Comic Gothic - (Edinburgh Companions to the Gothic) by Avril Horner & Sue Zlosnik

About the Book

Extends the body of scholarship on Comic Gothic to cover contemporary texts, new media and texts from other cultures

Book Synopsis

The Edinburgh Companion to Comic Gothic explores the role of irony, satire, parody, pastiche and the absurd in Gothic texts dating from the eighteenth century up to the present day. Its particular focus on the use of Comic Gothic in social media and popular culture make it a distinctive and original contribution to Gothic studies that will be especially welcomed by undergraduate and postgraduate students.

From the Back Cover

[headline]Extends the existing body of scholarship on Comic Gothic to cover new media, contemporary texts and writing from a range of cultures Comic Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion explores the role of irony, satire, parody, pastiche and the absurd in Gothic texts dating from the eighteenth century to the present day. By bringing together important analyses of classic and recent Gothic texts, this collection assesses the place of Comic Gothic in the realms of culture, social interaction and politics. From revisiting foundational Gothic writers such as Horace Walpole to highlighting contemporary Gothic fiction from across the world, seventeen essays examine the role of comedy in early formations of the Gothic and the genre today. Its particular focus on the use of Comic Gothic in social media, popular culture and the visual domain make this book a distinctive and original contribution to Gothic Studies. [editor biographies] Avril Horner is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Kingston University, London. With Sue Zlosnik she has co-authored many articles and several books, including Daphne du Maurier: Writing, Identity and the Gothic Imagination (1998), Gothic and the Comic Turn (2005) and Women and the Gothic (2016). Other works include Edith Wharton: Sex, Satire and the Older Woman (with Janet Beer, 2011) and Living on Paper: Letters from Iris Murdoch, 1934-1995 (with Anne Rowe, 2015). Sue Zlosnik is Emeritus Professor of English at Manchester Metropolitan University and former co-President of the International Gothic Association. With Avril Horner, she has published six books, including the aforementioned, as well as numerous articles. Alone, she has published essays on writers as diverse as J. R. R. Tolkien and Chuck Palahniuk, and a monograph, Patrick McGrath (2011). She is co-editor (with Agnes Andeweg) of Gothic Kinship (2013).

Review Quotes

The Gothic has to do with the dark, but ever since the days of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey it has also had its comic side, revelling in exaggeration, melodrama, pastiche, satire and the absurd, as this brilliant collection of essays demonstrates across a satisfyingly wide range of periods and styles.

--David Punter, University of Bristol

About the Author

Avril Horner is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Kingston University. With Sue Zlosnik she has co-authored many articles and several books, including Daphne du Maurier: Writing, Identity and the Gothic Imagination (1998), Gothic and the Comic Turn (2005) and Women and the Gothic (2016). Other works include Edith Wharton: Sex, Satire and the Older Woman (with Janet Beer, 2011) and Living on Paper: Letters from Iris Murdoch, 1934-1995 (with Anne Rowe, 2015). Alone, she has published essays on writers such as Djuna Barnes, Kate Chopin, Iris Murdoch and Carol Ann Duffy. Her biography of Barbara Comyns will be published in 2024.

Sue Zlosnik is Emeritus Professor of English at Manchester Metropolitan University and former co-President of the International Gothic Association. With Avril Horner, she has published six books, including Daphne du Maurier: Writing, Identity and the Gothic Imagination (1998), Gothic and the Comic Turn (2005), The Edinburgh Companion to Women and the Gothic (2016) as well as numerous essays and articles. Alone, she has published essays on writers as diverse as J. R. R. Tolkien and Chuck Palahniuk and a monograph, Patrick McGrath (2011). She is co-editor (with Agnes Andeweg) of Gothic Kinship (2013).