Why The Gothic Keeps Gaslighting Us

Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky

Arts, Science Fiction, Fiction, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

One of the hottest literary genres is also one of the oldest. Gothic literature may have thrived in the 19th century (and my high school English class) but a lot of contemporary writers are returning to the tradition, creating stories that reimagine the past or look at the present through a Gothic lens. I talk with Xavier Aldana Reyes of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies about how The Gothic is like a mode or a sensibility that can take over any genre. Kit Mayquist, author of Tripping Arcadia: A Gothic Novel, discusses why The Gothic feels like the right fit for a generation that was gaslit while coming of age during war and a recession. And Leila Taylor, author of Darkly: Black History and America's Gothic Soul, explains that America will always be haunted by its Gothic past until we confront it. Featuring readings by voice actor Tanya Rich. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to Imaginary Worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend
0:04.1	our disbelief.
0:05.1	I'm Eric Mullinsky.
0:07.6	I'm always in the lookout for new speculative fiction to read.
0:10.8	I like to check out the best of the year lists or look who gets nominated for awards.
0:16.4	And I've noticed in a lot of new fantasy novels there's one word which keeps coming up over
0:21.1	and over again in the descriptions.
0:23.8	Gothic.
0:24.8	When I see the word Gothic, I think about the kind of books that I was assigned to read
0:29.6	in high school, withering heights, Rebecca, the picture of Dorian Gray.
0:35.4	But these marketing teams that publishing houses seem to know that the word Gothic is
0:40.2	hot, like that's going to sell books.
0:44.5	Some of these new novels are set in the same time period as classic Gothic books, but
0:49.7	they have a perspective on history that feels more contemporary.
0:53.1	For instance, there was a novel called The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry.
0:57.2	It's a lock-ness monster type story that's set in the 19th century.
1:01.6	But it deals more openly with feminist themes than Gothic novels that were actually written
1:06.2	in the 19th century.
1:08.3	Last year the book was turned into a miniseries for Apple TV.
1:11.4	The serpent is not real.
1:15.5	What if it is?
1:17.5	No.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Eric Molinsky, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Eric Molinsky and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.