critical introductions to a range of literary topics and genres. The gothic influence on modern writers such as Angela Carter, Iain Banks and Stephen King is vivid and great as is the effect on the world of film and rock music. Part of the function of this book is to offer some guidance: not in terms of a fixed or definitive set of Gothic characteristics, but rather in giving a framework for questions and explorations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gothic

130 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[The Artisan Geek]

2/2/20
This is a great introduction to gothic literature! There's a wealth of information with regards to both primary and secondary text as well as a concise history of the gothic tradition!

28/2/20
Doing some research into Gothic and horror literature, so I thought this would be a good place to start :)

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[maï-ly · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for my english lit final presentation on Gothic (Bac LLCE Anglais)

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This succinct, but very intelligent and enjoyable introduction to the academic study of gothic literature has aged remarkable well and can be actually seen as a microcosmos of the late 20th-century critical approaches. The book is divided into four clear and interconnected sections: an introduction to the historical contexts, the philosophical and spiritual currents of the time, and even brief biographies of the most important authors in the genre; a summary of the main topics of Gothic literature; a well-chosen selection of passages from classic gothic novels; and a crash course into Freudian, Marxist, and feminist critical approaches to literature. Having set up this critical structure, readers are provided with guidelines for beginning their own critical approaches to the genre. The book was obviously aimed at undergraduate students majoring in English literature at the turn of the century, but it remains an interesting tool for anyone interested in Gothic literature, both newcomers and experts requiring a refreshment course.

[Frederick Heimbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brief academic introduction to the Gothic sensibility in art. It's three parts describes the various elements of the Gothic, gives excerpts from major literary works, and reviews major schools of Gothic criticism (Freudian, Marxist, and feminist).

I appreciated the brevity. The final section which might have been tendentious stuck to the factual and informative. The book is designed as a textbook, with lots of (difficult) questions for further study.

One final thing I'll mention: the excerpts include sections from seminal works such as The Monk and Frankenstein, but, among the prose writers, Jane Austen's clean, direct, laser-focused sentences stand out. It's really amazing how enjoyable really great writing is, when placed side by side with the merely very good. Keep yer eye on that Austen chick, guys; I predict she'll go far.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief introduction to the gothic in art, particularly in literary works. As an overview it gets the job done. I enjoyed the text extracts, including those from The Monk and Frankenstein. These extracts in conjunction with explanations of the major schools of the gothic - Freudian, Marxism, and Feminism - provided a factual and informative look into how gothic trends have developed over time and how it was perceived in different contexts. It is pretty cursive, but definitely a good place to start when introducing the gothic to middle to senior high school students.

[Eloise Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good and in an easy format to read. However, it wasn't what I expected in that I thought it would go more into the features of the gothic etc. The various references to different gothic texts - and the extracts - were pretty interesting to makes comparisons between though.

[Ceora]

Great survey of Gothic writers, themes, cultural point of view, and a bibliography of gothic stories.

[Ruth Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

for class.

[D.E. Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to provide a cursory look at the gothic. There are better ones for in-depth, but for an overview, it's pretty good.

[Kirsty (Katnip) (Kat Chiron) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the different topics that influence the Gothic Tradition.