Haunted House in Women's Ghost Stories: Gender, Space and Modernity, 1850-1945

This book explores Victorian and modernist haunted houses in female-authored ghost stories as representations of the architectural uncanny, reconsidering the gendering of the supernatural in terms of unease, denial, disorientation, confinement, and claustrophobia within domestic space. It analyzes the reoccupation and appropriation of space by ghosts, women, and servants to address the opposition between the past and modernity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 307 pages
Publication date: 01 July 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This captivating book delves into the fascinating realm of Victorian and modernist haunted houses, as portrayed in female-authored ghost stories, and uncovers their profound significance as representations of the architectural uncanny. It challenges the traditional gendering of the supernatural, exploring the unsettling, denial, disorientation, confinement, and claustrophobia that permeate domestic spaces. By drawing upon spatial theory from renowned scholars such as Gaston Bachelard, Henri Lefebvre, and Elizabeth Grosz, the author analyzes the intricate ways in which ghosts, women, and servants reclaim and repurpose space, challenging the stark opposition between the past and modernity.

The book explores a diverse array of haunted spaces, including ancestral mansions, eerie gardens, suburban villas, Italian churches, and houses on the brink of demolition and ruin. These haunted locations serve as the backdrop for the captivating ghost stories, which are interpreted in the context of women's non-fictional writing on architecture, travel, interior design, sacred space, technology, the ideal home, and the servant problem. Prominent female writers like Elizabeth Gaskell, Margaret Oliphant, Vernon Lee, Edith Wharton, May Sinclair, and Elizabeth Bowen are examined in depth, shedding light on their unique perspectives and contributions to the genre.

This book appeals to a wide range of readers, including students and scholars interested in the ghost story, Female Gothic, Victorian and modernist womens writing, and the supernatural. It offers a thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between architecture, gender, and the supernatural, providing a fresh and insightful perspective on this captivating subject matter.

Weight: 422g
Dimension: 149 x 208 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030407544
Edition number: 1st ed. 2020