Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895)
Although he didn’t refer to a well-defined « Gothic » genre, Arthur Machen, in his 1895 novel, took up many elements which had by then become traditional. Medieval torture instruments and haunted Celtic forests no longer breed fear, but are used with excess and with parodic distance. The novel refle...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2008-12-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/8518 |
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| author | Claire Wrobel |
| author_facet | Claire Wrobel |
| author_sort | Claire Wrobel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although he didn’t refer to a well-defined « Gothic » genre, Arthur Machen, in his 1895 novel, took up many elements which had by then become traditional. Medieval torture instruments and haunted Celtic forests no longer breed fear, but are used with excess and with parodic distance. The novel reflects the evolution of Victorian Gothic, setting tales of terror and horror in the here and now of fin-de-siècle London. The contemporary threats of New Women and democratization are casually brushed aside, but Machen fully draws upon the anxiety generated by the possibility of reversion opened up by the theory of evolution and explored by anthropologists and criminologists. Moreover, he breaks the original systematic association of « Gothic » and « barbaric » with « medieval » in order to include the refined cruelties and mysteries of pagan rites in his abject visions. In a final twist, he sets a barbaric scene in a decaying mansion meant to embody the eighteenth century, thus « gothicizing » the age of enlightenment and urbanity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-92bc25184ef64469910fc64bc82e7aee |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2008-12-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj-art-92bc25184ef64469910fc64bc82e7aee2025-01-30T10:22:34ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492008-12-016710.4000/cve.8518Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895)Claire WrobelAlthough he didn’t refer to a well-defined « Gothic » genre, Arthur Machen, in his 1895 novel, took up many elements which had by then become traditional. Medieval torture instruments and haunted Celtic forests no longer breed fear, but are used with excess and with parodic distance. The novel reflects the evolution of Victorian Gothic, setting tales of terror and horror in the here and now of fin-de-siècle London. The contemporary threats of New Women and democratization are casually brushed aside, but Machen fully draws upon the anxiety generated by the possibility of reversion opened up by the theory of evolution and explored by anthropologists and criminologists. Moreover, he breaks the original systematic association of « Gothic » and « barbaric » with « medieval » in order to include the refined cruelties and mysteries of pagan rites in his abject visions. In a final twist, he sets a barbaric scene in a decaying mansion meant to embody the eighteenth century, thus « gothicizing » the age of enlightenment and urbanity.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/8518 |
| spellingShingle | Claire Wrobel Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895) Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| title | Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895) |
| title_full | Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895) |
| title_fullStr | Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895) |
| title_short | Un roman néo-gothique : The Three Impostors d’Arthur Machen (1895) |
| title_sort | un roman neo gothique the three impostors d arthur machen 1895 |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/8518 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clairewrobel unromanneogothiquethethreeimpostorsdarthurmachen1895 |