9th Annual McGill University
Graduate Student Symposium on Language and Literature
“Blood Lust, Blood Loss: Representations of Struggle and Desire”
March 22 & 23, 2003
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Shape-Shifters and Demon Lovers: Struggles within the Gothic Genre
Papers are being solicited for a panel on representations of sexuality,
violence, desire and the body in Gothic literature. Ghosts,
subterranean passages, monasteries, rape, incest, and demons are some
of the ingredients of the traditional Gothic formula. Matthew Lewis’
The Monk is an example of a Gothic novel that adheres to this type of
horror writing. In the 1790s an increase in women readers and writers
of Gothic novels lead to a female response to the male horror writing.
Terror writing entered into the Gothic genre through Ann Radcliffe who
“rewrites” the Gothic heroine, and chooses to emphasize suspense and
mystery rather than violence. Similar to the changing shape of Gothic
characters, the genre itself is dynamic and flexible in order to meet
with the demands of society. Sexual transgressions are explored in
Gothic fiction through masquerades and disguises. The body serves as
both an object of worship, as well as for torture, disfigurement, and
the grotesque.
This panel will examine the shifts within the Gothic genre as it moves
from the eighteenth-century to the nineteenth-century by examining
issues of sexuality, violence, authorship, as well as diverse
representations of the body. One-page proposals that may concern, but
are not limited to the following topics are requested:
-What is the role of the supernatural in Gothic novels?
-How is the Gothic genre used to explore gender issues, such as ideals
of femininity versus the female demon?
-How do male Gothic writers differ from Female Gothic writers, and
how/why is the Gothic genre “rewritten” by authors during this period?
-How is the body used in Gothic fiction? What is the role of the
grotesque and excess in the genre?
-How does the Gothic genre of the eighteenth-century influence
nineteenth-century Gothic writers?
Please send 250 word paper proposals in the body of the text (no
attachments
please) by February 1st, 2003 to Jennifer Beauvais [ jenn@magnet.ca ]
For further information, please visit our conference website at:
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/english/symposium9.html
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