Queer Others in Victorian Gothic
Transgressing Monstrosity
Published on 15. March 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-7083-2465-3 (ISBN)
Description
Queer Others in Victorian Gothic: Transgressing Monstrosity explores the intersections of Gothic, cultural, gender, queer, socio-economic and postcolonial theories in nineteenth-century British representations of sexuality, gender, class and race. From mid-century authors like Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell to fin-de-siecle writers such as J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Florence Marryat and Vernon Lee, this study examines the ways that these Victorian writers utilized gothic horror as a proverbial 'safe space' in which to grapple with taboo social and cultural issues. This work simultaneously explores our current assumptions about a Victorian culture that was monolithic in its disdain for those who were 'other'.
Reviews / Votes
Ardel Haefele-Thomas's 'Queer Others in Victorian Gothic' in Wales's series Gothic Literary Studies applies Queer and Postcolonial theory to the Gothic fiction of Collins, Gaskell, Haggard, Le Fanu, Marryat, and Vernon Lee - with surprising results. In richly historicized contexts, Haefele-Thomas reveals refined explorations of Otherness in Victorian literature, as well as complicated empathies and tolerances that unsettle our critical assumptions. Teaching on a daily basis in San Francisco's LGBT community, Haefele-Thomas has provided an accessible genealogy of our contemporary boundary crossings. It is a superb application of theory to literary history and to the present. Regenia Gagnier Professor of English, University of Exeter and President, British Association for Victorian StudiesMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Wales
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
248 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7083-2465-3 (9780708324653)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2012
1st Edition
University of Wales Press
€24.49
Available for download
E-Book
03/2012
1st Edition
University of Wales Press
€25.49
Available for download
Person
Ardel Haefele-Thomas is a Victorian and Queer Studies scholar and Chair of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at City College of San Francisco.
Content
Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: The Spinster and the Hijra: How Queers Save Heterosexual Marriage in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone Chapter Three: Escaping Heteronormativity: Queer Family Structures in Elizabeth Gaskell's Lois the Witch and 'The Grey Woman' Chapter Four: Disintegrating Binaries, Disintegrating Bodies: Queer Imperial Transmogrifications in H. Rider Haggard's She Chapter Five: '"One Does Things Abroad That One Would Not Dream Of Doing In England"': Miscegenation and Queer Female Vampirism in J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla and Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire Chapter Six: In Defense of Her Queer Community: Vernon Lee's Coded Decadent Gothic