Embryology and the Rise of the Gothic Novel

Diana Pérez Edelman (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

XII, 179 Seiten

2022 | 1st ed. 2021
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-030-73650-7 (ISBN)

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This book argues that embryology and the reproductive sciences played a key role in the rise of the Gothic novel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Diana Pérez Edelman dissects Horace Walpole's use of embryological concepts in the development of his Gothic imagination and provides an overview of the conflict between preformation and epigenesis in the scientific community. The book then explores the ways in which Gothic literature can be read as epigenetic in its focus on internally sourced modes of identity, monstrosity, and endless narration. The chapters analyze Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto; Ann Radcliffe's A Sicilian Romance, The Italian, and The Mysteries of Udolpho; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; Charles Robert Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer; and James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner, arguing that these touchstones of the Gothic register why the Gothic emerged at that time and why it continues today: the mysteries of reproduction remain unsolved.

lt;b>Diana Pérez Edelman is Associate Professor of English at the University of North Georgia, Gainesville, USA.

1. Conceiving the Gothic; or, "A New Species of Romance".- 2. "A very natural dream"; or, The Castle of Otranto.- 3. "The liberty of choice"; or, The Novels of Ann Radcliffe.- 4. "Dark, shapeless substances"; or, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.- 5. "Nature preached a milder theology"; Or, Melmoth the Wanderer.- 6. "Something scarcely tangible"; Or, James Hogg's Confessions.- 7. Conclusion: Gothic Offspring; or, "the qualitas occulta".

"Embryology and the Rise of The Gothic Novel is an interesting and well-researched monograph, offering original insights into the development of the Gothic alongside eighteenth-century embryological discourses. It provides a critical and informative literary-scientific perspective into well-known as well as understudied texts of Gothic literature. I recommend it as a reference for eighteenth-century Gothic fiction, specifically for researchers interested in epigenetic literature and embryological discourses." (Arwa F. Al-Mubaddel, The British Society for Literature and Science, bsls.ac.uk, June 6, 2024)

Erscheinungsdatum	05.07.2022
Reihe/Serie	Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine
Zusatzinfo	XII, 179 p.
Verlagsort	Cham
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 210 mm
Gewicht	258 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturgeschichte
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
Schlagworte	Embryology • epigenetics • Genre • history of medicine • Literature, Science and Medicine Studies • Obstetrics • preformantionist • Pregnancy • Reproduction • Romanticism
ISBN-10	3-030-73650-4 / 3030736504
ISBN-13	978-3-030-73650-7 / 9783030736507
Zustand	Neuware