1. Postmodern Gothic Literature
21st century literature

2. Postmodern Gothic:
Postmodern Gothic dates from the 1960s onwards. This is a kind of self-referential Gothic that is aware of its readers’ familiarity with the motifs and themes of the genre. Gothic texts in this period utilise the genre as a means to explore questions raised by feminism, anti- racism and Marxism.
What examples can you think of?
What are the features of the postmodern Gothic that you have read?

4. Features The monsters and dangers are closer to home
How do these features fit with the other gothic époques we have studied?
The monsters and dangers are closer to home
Suggests that the normal and comfortable can easily be broken down
The dark side of humanity is put on display
Voices terror of the ‘self’ towards the ‘other’
Boundaries and binaries are broken down
Scale, perspective and truth are played with/ lack of stability (metafiction)
Parody, exaggeration and subversion of genre (and other genres) and established texts
General playfulness – particularly with the earlier gothic

5. Postmodern Gothic Writers and their contexts: Research
Shirley Jackson - The Haunting of Hill House
Susan Hill – The Woman in Black
Ian McEwan – Enduring Love
Sarah Waters – The Little Stranger
Iain Banks – The Wasp Factory
Margaret Atwood – Oryx and Crake
How does their approach to Gothic compare to the texts we have studied so far?
How do you think the context of the 21st century has influenced these writers and the ways in which they write Gothic fiction?

6. The Wasp Factory (1984), Iain Banks
Read and annotate the extract, looking for:
Typically Gothic features (from the early, high or late Gothic);
Ways in which the writer subverts these features for a 21st century audience.

7. The Woman in Black (1983), Susan Hill
Read and annotate the extract, looking for:
Typically Gothic features (from the early, high or late Gothic);
Ways in which the writer subverts these features for a 21st century audience.

8. Southern Gothic
As a sub-genre of Gothic, Southern Gothic literature owes much to the conventions and tropes inherited from its literary ancestor. Southern Gothic established itself in the mid-20th century in response to the growing threats that racism and segregation presented to the ‘stability’ of Southern American society. Many of the most notable American authors of the 20th century write in this tradition. Though Southern Gothic does not entirely exclude the supernatural, it concerns itself more with disturbed personalities, racism, poverty, violence, moral corruption and ambiguity. Southern Gothic literature often deals with the plight of those who are ostracized or oppressed by traditional Southern culture including black people, women, and gay people.
Southern Gothic encompasses a diverse group of writings. In order to understand how Southern Gothic both draws upon and distinguishes itself from its generic ancestor, students should be encouraged to research and consider the following:

9. Task:
Look up summaries of works by Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960), Mary Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964), Eudora Welty (1909–2001) and Richard Wright (1908–1960).
What do you notice about the way race, class and gender are presented in the writing of these authors?
In what ways do Southern Gothic texts present the legacies of slavery and economic poverty?
To what extent do the Southern Gothic texts that you have researched draw upon the conventions and tropes of earlier Gothic narratives?

10. Magical Realism:
 Matthew Strecher defines magic realism as "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe.”
It is a chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy that is characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction.

11. ‘Strange Fruit’ (1954) by Billie Holliday
Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees1
Pastoral scene of the gallant south The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop
In what ways does Holliday use features of the Gothic or Southern Gothic in the song?

12. Homework:
Read Postmodern Gothic - the Case of Enduring Love (on The Learning Space).
Review all of the Gothic eras that we have looked at and their features.
Make sure your glossary is up to date with examples and definitions.
Remember that there are plenty of extracts to use for practice and articles on different Gothic texts and features on The Learning Space!