Haunting Realities: Naturalist Gothic and American Realism

The collection of essays "Haunting Realities" explores the paradoxical alignment of Realism and Naturalism with the Gothic in American literature, highlighting their shared qualities of pessimism and the perception of a fearful presence that haunts an impending modernity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 19 July 2022
Publisher: The University of Alabama Press

Following the golden age of British Gothic in the late eighteenth century, the American Gothic's pinnacle is often recognized as having taken place during the decades of American Romanticism. However, Haunting Realities explores the period of American Realism—the end of the nineteenth century—to discover evidence of fertile ground for another age of Gothic proliferation.

At first glance, "Naturalist Gothic" seems to be a contradiction in terms. While the Gothic is known for its sensational effects, with its emphasis on horror and the supernatural, the doctrines of late nineteenth-century Naturalism attempted to move away from the aesthetics of sentimentality and stressed sobering, mechanistic views of reality steeped in scientific thought and the determinism of market values and biology. Nonetheless, what binds Gothicism and Naturalism together is a vision of shared pessimism and the perception of a fearful, lingering presence that ominously haunts an impending modernity. Indeed, it seems that in many Naturalist works, reality is so horrific that it can only be depicted through Gothic tropes that prefigure the alienation and despair of modernism.

In recent years, research on the Gothic has flourished, yet there has been no extensive study of the links between the Gothic and Naturalism, particularly those which stem from the early American Realist tradition. Haunting Realities is a timely volume that addresses this gap and is an important addition to scholarly work on both the Gothic and Naturalism in the American literary tradition.

The Gothic and Naturalism share a vision of a shared pessimism and the perception of a fearful, lingering presence that haunts an impending modernity. This is particularly evident in the works of American Realist writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Stephen Crane, who used Gothic tropes to depict the horrors of the Industrial Revolution and the urbanization of America.

In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Poe uses Gothic elements such as the decaying mansion, the mysterious figure of the narrator's twin sister, and the haunting presence of the dead to depict the psychological collapse of the narrator. Similarly, Melville's "Moby-Dick" is a classic example of Naturalist Gothic, with its emphasis on the brutality of the sea and the destructive power of capitalism.

Crane's "The Open Boat" is another example of Naturalist Gothic, with its depiction of a group of men stranded in a boat and facing the harsh realities of survival in the open sea. The novel uses Gothic elements such as the sea's unpredictability, the men's fear and desperation, and the looming threat of death to depict the brutal and inhospitable nature of the modern world.

Despite the apparent contradiction between the Gothic and Naturalist movements, there are several shared qualities that bind them together. Both movements emphasize the horror and the supernatural, with a focus on the darker aspects of human nature and the human experience. Both movements also stress the importance of scientific thought and the determinism of market values and biology, with a belief in the power of science to explain and control the world.

Furthermore, both movements share a sense of alienation and despair, with a perception of a world that is chaotic, unpredictable, and often cruel. This sense of alienation is particularly evident in the works of American Realist writers, who often depicted the struggles of ordinary people in the face of social and economic inequality and the pressures of urbanization.

In conclusion, Haunting Realities is a valuable addition to scholarly work on both the Gothic and Naturalism in the American literary tradition. The book explores the period of American Realism to discover evidence of fertile ground for another age of Gothic proliferation, highlighting the shared qualities that bind Gothicism and Naturalism together. Through a close analysis of the works of American Realist writers, the book demonstrates how Gothic tropes can be used to depict the horrors of the modern world and how the two movements can be seen as complementary rather than contradictory.

Weight: 474g
Dimension: 153 x 228 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780817360597