Gothikana

Gothic literature is a genre that became popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries due to its attention to atmosphere and penchant for dramatic twists and turns. Gothic novels typically show a strong sense of dread and foreboding, particularly of the influence of the past on the present or the influence of the supernatural—which may or may not be related. Literary critic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick noted the gothic’s connection to things which cannot be said, such as “unspeakable” horrors or “unutterable” terror (Kosofsky Sedgwick, Eve. The Coherence of Gothic Conventions. 1986. 2nd edition, Taylor and Francis. 2023.) In this aspect, gothic literature is connected to the sublime—though where the sublime focuses on the wonder of majestic sights, tinged with overwhelming sensations and fear, the gothic inverts these to focus on the fear of vast and unknowable nature, with occasional attention to its wondrousness.

Gothic literature is often recognized via its aesthetics. Gothic novels often take place in crumbling castles, in dark and mysterious forests, or in other remote, abandoned locations. These settings, like Verenmore castle, often serve to create a “time slip” effect that highlights how the past and the present intertwine. Ruined buildings signify, in gothic novels, the futility of human intervention compared to the ravages of time. Frightening woods, similarly, highlight the tension between man and nature.

The struggle between “civilized” man and “uncivilized” nature is further explored in other elements of gothic novels. Unusual eye colors, like Corvina’s purple and Vad’s silver, show the way untamed natural or supernatural forces resist human characters’ efforts to remain “civilized.” Vad’s name, which means “untamed,” is an illustration of this theme, as well as another nod to gothic traditions, which often find significant meaning in names. Gothic novels have convoluted linearity, often including dream sequences, shifts in narrators, or frame narratives. Gothic novels are often open-ended to a degree, leaving some mysteries unsolved. Whether or not certain things are hallucinated, real, or supernatural is often left unclear—such as Roy’s appearance in the lake, or the contents of the lake itself, which are never clarified in Gothikana.

Gothic literature has various subgenres, each of which has their own focus and themes. The most prominent of these is arguably the female gothic, which explores women’s sexual desires and societal fears. The threat of forced marriage, sexual assault, or incestuous relationships are prominent fears in this subgenre, eclipsing the less-defined fear of the supernatural. RuNyx turns this theme on its head by showing Jade—a young woman—as the one pursuing a relationship with the older Vad. Heroines of the female gothic often, like Corvina, search for an absent mother figure. RuNyx cites major figures in the female gothic, including Mary Shelley, Emily Brontë, and Ann Radcliffe as influences. Modern writers of the female gothic include Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of Mexican Gothic.

Other subgenres of gothic literature include American gothic literature (associated primarily with Edgar Allan Poe), Southern gothic literature (such as Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”), and contemporary gothic (such as The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson).