The Encyclopedia of the Gothic - Review

“Infinity made imaginable.”

A review of The Encyclopedia of the Gothic (2016), edited by William Hughes, David Punter and Andrew Smith. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 978-1-119-06460-2. (880 pages).

     The general editors (William Hughes, David Punter and Andrew Smith) begin their Introduction to The Encyclopedia of the Gothic by employing the now well-known story of the Chinese encyclopedia, popularized by Jorge Luis Borges and by Michel Foucault in The Order of Things (1970). Although they choose to employ the definite article in their chosen title, their enlightened emphasis on ‘provisionality’ hints at the struggle with the ‘epistemologically firm structure of an encyclopedia’ (p. xxxiv). Indeed, the evidence of diversity and the proliferation of resources [FN1] on gothic appears to challenge the possibility of constructing an encyclopedia in fixed media. Fortunately, the online version will provide an opportunity to interact with the suggestions of readers in order to cope with ‘an ever evolving genre’ (p. xxxviii). Nonetheless, the print version marks an excellent opportunity to take stock of the current state of play in gothic studies and to critically survey this gargantuan domain of academic research.

     In one sense, it might be proposed that academic canonicity originates in the authority and the legitimacy of scholars recruited to the project. In addition to the esteemed general editors the reviewer counted some 40 professors amongst the 131 contributors writing on 244 topics. It is also reassuring for the health of the subject that many early career scholars have joined forces with the influential writers who have been transforming the theoretical directions of Gothic studies since the 1980s.

     In short, it’s a highly impressive and monumental effort of collaborative scholarship. I do not envy the task of the editors who must bear the burden of their judiciousness: what to include, what to exclude. Digging deeper reveals that there are underlying narratives and a sense of shared assumptions about the Gothic project and approaches to reflecting on the diverse phenomena conceptually and theoretically.  Given that the gothic genre is not confined to a canon of literary texts the critical project is all the more arduous and the monster of possibility spreads out in all directions. Gothic has become a global project, national and transnational in its replication and migration. As if nodding to the academic industry that has fuelled the dissemination of gothic the editors kindly offer an entry at the centre of their encyclopedia around which all other entries circulate: the International Gothic Association (IGA), whose inaugural conference was held at the University of East Anglia in 1991. Incidentally, two of the general editors, Andrew Smith and William Hughes, are co-presidents of the International Gothic Association, and the latter is also the founding editor of Gothic Studies, the refereed journal of the International Gothic Association.

     It is rather impertinent to question whether a book of this kind is really needed when so much is already available elsewhere, and more material than ever is available on open access. Indeed, the IGA website (www.iga.stir.ac.uk) is a useful place to start. Google Scholar throws up 442,000 references to ‘gothic’ so it’s undoubtedly very helpful to have some guidance to refine the search terms. Certainly this volume compares well with a range of other histories, guides, and companions that have been designed to cater for the undergraduate market. It’s obviously also a safe place to start for students who want to research a specific topic, or to improve their awareness of key themes, concepts, and theoretical approaches. The editors have managed to meet the need for accessibility without falling into the trap of a gross over-simplification of complex ideas. Entries range in length from a thousand words, up to five thousand for ‘period’ surveys. The general policy of the editors has been to offer a survey of the gothic field that covers ‘periods, places, people and media.’ (p. xxxvii) Short bibliographies accompany each entry, together with cross-references. A well-constructed traditional index also helped this reviewer to track down more minor topics that I had deemed to have been missed out.

     Comparison with the much demonised Wikipedia reveals the value of having an erudite collection of short articles that serve as a trusted introduction to key topics in the field of Gothic studies. In terms of geography there are well-informed entries on the regional, national, or wider traditions: African American Gothic (Carol Margaret Davison), American Gothic (Charles L. Crow), Anglo-Caribbean Gothic (Carol Margaret Davison), Asian Gothic (Katarzyna Ancuta), Australian Gothic (Ken Gelder), Canadian Gothic (Faye Hammill), Dutch Gothic (Agnes Andeweg), European Gothic (Francesca Billiani), French Gothic (Terry Hale), Japanese Gothic (Katarzyna Ancuta), Jewish Gothic (Ruth Gilbert), New England Gothic (Faye Ringel), New Zealand Gothic (Timothy Jones), Russian Gothic (Neil Cornwell), Scandinavian Gothic (Yvonne Leffler), Scottish Gothic (Carol Margaret Davison), Southern [US] Gothic (Meredith Miller), and Welsh Gothic (Jane Aaron); but curiously British Gothic and English Gothic are omitted as self-standing entries. One assumes that these categories were sufficiently represented elsewhere, like a background noise that is unnoticed, or a torture to which we have so long submitted that we no longer feel the pain of its presence. (I note that Wikipedia has an entries on ‘Tasmanian Gothic’ and ‘Southern Ontario Gothic’; whereas the Encyclopedia offers ‘Fin-de- siècle Gothic’ (Emily Alder) Wikipedia supplements with an entry on ‘Mal du siècle’.)

     The notion of transnationalism and the migration of Gothic tropes and narratives is evidently becoming more urgent as a focus for international scholarship and collaboration. In this regard David Punter’s entry on ‘Theory’ notes: ‘it involves the constant contact, now prevalent more than ever before because of the globalized spread of cultural interchange, between Western textualities and “indigeneous” folktales and related material.’ (692) Undoubtedly the traffic is multi-dimensional and therefore the encyclopedic projects of a Western intelligentsia and the habits of cultural consumers need to be constantly alerted to the notion of the key role of ‘provisionality’ and ‘interaction’ previously noted.

     Psychoanalytic and other theoretical approaches to Gothic are well served in this volume, perhaps revealing the interest of the general editors and the academic readership that the book targets. Taking a lead from Dale Townshend’s The orders of Gothic: Foucault, Lacan and the subject of Gothic writing, 1764-1806 (2007) David Punter’s entry on ‘Theory’ notes that theory ‘does not have to bifurcate into, on the one hand, purely historical study and, on the other, an attempt to demonstrate “universal” aspects.’ (692)

     Many entries bear the bite marks of the kiss of theory and most are commendable for their clarity and accessibility; examples include:  Abjection (Elisabeth Bronfen); Blood (William Hughes); Commodity Gothicism (Tricia Lootens); Criticism (William Hughes); Cryptonymy (Cynthia Sugars); Doubles (Dale Townshend); Environment (Gregg Garrard); Female Gothic (Diana Wallace); the Grotesque (Maria Parrino); Liminality (Katie Garner); Monstrosity (Jerold E. Hogle); Phobia (Anthony Mandal); Poststructuralism and Gothic(Julian Wolfreys); Psychoanalysis (Roger Luckhurst); Queer Gothic (Max Fincher); Sex (Ruth Anolik); Spectrality (Julian Wolfreys); the Sublime (Max Fincher); the Uncanny (Anneleen Masschelein) and Zombies (Fred Botting). All entries pay lip service to a theoretical approach but it would not be kind to assert, or to give the impression, that a theory-driven agenda dominates and overwhelms other kinds of critical appreciation and historical enquiry. In this case, the gothic church is highly accommodating and tolerant.

     Curiously, the entry on Future Gothic (Nema Montezero) appears without any References or Further Reading. Is that the Shape of Things to Come? Media topics are represented by entries on popular TV, Film (Stephen Carver), Games (Tanya Krzywinska); Radio (Richard  J. Hand), and many more. The longest entries (up to five thousand words) in The Encyclopedia of the Gothic tend to be devoted to the surveys of periods and movements. These entries provide a convenient route for students who are embarking on the study of the gothic for the first time and who need a judicious summary rather than an awesome monograph. Given the high cost of downloading academic articles, it is evident that a modest investment in a resource such as The Encyclopedia of the Gothic clearly represents excellent value for undergraduates, independent scholars and general readers. The theoretical approaches will also prove an essential resource for those seeking to engage with current academic research on the gothic.

Ian McCormick, M.A.(St Andrews), PhD (Leeds).

FN1: 'Nobody ever complains of having too little to read, as Richard Fisher, the managing director of Cambridge University Press’s academic division, has put it at many conferences.' See Martin Paul Eve, Open Access and the Humanities: Contexts, Controversies and the Future. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

TOPICS COVERED:

• Abjection
• Abyss
• Adultery
• African American Gothic
• Aickman, Robert
• Ainsworth, William Harrison
• Alcohol
• American Gothic
• Amityville
• Angel
• Anglo-Caribbean Gothic
• Anti-Semitism
• Apparition
• Architecture, Gothic
• Asylums
• Atwood, Margaret
• Australian Gothic
• Avatar

• Barker, Clive
• Baudelaire, Charles
• Beckford, William
• Benson, E. F.
• Bierce, Ambrose
• Blackwood, Algernon
• Blood
• Bluebooks
• Braddon, Mary Elizabeth
• Brite, Poppy Z.
• Brown, Charles Brockden
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Bulwer-Lytton, Edward
• Burger, Gottfried
• Burton, Tim
• Byron, George Gordon, sixth Baron

• Cabell, James B.
• Campbell, Ramsey
• Campus Gothic
• Canadian Gothic
• Carter, Angela
• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
• Collins, Wilkie
• Colonial Gothic
• Comic Gothic
• Comics and graphic novels
• Commodity Gothic
• Confession
• Coover, Robert
• Corelli, Marie
• Counterfeit
• Crime
• Criticism
• Cronenberg, David
• Crowley, Aleister
• Cryptonymy
• Cult Fiction
• Cults, Gothic
• Curse

• Dacre, Charlotte
• Davis, M. E. M.
• De Quincey, Thomas
• de Sade, Marquis
• Degeneration
• Dickens, Charles
• Disability
• Domestic Gothic
• Dostoevsky, Fyodor
• Doubles
• Drama
• Dream
• Drugs
• du Maurier, Daphne
• Dutch Gothic

• Editorship
• Ellis, Bret Easton
• Environment
• European Gothic

• Family
• Fate
• Faulkner, William
• Female Gothic
• Film, Gothic
• Folklore and Gothic
• Freeman, Mary Wilkins
• French Gothic
• French Gothic Film
• Friday the 13th
• Future Gothic

• Games
• German Expressionism
• German Gothic
• Ghost Stories
• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
• Godwin, William
• Goth
• Gothic 1900 to 1950
• Gothic 1950 to the Present
• Gothic Revival Architecture
• Graveyard Poetry
• Grotesque, The

• Halloween
• Hammer
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel
• Herbert, James
• Hill, Susan
• Hoffmann, E. T. A.
• Hogg, James
• Hope-Hodgson, William
• Horrid
• Horror Fiction
• Hypnotism

• Imperial Gothic
• Incest
• Inheritance
• Inquisition
• International Gothic Association, The
• Intertext
• Ireland, William Henry
• Irish Gothic

• Jackson, Shirley
• James, Henry
• James, M.R.
• Japanese Gothic
• Jewish Gothic

• Kafka, Franz
• King, Stephen
• Kipling, Rudyard

• Lathom, Francis
• Law and the Gothic
• LeFanu, Sheridan
• Lemoine, Ann
• Lesbian Gothic
• Lewis, Matthew
• Liminality
• Lovecraft, H. P.
• Lugosi, Bela

• Macabre, The
• MacDonald, George
• Machen, Arthur
• Magazines
• Manga
• Marsh, Richard
• Masks, Veils and Disguises
• Matheson, Richard
• Maturin, Charles 
• McCabe, Patrick
• McCarthy, Cormac
• McGrath, Patrick
• Mediumship
• Melodrama
• Melville, Herman
• Misogyny
• Modernism
• Monster Movies
• Monstrosity
• Mummy
• Music

• Necromancy
• New England Gothic
• New Zealand Gothic
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Nordier, Charles

• O’Connor, Flannery
• Oates, Joyce Carol
• Occultism
• Odoevsky
• Opera

• Penny Dreadfuls
• Phobia
• Poe, Edgar Allan
• Poison
• Polidori, John
• Popular Culture
• Portraiture
• Postcolonial Gothic
• Postmodern Gothic
• Poststructuralism and the Gothic
• Protestantism
• Psychical investigation
• Psychoanalysis
• Psychological Thrillers

• Queer Gothic

• Race
• Radcliffe, Ann
• Radio
• Reeve, Clara
• Reynolds, George
• Rice, Anne
• Rohmer, Sax
• Roman Catholicism
• Romanticism
• Rosicrucianism
• Ruins
• Russian Gothic

• Scandinavian Gothic
• Schiller, Friedrich
• Science and the Gothic
• Scottish Gothic
• Secret Histories
• Secret societies
• Sensation Fiction
• Sensibility
• Sex
• Shelley, Mary
• Shelley, Percy Bysshe
• Shilling Shocker
• Sinclair, May
• Slasher movies
• Slavery
• Southern Gothic
• Spectacle
• Spectrality
• Spiritualism
• Stevenson, Robert Louis
• Stoker, Bram
• Straub, Peter
• Sturm und Drang
• Sublime, The
• Suburban Gothic
• Supernatural, The

• Taboo
• Tales of Terror
• Teaching Gothic
• Technologies
• Teenage Gothic
• Tegg, Thomas
• Television
• Terror
• Theory and Gothic
• Thompson, Alice
• Translation
• Twilight

• Uncanny, The
• Urban Gothic

• Vampire fiction
• Victorian Gothic
• Village Gothic
• Voodooism

• Walpole, Horace
• Wells, H. G.
• Welsh Gothic
• Werewolf
• Wharton, Edith
• Wheatley, Dennis
• Wilkinson, Sarah
• Williams, Tennessee
• Witchcraft
• Wordsworth, William

• Zombies

CONTRIBUTORS:

Aaron, Jane	University of Glamorgan	UK
Alder, Emily	Edinburgh Napier University	UK
Ancuta, Katarzyna	Assumption University of Thailand	Thailand
Anderweg, Agnes	Maastricht University	Netherlands
Anolik, Ruth	Villanova University	USA
Armitt, Lucie	University of Salford	UK
Bak, John S.	Nancy Université	France
Balmain, Colette		UK
Barlett, Mackenzie
Bennett, Mark		UK
Berthin, Christine	Universite Paris Quest	France
Billiani, Francesca	University of Manchester	UK
Billingham, Peter		UK
Blake, Linnie	Manchester Metropolitan University	UK
Botting, Fred	University of Lancaster	UK
Bronfen, Elisabeth	Englisches Seminar	Switzerland
Byron, Glennis	University of Stirling	UK
Campbell, James	University of Stirling	UK
Carver, Stephen	Norwich School of Art and Design	UK
Carver, Stephan	University of East Anglia	UK
Chaplin, Susan	Leeds Metropolitan University	UK
Chromik, Anna	Institute of English Cultures and Literatures
Collins, Richard	Louisianna State University	USA
Cologne-Brookes, Bath Spa University	UK
Conrich, Ian	Birkbeck College, University of London	UK
Cooper, Andrew	Georgia Institute of Technology	USA
Crow, Charles		USA
Curl, James Stevens		UK
Daly, Nick	University College Dublin	ROI
Davison, Carol Margaret	University of Windsor	Canada
Edwards, Justin	University of Surrey	UK
Fincher, Max		UK
Fischer, Benjamin Franklin		USA
Foley, Matt	Stirling University	UK
Franklin, Caroline	Swansea University	UK
Freeman, Nick	Loughborough University	UK
Garrard, Greg	Bath Spa University	UK
Gelder, Ken	University of Melbourne	Australia
Germana, Monica	University of Westminster	UK
Gibson, Matthew		UK
Gilbert, Ruth		UK
Hale, Terry	Hull University	UK
Hammill, Faye	University of Strathclyde	UK
Hand, Richard J.	University of Glamorgan	UK
Hartnell-Mottram, Elaine	Liverpool Hope University	UK
Heholt, Ruth	Falmouth University	UK
Hoeveler, Diane Long	Marquette University	USA
Hogle, Jerrold	University of Arizona	USA
Hollington, Mike
Horner, Avril	Kingston University	UK
Huang, Chiung-ying	Bristol University	UK
Hughes, William	Bath Spa University	UK
Inouye, Charles	Tufts University	USA
Jones, Tim	Victoria University fo Wellington	New Zealand
Joshi, S T
Kahan, Jeffrey		USA
Killeen, Jarlath	Trinity College Dublin	ROI
Krzywinska, Tanya	Brunel University	UK
Leffler, Yvonne	University of Gothenburg	Sweden
Lippert, Conny	University of Bristol	UK
Lloyd, Rebecca	Falmouth University	UK
Lootens, Tricia	University of Georgia	USA
Luckhurst, Roger	Birkbeck College, University of London	UK
Mandal, Anthony	Cardiff University	UK
Mason, Diane		UK
Masschelein, Anneleen	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven	Belgium
McClure, Nancy		USA
McDowell, Stacey	University of Bristol	UK
McEvoy, Emma	University of Westminster	UK
McWilliams, Ellen	Bath Spa University	UK
Menegaldo, Gilles	University of Poitiers	France
Meyers, Helene	Southwestern University	USA
Michasiw, Kim	York University	Canada
Milbank, Alison	Nottingham University	UK
Miles, Robert	University of Victoria	Canada
Miller, Meredith	Falmouth University	UK
Monk, Nicholas	University of Warwick	UK
Mousoutzanis, Aris		UK
Mulvey, Roberts	University of the West of England	UK
Munford, Becky	Cardiff University	UK
Murname, Barry	Martin-Luther  University	UK
Ni Chonaill, Siobhan	University of Cambridge	UK
Nordius, Janina	University of Gothenburg	Sweden
O'Gorman, Farrell	De Paul University	USA
O'Keefe, Ciaran
Owen, Tomos	Cardiff University	UK
Packham, Jimmy	University of Bristol	UK
Palmer, Paulina		UK
Parrinder, Patrick	University of Reading	UK
Parrino, Maria	Bristol University	UK
Peach, Linden	Edge Hill University	UK
Pittard, Christopher	Newcastle University	UK
Pittock, Murray	University of Glasgow	UK
Potter, Franz	National University	USA
Powell, Anna	Manchester Metropolitan University	UK
Punter, David	University of Bristol	UK
Purinton, Marjean	Texas Tech University	USA
Purves, Maria	Lucy Cavendish College	UK
Raghunath, Anita	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam	The Netherlands
Redford, Catherine	University of Bristol	UK
Ringel, Faye	U.S. Coast Guard Academy	USA
Roberts, Marie Mulvey	University of the West of England	UK
Round, Julia	Bournemouth University	UK
Royle, Nicholas		UK
Ruddell, Caroline	St Mary's University College	UK
Sage, Vic	University of East Anglia	UK
Sausman, Justin	Birkbeck College, University of London	UK
Scahill, Andrew	University of Texas at Austin	USA
Scullion, Val		UK
Smith, Andrew	University of Glamorgan	UK
Smith, Andy W.	University of Wales, Newport	UK
Spooner, Catherine	Lancaster University	UK
Stelle, Ginger	University of St Andrews	UK
Stephanou, Aspasia	University of Stirling	UK
Stoddard Holmes, Martha	California State University	USA
Sugars, Cynthia	University of Ottawa	Canada
Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence	Universite de Toulouse II	France
Thomas, Ardel	City College of San Francisco	USA
Thompson, Douglass H.	Georgia Southern University	USA
Townshend, Dale	University of Stirling	UK
Voller, Jack	Southern Illinois University	USA
Wallace, Diana	University of Glamorgan	UK
Warwick, Alex	University of Westminster	UK
Watson, Rory	University of Sterling	UK
Weinstock, Jeffrey	Central Michigan University	USA
Whatley, John	Simon Fraser University	Canada
Wheatley, Helen	University of Warwick	UK
Williams, Anne		USA
Willis, Martin	University of Glamorgan	UK
Wisker, Gina	University of Brighton	UK
Witchard, Anne	University of WestminsterUK	UK
Wolfreys, Julian	Loughborough University	UK
Worrall, David	Nottingham Trent University	UK
Wright, Angela	University of Sheffield	UK
Wright, Elizabeth	Bath Spa University	UK
Wright, Angela	University of Sheffield	UK
Zapp, Andrea	Manchester Metropolitan University	UK
Zlosnik, Sue	Manchester Metropolitan	UK