Voorbeelden van probleemstellingen
- Why have women's literature and Gothic literature always existed at the margins of the literary tradition?
- How are men and women represented differently in Gothic literature across time, space and culture?
- Why is the 'haunted castle'or house central to most Gothic fiction?
- Why do you think the Gothic appeals to so many writers all over the world?
- Why do you think women have contributed - and still contribute -so much to field of Gothic literature?
Voorbeelden van onderzoeksactiviteiten
- Analyze and compare two Gothic poems or short stories from different periods. For example, Early Gothic literature( late 18th c) or Romantic literature to Contemporary Gothic literature.
- Compare a Gothic novel to its film adaption. How are the main characers represented in the film? Is this representation consistent with the representation in the novel?
- Many modern Gothic stories build on traditional Gothic stories. For example, Angela Carter rewrites the legend of `Bluebeard' in the `Bloody Chamber'(1987). Compare the original stories to their modern intrepretations and try to unravel what the writer's intentions for this rewriting are.
- Find classical Gothic short stories which appeal to you and re-write them. Compare your text to the original and argue theoretically why you have made changes in your own story.
- Search for Gothic elements in English literatures all around the world (e.g. South-American writers Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, New Zealand writer Keri Hulme, Afro-American writer Toni Morrison).
Voorbeelden van eindproducten en presentatiemogelijkheden
- Ask your teacher to give a lecture on Gothic literature.
- Show a video in class to illustrate some basic elements of the Gothic.
- Write your paper with another student or compare your findings on the topic.
- You can use visual material on the Gothic which is really easy to find. Search for examples of the Gothic in advertising, fashion and cosmetics, in the party and music scene, in videoclips (think of: Madonna's latest videoclips and live performances of Black Metal or Gothic Rock bands), film (from 'Dracula' to 'Beauty and the Beast'), television series ('Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Xena the Warrior Princess' or 'Bewitched').
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- Pay attention to how the story is structured in terms of space. A haunted house or castle is often central to Gothic fiction. The image of the house can represent a great number of things such as the family, the home, the state, the body etc. The plot is centred in and around the house. Look at the boundaries between the inside and outside of the house. What poses a threat to the order of the house and what causes the boundaries to break down or shift?
- The family is very important to Gothic literature. The plot is often centred around a terrible family secret which is kept hidden somewhere in the house. Is the house a safe place or alien territory for the characters in the story? Is it a place of confinement or of liberation? How does the structure of the house relate to the family structure? Focus on the roles of husband and wife, father and mother and on marriage in general.
- You can also focus on the way men and women are represented in Gothic literature differently. A lot of attention is paid to gender representation in contemporary gothic fiction. Gothic heroines are often represented as passive, helpless and emotional while the Gothic hero is often represented as active, strong and rational. Do you find this (stereo)typical potrayal problematic? How does it affect your identification with the characters? Does the story criticize this kind of represenation in any way or does it take it for granted? Look in the story for elements of laughter, irony and parody.
- Suggested authors of Gothic fiction for literary analysis: Margaret Atwood, Isabel Allende, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, A.S. Byatt, Joyce Carol Oates, Angela Carter, Renate Dorrestein, Laura Esquivel, Emily Dickinson, Keri Hulme, Doris Lessing, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Alice Munro, Toni Morrison, Marge Piercy, Sylvia Plath, Ann Radcliffe, Jean Rhys, Michèle Roberts, Christina Rosseti, Anne Sexton, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Horace Walpole, Virginia Woolf.
- Many books on the gothic, especially secondary literature, may be hard to track down but it is always possible to order books from your local library.
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