HAUNTED NARRATIVES: THE AFTERLIFE OF GOTHIC AESTHETICS IN CONTEMPORARY TRANSATLANTIC WOMEN’S FICTION Jameela F. Dallis A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. Chapel Hill 2015 Approved by: Minrose Gwin Shayne A. Legassie James Coleman María DeGuzmán Ruth Salvaggio © 2016 Jameela F. Dallis ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Jameela F. Dallis: Haunted Narratives: The Afterlife of Gothic Aesthetics in Contemporary Transatlantic Women’s Fiction (Under the direction of Minrose Gwin and Shayne A. Legassie) My dissertation examines the afterlife of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Gothic aesthetics in twentieth and twenty-first century texts by women. Through close readings and attention to aesthetics and conventions that govern the Gothic, I excavate connections across nation, race, and historical period to engage critically with Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, 1959; Angela Carter’s “The Lady of the House of Love,” 1979; Shani Mootoo’s Cereus Blooms at Night, 1996; and Toni Morrison’s Love, 2003. These authors consciously employ such aesthetics to highlight and critique the power of patriarchy and imperialism, the continued exclusion of others and othered ways of knowing, loving, and being, and the consequences of oppressing, ignoring, or rebuking these peoples, realities, and systems of meaning. Such injustices bear evidence to the effects of transatlantic commerce fueled by the slave trade and the appropriation and conquering of lands and peoples that still exert a powerful oppressive force over contemporary era peoples, especially women and social minorities. This oppression occurs in ways similar to the perils endured by early Gothic characters. Yet, that subjugating power is not all-consuming. Despite the cruelty and violence, trampled aspirations, and tragic finales prevalent in Gothic narratives, another reality remains: women authors still use the Gothic form to push for a reality where women and other iii minorities can be treated fairly and achieve a state of being that is the result of their own fashioning. The Gothic is therefore irrevocably chained to issues of gender and sexuality. Jackson, Carter, Mootoo, and Morrison are a diverse group of writers. Though the texts I examine are related thematically as they all bear evidence of Gothic conventions, the authors’ styles, socio-historical backgrounds, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and professional affiliations are relatively disparate. Yet, taken together, their texts attest to the afterlife of the Gothic—the persistence of the genre’s defining characteristics into our contemporary period. These authors engage purposefully with less-acknowledged, non-rational truths that disrupt the grand narrative of positivism and create space for transformation. Finally, my comparative approach situates these authors within transnational, transhistorical, and intercultural contexts and opens up new ways of reading their texts. iv For my parents, Brenda Fay Dallis and Herbert Dallis, and Ziggy Stardust, my constant companion. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me shape this dissertation into the document it is today. I would like to thank my directors, Minrose Gwin and Shayne Legassie. Minrose has believed in me and my scholarship from the day we met in Albuquerque, NM in December 2007. She has been a professor, mentor, and so much more to me over the years. I thank her for suggesting the title, “Haunted Narratives: The Afterlife of Gothic Aesthetics,” and for introducing me to Cereus Blooms at Night. Minrose has also been an excellent, patient editor. Shayne has consistently asked me difficult questions that have helped me push my analysis further. I thank him for helping me reevaluate the use of French in Angela Carter’s short story, “The Lady of the House of Love.” I am happy that I emailed him for permission to join his CMPL 452 course when he was brand new to UNC in August 2009. I thank my committee members, James Coleman, María DeGuzmán, and Ruth Salvaggio. From impromptu office and hallway conversations to reading and commenting on early chapter drafts, they have all been wonderful sources of inspiration, support, and encouragement. I am so very happy to have asked them to be a part of my exam and dissertation committees. I thank my colleague, friend, and mentor Kelly Bezio. I thank my dear friend Heather Branstetter for always being a source of positivity, for reading materials at the vi last minute, conducting mock interviews with me, and for so much more. I give great thanks to Ilouise Bradford, one of my best and dearest friends, for being supportive in so many different ways including getting me outside and away from the stressors of pursuing a PhD. I love you all. Thank you, Sarah Boyd for countless conversations, study and grading dates, and friendship. Thank you dear Christin Mulligan for always having the right words. Thank you, Bethany Lam for being an excellent listener. Thank you, Patrick Horn for years of advice and mentorship. Thank you, Lamar Wilson for reading abstracts, many conversations over dinner, and for writing beautiful poetry and sharing it with the world. I thank Eric Gary Anderson, Taylor Hagood, and Daniel Cross Turner for helping bring my first publication, an essay on Shani Mootoo, to light. I also thank Rebecca A. Brown and Sharla Hutchison for publishing my essay on Angela Carter and the Tarot. I send warm thanks to former professors Lisa D. Chávez, Randall Styers, and Feroza Jussawalla. (Lisa introduced me to Angela Carter, Toni Morrison, and many more amazing authors.) I thank Randall Kenan for many informal office and hallway conversations. I also thank him for telling me about American Beach. My chapter on Love benefited greatly from his remarks. I give special thanks to Harry Thomas, Lauren Du Graf, Gale Greenlee, Moira Bradford, Danielle Spurlock, Becca Wilder, Susan Tredway, Andrew Clapper, Rich Giorgi, Sarah Juliet Lauro, Shannon Morrow, Deanna Delgado, and Phillip Locey. You all have inspired and helped me reach this goal in more than one way. vii I thank Carolyn Woodward for taking me on as her advisee even though I had never taken a class with her. I also thank her for introducing me to Minrose. I give great thanks to all of the excellent, innovative teachers I had at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts and Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences—especially my English teachers Jean Ann Gardner and Carmen Veller. I am grateful to the Royster Society of Fellows for the financial support my William R. Reynolds Fellowship has provided and for cultivating a diverse scholarly community over the years. Special thanks to Jennifer Ho for encouraging me to apply for the Blyden and Roberta Jackson Fellowship in UNC’s Department of English and Comparative Literature. I thank Heidi Kim for reminding me about Paul Gilroy’s Black Atlantic. I also thank the Literature of the Americas Working Group for providing feedback on an early version of one of my dissertation chapters. I give warm thanks to the Reba Rutz Beidleman Memorial Foundation at the University of New Mexico for helping me move to Chapel Hill, NC to pursue a PhD in English. I also thank UNM’s Ronald E. McNair and Research Opportunity Program. I give great thanks to all of my students over the years at UNC whose conversations, questions, and insights have helped me understand Gothic literature, its reception, and its emotional impact on readers in more depth. The names above are not a complete representation of all of the friends, groups, and organizations who have supported or inspired me. To those people whose conference papers sparked a research avenue to follow, to those strangers in coffee shops, bars, and parties whose conversations and questions helped me refine my thoughts about my viii research over the years, thank you. On a few more personal notes, I give thanks to my favorite (former) neighbor and friend of my soul, Adriana Freiberger. Thank you to my uncle Carlton Allen, and his wife, Delores. I also give thanks to my great aunt, Ada Stigall, my aunt Ann Taylor, and my uncle Benny Williams. Thank you, Cora Kammer. Even though you are not here, you are a part of the reason I am. You are not forgotten. Shine on. Creative writing is next! Thank you to my late aunt, Guana Williams. I miss you. I wish I would have spent more time with you. Your love was boundless—is boundless. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you, Benjamin Jacob Burnett. You are one of my oldest, dearest friends. I hope we continue to listen to, support, and inspire each other for years to come. I love you. I give warmest thanks to my oldest, dearest, best friend, Rachel Huckabee. I love and cherish you. Who knew that the friendship we began in third grade would ebb and flow and transform into something so absolutely spectacular? Thanks to my dear, sweet, senior dog, Ziggy Stardust, who passed away on February 11, 2016—nearly three months after the completion of this manuscript. He would have been twelve in April. Ziggy waited on me to finish my thoughts more than once before I took him out to pee, walked him, or gave him a treat. He taught me that unconditional love exists. I thank him for the gift of caring for and loving him. I miss him dearly, but I know that he is free from the suffering he endured during his final days. ix Finally, thank you, mom and dad, for giving me life after many years of trying to conceive me; enrolling me in that new Paideia magnet school; and for loving me no matter our differences.