The Undiscovered Genre

This study explores the previously undocumented German Gothic Novel and its literary reception in Germany by analyzing all accessible no- vels of the «Ritter-, Räuber- und Schauerromantik» variety published between 1750-1800 against the background of a leading review journal of the day. After surveying traditional assumptions and prevalent suppositions concerning this largely unread but often discussed genre, the author examines a variety of hard data to place the rise of German Gothic in the 1790's after the publication and translation into German of its English counterpart. As well, the monograph points out certain social, religious and political implications of terror literature, and outlines further areas of research.