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CHRISTOS ANGELIS CHRISTOS Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 2326 CHRISTOS ANGELIS ”Time is Everything with Him” ”Time ”Time is Everything with Him” The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic AUT 2326 AUT CHRISTOS ANGELIS ”Time is Everything with Him” The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Tampere, for public discussion in the auditorium Pinni B 1097, Kanslerinrinne 1, Tampere, on 25 November 2017, at 12 o’clock. UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE CHRISTOS ANGELIS “Time is Everything with Him” The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 2326 Tampere University Press Tampere 2017 ACADEMIC DISSERTATION University of Tampere Faculty of Communication Sciences Finland The originality of this thesis has been checked using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service in accordance with the quality management system of the University of Tampere. Copyright ©2017 Tampere University Press and the author Cover design by Mikko Reinikka Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 2326 Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis 1830 ISBN 978-952-03-0573-4 (print) ISBN 978-952-03-0574-1 (pdf) ISSN-L 1455-1616 ISSN 1456-954X ISSN 1455-1616 http://tampub.uta.fi Suomen Yliopistopaino Oy – Juvenes Print 441 729 Tampere 2017 Painotuote Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the help and influence of a significant number of people who played important roles through this process. To refer to them all by name would have been impossible. Still, I would like to thank the School of Language, Translation and Literary Studies and the Department of English of the University of Tampere (currently the Faculty of Communication Sciences) – the teaching as well as the administrative members of the staff – for their invaluable support and inspiration through these years. The help I received, from seemingly unimportant everyday tips to much more critical decisions related to my doctoral studies, cannot be easily expressed in words. I would particularly like to thank the School of Language, Translation, and Literary Studies for giving me the opportunity to work on my dissertation for an important period of time without the stress of seeking a source of income. I would also like to thank all the people who read drafts of my dissertation, including preliminary examiners, who offered important insights and suggestions. Furthermore, there are some people whom I would like to thank by name, specifically the four people who have acted as my supervisors. Firstly, the late Matti Savolainen, who was sadly unable to assist me but only during the earliest phase of this project. The inspiration he provided still served as a beacon that kept shining throughout the process. Secondly, Dr David Robertson, who retired during the early stages of my doctoral studies. His help in formulating the critical early outline was irreplaceable, and so was the advice he offered – also in matters not directly related to the dissertation itself. Thirdly, Dr Maarit Piipponen, whose uncanny ability to detect errors and offer critical suggestions – especially in the late stages of the project – helped me immensely. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank Dr Jarkko Toikkanen. Put simply, this dissertation would not have reached its completion without his advice – meticulous but delivered calmly and patiently – and his support with everything even remotely related to the process. To offer a figure of speech describing his guidance, each time I went to him with a cartwheel full of dirt, saying “hey, look what I found”, he was the one to dig through and find the golden nugget, saying “I suppose you mean this?” I dedicate this book to Titta, who helped me maintain my sanity during the past few years. ABSTRACT In my dissertation I analyze the concept of the eternal now – the “here-and-now” present the borders of which are ambiguous – in the context of nineteenth-century Gothic fiction. I present the argument that, as the Gothic is not preoccupied with offering strictly realistic depictions, in such narratives time deviates from what one would define as objective or normal: it can be perceived to flow faster or more slowly, or to even stop altogether. Similarly, concepts such as immortality, as well as dialectics concerning the past and the future, possess a central role in Gothic works. I argue that such temporal devices convey meanings related to social aspects such as gender, ethnicity, and class, and by examining these meanings, I analyze the nature of the concept of the eternal now in nineteenth-century Gothic. My research material comprises Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). Key theoretical foundations include Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of chronotopoi, the concept of the grotesque, through the work of Bakhtin as well as Wolfgang Kayser, Tzvetan Todorov’s formulation of the fantastic, as well as Hegelian concepts of synthesis, mostly through Francis Herbert Bradley’s Neo-Hegelian perspective. My research methodology focuses on investigating the porosity of Gothic borders from a temporal perspective, establishing the areas where the Gothic most characteristically displays ambiguity. I then employ the concept of Hegelian synthesis to argue that the eternal now can be read as a mechanism of negotiation between these ambiguously divided Gothic borders. The dissertation displays how the eternal now contains transcendental and spiritual aspects through its connection with the sublime, in the context of the nineteenth century Gothic. TIIVISTELMÄ Väitöskirjassani analysoin ikuisen nyt-hetken käsitettä – eli ”tässä ja nyt”- nykyhetkeä, jonka rajat ovat epäselviä – 1800-luvun goottilaisen kirjallisuuden kontekstissa. Väitän, että koska goottilainen kirjallisuus ei tarjoa tiukasti realistisia kuvauksia, tällaisissa kertomuksissa aika poikkeaa objektiivisesta tai tavallisesta määritelmästä: se voi kulkea nopeammin tai hitaammin tai jopa pysähtyä kokonaan. Samoin käsitteet kuten kuolemattomuus sekä menneisyyden ja tulevaisuuden dialektiikka ovat keskeisessä asemassa goottilaisessa kirjallisuudessa. Väitän, että tällaiset aikaan liittyvät kirjalliset tehokeinot paljastavat merkityksiä, jotka liittyvät sosiaalisiin näkökohtiin kuten sukupuoli, etninen alkuperä tai luokka. Tarkastelemalla näitä merkityksiä analysoin ikuisen nyt-hetken luonnetta 1800- luvun goottilaisessa kirjallisuudessa. Tutkimusaineistoani ovat Mary Shelleyn Frankenstein (1818), Charles Dickensin A Christmas Carol (1843) ja Bram Stokerin Dracula (1897). Keskeisiä teoreettisia perustoja ovat Mikhail Bakhtinin kronotopoi -käsite, groteskin käsite (sekä Bakhtinin että Wolfgang Kayserin analyysin kautta), Tzvetan Todorovin fantastisen määritelmä sekä hegeliläisen synteesin käsitteet lähinnä Francis Herbert Bradleyn uushegeliläisyyden näkökulmasta. Tutkimukseni metodologia keskittyy tutkimaan goottilaisen kirjallisuuden rajojen huokoisuutta ajallisesta näkökulmasta määrittämällä alueet, joilla goottilaiset tekstit tyypillisesti osoittavat epäselvyyttä. Sitten käytän hegeliläisen synteesin käsitettä väittäen, että ikuinen nyt-hetki voidaan lukea neuvottelumekanismina näiden epäselvästi jakautuneiden goottisten rajojen välillä. Väitöskirjani osoittaa kuinka ikuinen nyt-hetki sisältää subliimiin liittyen transsendentaalisia ja hengellisiä näkökohtia 1800-luvun goottilaisen kirjallisuuden kontekstissa. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Topic and Aims of the Research ...................................................................... 9 1.2 Theoretical Background and Primary Works ................................................ 15 2 TEMPORAL PERCEPTIONS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN .... 23 2.1 Split Time: Two Sides of Scientific Progress ................................................ 24 2.2 New Ways of Theorizing Time ...................................................................... 29 3 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS: SUBLIME TEMPORALITY, AMBIGUITY, AND SYNTHESIS ......................................................................................... 36 3.1 The Eternal Now and the Sublime ................................................................ 38 3.2 A Discourse of Doubt: Ambiguity and the Grotesque ................................ 43 3.3 Hegelian Dialectics .......................................................................................... 52 4 DIALECTICS OF PAST AND FUTURE .............................................................. 59 4.1 Aspects of Immortality: Temporal Distortion .............................................. 60 4.2 Chance and Timing: From Distortion to Dichotomy .................................. 77 5 DIALECTICS OF OTHERNESS ............................................................................ 93 5.1 Sexuality, Gender, and the Child Figure ........................................................ 94 5.2 Ethnicity, “Race”, and Religion ................................................................... 107 5.3 Social Class and Capital ................................................................................ 127 6 DIALECTICS OF OMNIJECTIVITY .................................................................. 136 6.1 Aspects of the Sublime ................................................................................