Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptorium

“Gothic-postmodernism” builds upon the shared ontological inquiry into the nature of reality inherent in both the Gothic and postmodernism. By adapting most of the thematic and narrative elements of the Gothic to postmodernist fiction, this genre enables new interpretations of self-reflective liter...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mohammad-Javad Haj'jari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2025-03-01
Series:Ilha do Desterro
Subjects:
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/98774
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850220001432174592
author Mohammad-Javad Haj'jari
author_facet Mohammad-Javad Haj'jari
author_sort Mohammad-Javad Haj'jari
collection DOAJ
description “Gothic-postmodernism” builds upon the shared ontological inquiry into the nature of reality inherent in both the Gothic and postmodernism. By adapting most of the thematic and narrative elements of the Gothic to postmodernist fiction, this genre enables new interpretations of self-reflective literature, where the Gothic sublime manifests itself through textual erasure as Gothic-postmodernist horror. This article argues that Travels in the Scriptorium is Auster’s significant contribution to Gothic-postmodernism, given its self-reflexivity as postmodernist metafiction and its Gothic aspirations in merging Gothic conventions with postmodern techniques. In Auster’s exhaustive metafiction, postmodernism plays a pivotal role in the text’s sublimity and the resultant horror of textuality, which creates a profound sense of awe and fear. This is achieved through the text’s exploration of reality’s fragmented nature, the manipulation of narrative form, and the meta-awareness of its own fictionality. These elements collectively create a sense of awe and terror, challenging the representation of fictional truth through the very medium of language.
format Article
id doaj-art-522e40cf9e9c48509720a18f06a13a3e
institution OA Journals
issn 0101-4846
2175-8026
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
record_format Article
series Ilha do Desterro
spelling doaj-art-522e40cf9e9c48509720a18f06a13a3e2025-08-20T02:07:12ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaIlha do Desterro0101-48462175-80262025-03-017710.5007/2175-8026.2024.e98774Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptoriumMohammad-Javad Haj'jarihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2704-4930 “Gothic-postmodernism” builds upon the shared ontological inquiry into the nature of reality inherent in both the Gothic and postmodernism. By adapting most of the thematic and narrative elements of the Gothic to postmodernist fiction, this genre enables new interpretations of self-reflective literature, where the Gothic sublime manifests itself through textual erasure as Gothic-postmodernist horror. This article argues that Travels in the Scriptorium is Auster’s significant contribution to Gothic-postmodernism, given its self-reflexivity as postmodernist metafiction and its Gothic aspirations in merging Gothic conventions with postmodern techniques. In Auster’s exhaustive metafiction, postmodernism plays a pivotal role in the text’s sublimity and the resultant horror of textuality, which creates a profound sense of awe and fear. This is achieved through the text’s exploration of reality’s fragmented nature, the manipulation of narrative form, and the meta-awareness of its own fictionality. These elements collectively create a sense of awe and terror, challenging the representation of fictional truth through the very medium of language. https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/98774Gothic-PostmodernismTextualitySublimeTravels in the ScriptoriumUncanny
spellingShingle Mohammad-Javad Haj'jari
Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptorium
Ilha do Desterro
Gothic-Postmodernism
Textuality
Sublime
Travels in the Scriptorium
Uncanny
title Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptorium
title_full Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptorium
title_fullStr Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptorium
title_full_unstemmed Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptorium
title_short Gothic entrapment within textuality in Auster’s travels in the scriptorium
title_sort gothic entrapment within textuality in auster s travels in the scriptorium
topic Gothic-Postmodernism
Textuality
Sublime
Travels in the Scriptorium
Uncanny
url https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/98774
work_keys_str_mv AT mohammadjavadhajjari gothicentrapmentwithintextualityinausterstravelsinthescriptorium