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The Grotesque in Literature

January 17, 2018

Criticism

academia, criticism, Gothic, grotesque, literature

Note: the following article on the concept of the grotesque in literature is a modified excerpt (pp. 47-48) from my doctoral dissertation, “Time is Everything with Him”: The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic, which can be downloaded (for free) from the repository of the Tampere University Press. For a list of my other academic publications, see here.

What Is the Grotesque in Literature?

The grotesque in literature can be broadly defined as “a written form of expression which described that which could not be controlled by reason, was unnatural, and arose in opposition to the classical imitation of ‘beautiful nature’ and the rationalism and optimism of the Enlightenment” (Perttula 2011, 22).

However, it is important to underline that the concept of the grotesque underwent an important shift during the Romantic period, which “highlighted above all the dark, fearsome, and demonic nature of the grotesque”, though its comical aspect was still present (Ibid). The merging of what appear to be incongruent elements – comedy and horror, natural and unnatural, and so on – is precisely where the affective power of the grotesque lies. As Kayser argues:

The distortion of all ingredients, the fusion of different realms, the coexistence of beautiful, bizarre, ghastly, and repulsive elements, the merger of the parts into a turbulent whole, the withdrawal into a phantasmagoric and nocturnal world … all these features have here entered into the concept of the grotesque. (1981, 79)

grotesque in literature
A gargoyle in Paris: the archetypal symbol of the grotesque

Kayser reaches this conclusion examining the works of Edgar Allan Poe, arguably an important figure in this post-romantic form of the grotesque, but in terms of evolution in the concept of the grotesque, Victor Hugo’s contribution should be emphasized.

Whereas before him the grotesque was generally seen as something not existing in nature, Hugo, in his 1827 “Manifesto of the Romantic Movement”, introduced the idea that the grotesque was a part of natural reality (Perttula 2011, 22). The presence of something seemingly unnatural underlines the ambiguous placement of the grotesque between reality and fantasy, an element which is in fact visible also in the Bakhtinian grotesque, when its scope is examined more closely.

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Uncanny Valley and Gothic Literature

January 11, 2018

Criticism

academia, criticism, Gothic, literature, robots, technology, uncanny

Note: the following article on the concept of the Uncanny Valley is a modified excerpt (pp. 161-162) from my doctoral dissertation, “Time is Everything with Him”: The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic, which can be downloaded (for free) from the repository of the Tampere University Press. For a list of my other academic publications, see here.

The Uncanny Valley: from Robots to Monsters

The term “Uncanny Valley”, coined by the robotics researcher Masahiro Mori, refers to the hypothesis that there is a sharp drop (a “valley”, when imagined as a graph) in feelings of empathy and familiarity inspired by non-human entities as these become more human-like in appearance, manners, and movement (Liu 2010, 225).

So, a figure that is almost but not totally human-like, will inspire a more uncomfortable feeling than a figure that is more clearly artificial. The concept of the Uncanny Valley is highly relevant in the field of robotics and digital technology.

However, as its name implies, it also shares commonalities with Freud’s research and is pertinent in Gothic studies as well.

uncanny valley
Robot. No, human. No, robot. Both. Neither
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Differences between Gothic and Horror (and Science Fiction)

January 7, 2018

Criticism

academia, comparing, criticism, Gothic, horror, science fiction

Categorizing a work of fiction might initially seem like an easy task. There doesn’t seem to be anything complicated about, say, Stephen King’s The Shining. It is a horror novel; just as Bram Stoker’s Dracula belongs to the Gothic genre (kind of; more about it in a moment), or C. L. Moore’s “Vintage Season” to the science fiction genre. But there is a vast number of works that seem to be awkwardly placed in the no-man’s-land between genres. What would, then, be the differences between Gothic and horror fiction? Or Gothic and science fiction?

The question might initially seem pointless to you. Surely, one might say, the differences between Gothic and science fiction novels are huge. However, that’s not true. As Brian Aldiss has argued, science fiction is “characteristically cast in the Gothic or post-Gothic mode” (1986, 25). In other words, both science fiction and the Gothic deep down use similar conventions and are predicated on similar fears.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, one of the most famous works of the Gothic canon, is also considered to be the first science fiction novel – and for good reason. How would you categorize Frankenstein? Is it a Gothic novel, a horror novel, or a science fiction novel? And why?

differences between Gothic, horror, science fiction
Science fiction, Gothic, horror, steampunk, fantasy… What’s going on?
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