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Diploma Thesis SA 2350 DIPLOMARBEIT DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit ÄTitelTitel der³ Diplomarbeit "The Gothic in Children's and Young Adult Literature" Band 1 von 5 Bänden Verfasserin ODER Verfasser Verfasserin Akademische(r)Jasmina Grad(e) Koppensteiner Vorname Zuname angestrebterangestrebter akademischer akademischer Grad Grad Magistra ODERMagistra Magist derer derPhilosophie Philosophie (Mag.phil.) (Mag.phil.) Wien, 2009 Wien, 2011 StudienkennzahlStudienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: lt. Studienblatt: A 000 000 A 190 344 347 StudienrichtungStudienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: lt. Studienblatt: (Bei m Lehramt UF beide Englisch Unterrichtsfächer: UF Französisch UF xxx UF xxx) Betreuerin: Univ.-Ass. Privatdoz. Mag. Dr. Susanne Reichl Betreuerin ODER Betreuer: Akademische(r) Grad(e) Vorname Zuname Widmung und Danksagung "In jede hohe Freude mischt sich eine Empfindung von Dankbarkeit." (Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach) Für meine Eltern, die mir meine Ausbildung ermöglicht haben und mich stets emotional unterstützt haben. Für Wolfgang, meinen Mann und besten Freund, meinen treuesten Wegbegleiter und ehrlichsten Kritiker. Danke für eure Unterstützung und Geduld in all den Jahren, besonders aber in Zeiten tiefster Verzweiflung und Frustration! Mein Dank gilt Frau Mag. Dr. Susanne Reichl für die hervorragende Betreuung, sowie meiner Familie und meinen Freunden, die mich während meines Studiums begleitet und motiviert haben. Table of contents Introduction 1 1. Historical, political and social background of the Gothic 4 1.1. Historical development of the term Gothic 4 1.2. The social context of the Gothic 5 1.3. The political factors of the Gothic 6 1.4. Key thinkers and writers of the Revolution 8 1.5. The spiritual context 10 1.5.1. Coleridge and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 11 1.5.2. Religion and superstition 12 1.6. Gothic influences in the arts 13 1.6.1. Art 14 1.6.2. Architecture 14 1.6.3. Gothic music 14 1.6.4. Gothic revival 15 2. Gothic Literature 16 2.1. The birth of a new genre 16 2.2. Literary genres that influenced Gothic literature 16 2.2.1. The romance and the novel 16 2.2.2. Poetry and drama 17 2.3. Gothic fascination for the past 18 2.4. The Gothic as a controversial genre 20 2.5. The structure of Gothic fiction 22 2.6. Critical approaches on Gothic fiction 27 2.6.1. Gothic psychology 27 2.6.2. Women and the Gothic 28 3. Characteristics of Gothic literature 30 3.1. The supernatural and the sublime in Gothic literature 30 3.1.1. The supernatural 30 3.1.2. The sublime in the Gothic 32 3.1.3. The fantastic in Gothic literature 33 3.1.4. Magical Realism 34 3.1.5. Imagination 35 3.2. Horror, Terror and the Uncanny in Gothic literature 35 3.2.1. Horror and Terror 35 3.2.2. The Uncanny 36 3.3. Characters in Gothic fiction 37 3.3.1. The hero, the heroine and the villain 37 3.3.2. Witches, Wizards and Witchcraft 40 3.3.3. Ghosts 41 3.3.4. Vampires and werewolves 42 3.4. The setting in Gothic literature 45 4. The Gothic in children's and young adult literature 48 4.1. Gothic comics - the new fairy tales 51 4.2. Cyberfiction - the new Gothic novel 52 5. Analysis of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning or Orphans 53 5.1. The cover and the back of the book 53 5.2. The narrative technique 55 5.3. The plot 57 5.4. The characters 57 5.5. The setting 64 5.6. The uncanny and terror 68 6. Analysis of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book 71 6.1. The cover and the back of the book 71 6.2. The plot 72 6.3. The narrative technique 73 6.4. The characters 74 6.5. The setting 82 6.6. The supernatural, the uncanny and the terror 83 Conclusion 87 Bibliography i Index vi Appendix ix Deutsche Zusammenfassung xxiii Abstract in English xxv Curriculum Vitae xxvii !!!!!! 1 Introduction Walk into any children's bookstore and you will note a decidedly Gothic flavor to many of the titles on display. From creepy picture books to Harry Potter to Lemony Snicket to the Spiderwick Chronicles to countless vampire series for young adult readers, fear or the pretence of fear has become a dominant mode of enjoyment in literature for young people. (Zipes 1) With this statement Jack Zipes literally hit the nail on the head: When dealing with children's and young adult literature one cannot do otherwise but notice that books for young readers tend to be geared on the Gothic. Therefore, this diploma thesis will have a closer look at the implementation of Gothic characteristics in children's and young adult literature. Before giving detailed information on the aspects that will be analyzed in this diploma thesis, I would like to comment briefly on the reason why I am interested in this topic. In the winter term of 2005/2006, I attended a literary proseminar on Revolutionary Writing in American Literature with Mag. Dr. Astrid Fellner at the Department of English in Vienna. The reading list for this course included Charles Brockden Brown's Ormond (1799), which is a famous example of American Gothic literature. Hence, I was introduced to Gothic literature for the first time, at least consciously, and my interest in this genre was immediately arisen. From this moment on, I knew that I would like to write on the Gothic for my diploma thesis. In the summer term of 2009, I noticed a lecture on Children's and Young Adult Literature, which was read by Mag. Dr. Susanne Reichl at the Department of English in Vienna. Given that I am a student of English and French to become a teacher, I found this lecture very interesting, notably because I gained a new insight and new information on children's and young adult literature. Furthermore, I was convinced that the topics and books of this lecture would be very useful for my future teaching at school. While dealing with the novels of the reading list, I was not only reminded of the Gothic but noticed that children's and young adult literature is full of Gothic elements. As a consequence, I started to look differently at books for young readers. Moreover, this new insight offered me an explanation for the reason why many young readers are so fascinated by Gothic texts. I have to admit that I was one of these readers too when I was young, and I still enjoy reading a good Gothic story. 2 Interestingly, the children's interest in Gothic plots seems to be ageless, since I observe that this same phenomenon also applies to my little niece and my little nephew. Therefore, I have decided to study this literary genre. I would like to briefly comment on the term the Gothic. As we will see in this diploma thesis, the Gothic is a notion that does not only apply to literature. Starting with a movement (the Gothic movement) in historical, social, political and religious context, it later shaped the arts as well. Thus, the Gothic can be found in literature, in architecture, in the performing arts, in music and in modern media as well. Therefore, I will use the term the Gothic movement when talking about the upheaval in society, politics and/or religion. On any other occasion, meaning when referring to the arts, I will use the term the Gothic. For me personally, the use of these two notions reflects my concept of the Gothic. When talking about the Gothic, one has to take into consideration several aspects of the Gothic. That means that an analysis of the Gothic should not only contain one aspect of the Gothic. Since the Gothic covers other domains as well, one should respect its complexity. To give a concrete example, it is impossible to look only at one aspect of the Gothic when analyzing a Gothic novel. As we will see later in this diploma thesis, Gothic characters and Gothic plots are closely linked to the setting. The setting, again, is closely linked to architecture and the landscape. As a consequence, one has to look at the complexity of the Gothic when analyzing Gothic literature. In the first chapter of my diploma thesis I will look at the background of the Gothic movement. As we will see, the Gothic developed in a time that was marked by enormous socio-political, historical and religious changes. These changes caused a major upheaval in the society and affected many aspects of life. On the other hand, we will notice that the Gothic shaped the ideas of that time as well, and thus did not only influence the people's life but the arts too. In the second chapter, I will discuss Gothic literature in more detail. We will study the beginning and the structure of this new genre, as well as those genres that influenced the Gothic. Furthermore, two critical approaches on the Gothic will help us understand both the circumstances under which the Gothic developed and the changes that it caused for the society. 3 In the third chapter, I will discuss the typical characteristics of Gothic literature. The studies that were made so far mostly dealt with Gothic adult literature. The interesting part will then be to compare the Gothic elements of adult literature with those of texts for young readers. My hypothesis here is that there is hardly any difference between Gothic adult literature and Gothic children's and young adult literature. However, in the fourth chapter, I will discuss the particularities of contemporary Gothic literature for young readers.
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