Collection of essays analyzing the various manifestations of racism in Gothic narratives: literature, film, TV, architecture. Essays range from traditional topics and interpretations of Gothic as vehicle for racism to Gothic as subversion and resistance to white, heteronormative privilege.

Gothic is a culture of alterity: it explores the Other and it posits itself as an Other. It found its roots in the concerted efforts of eighteenth-century authors who longed for the simple and exciting plotlines of medieval romances. At the same time, they were careful to populate other countries and/or other eras with ghosts, vampires, and monstrous villains. More recently, Gothic studies have flourished alongside a plethora of Gothic fiction, movies, and TV shows. These new works employ the genre’s conventional themes and cast of characters, while adding new features for new audiences. The perception of the Other has changed while a predilection for othering has endured. Our primary goal with this collection of essays is to contribute to the nascent field of Postcolonial Gothic Studies, understood binomially as a postcolonial version of “Gothic studies” and as the study of “postcolonial Gothic.”

Cristina Artenie's profile page

Cristina Artenie is a Dracula specialist of a postcolonial persuasion whose work includes co-editing Dracula: The Postcolonial Edition and the comparative survey of all major critical editions – from the 1970s until today – of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula: A Study of Editorial Practices.