As the term gothic has moved out from its confined space in 18th and 19th century European literature and is now applied to many literatures,both past and present,its definition has also become more and more expansive...As the term gothic has moved out from its confined space in 18th and 19th century European literature and is now applied to many literatures,both past and present,its definition has also become more and more expansive.The essay argues that critics should be more modest in the application of the gothic,not least by asking themselves whether“gothic”is the appropriate term to use to describe a specific plot turn or text.Especially in discussions of African American literature,the term gothic appears to this author sometimes misplaced.The essay gives a number of examples of problematic usages and of the risks associated with an overuse of“gothic,”among which are the reification of pain,a circular logic that does not elucidate anything,and the sidelining of other potential explanatory frameworks.展开更多
Like the other“new modernisms”Afro-Modernism does not exist beyond its role as a critical catchword.The readings given to African-American texts of the modernist period have been subjected to reductive treatments th...Like the other“new modernisms”Afro-Modernism does not exist beyond its role as a critical catchword.The readings given to African-American texts of the modernist period have been subjected to reductive treatments that have overlooked many factors.In this paper I will examine an unacknowledged feature of modernist works that radically changes the understanding of many important texts.One assumption of the critics of literary modernism is that individualism is a touchstone of the movement.One sign of the inapplicability of individuality to American modernism is the occurrence of esoteric group composition.The esoteric does not come into consideration by the literary critics who have established Afro-Modernism,so it is not within the scope of those investigations that challenges to individuality have been considered.展开更多
文摘As the term gothic has moved out from its confined space in 18th and 19th century European literature and is now applied to many literatures,both past and present,its definition has also become more and more expansive.The essay argues that critics should be more modest in the application of the gothic,not least by asking themselves whether“gothic”is the appropriate term to use to describe a specific plot turn or text.Especially in discussions of African American literature,the term gothic appears to this author sometimes misplaced.The essay gives a number of examples of problematic usages and of the risks associated with an overuse of“gothic,”among which are the reification of pain,a circular logic that does not elucidate anything,and the sidelining of other potential explanatory frameworks.
文摘Like the other“new modernisms”Afro-Modernism does not exist beyond its role as a critical catchword.The readings given to African-American texts of the modernist period have been subjected to reductive treatments that have overlooked many factors.In this paper I will examine an unacknowledged feature of modernist works that radically changes the understanding of many important texts.One assumption of the critics of literary modernism is that individualism is a touchstone of the movement.One sign of the inapplicability of individuality to American modernism is the occurrence of esoteric group composition.The esoteric does not come into consideration by the literary critics who have established Afro-Modernism,so it is not within the scope of those investigations that challenges to individuality have been considered.
