Even though the modern era has produced new forms of expression, movies and television still rely on timeless literary styles. The gothic plays a particularly strong role. In fact, UC Berkeley professor Dr. Jones criticizes, “film, as a medium born with the twentieth century, is both a latecomer to and an avid, unabashed plagiarizer of earlier literary forms of the Gothic.” A modern audience might associate gothic with a moody teenager clad in black and full of angst. However, Lilia Melani from the English Department of Brooklyn College defines what a work needs to be considered gothic. It must showcase “its remote setting, its use of the supernatural, and its medieval trappings, all of which have been so frequently imitated and so poorly imitated …show more content…
that they have become stereotypes” (Melani). One particular medium that does this well is animated movies. Many of the trademark and significant elements in typical gothic literature are found in animated films. To name a few, a setting in a castle, a mysterious and suspenseful atmosphere, an ancient prophecy, and omens are considered to be gothic (Harris). Supernatural events, high emotion, women in distress, and the metonymy of gloom and horror are also criteria used to measure gothic artistry (Harris). With this description in mind, several animated movies and television shows can be called gothic. To name a few, movies like Finding Nemo, Persona 3: #1 Spring of Birth, and the internet-television show RWBY all maintain gothic style in modern media. Firstly, Finding Nemo is a good example of how gothic concepts play a role in animated films.
This may seem like an odd choice, since when one typically thinks of this movie they picture colorful fish instead of a gothic setting. Nevertheless, the angler fish scene creates an atmosphere of mystery and suspense using darkness (Finding). Along with the music, the way this scene is animated gives the audience a scare that is gothic. The screen is black, until the fish find a seemingly harmless luminescent object (Finding). The darkness sets an ominous atmosphere, and the gradual reveal of the angler fish’s fangs is the cherry on top. An atmosphere like this is a primary aspect of gothic literature, since “the goal of the dark and mysterious setting is to create a sense of unease and foreboding, contributing toward the atmospheric element of fear and dread. Darkness also allows those sudden and frightening appearance[s] of people, animals, or monsters” …show more content…
(Harris). As for Persona 3: #1 Spring of Birth, the first installment of four animated movies, it has gothic components as well.
Like its three counterparts, it is based off of the game Persona 3. The story features a colorful group of High Schoolers who can summon “Personas,” or “the façade to overcome life’s hardships” (Persona). They all work together to fight creatures known as shadows who threaten to pollute the world (Persona). One of the most prevalent gothic elements in this film are the visions and omens that appear. Throughout the film, the main protagonist Makoto Yuki sees strange people that no one else notices (Persona). He encounters a mysterious boy named Pharos and an old man called Igor (Persona). Every time he sees them, the two warn him of a catastrophic event (Persona). Sometimes, they will give him helpful tips when fighting monsters
(Persona). Lastly, the ongoing web show RWBY radiates with gothic styles and structures. The main premise of this show revolves around hunters and huntresses who fight monsters, the creatures of Grimm, in order to keep their world safe. It focuses on four characters in particular, which are Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. Concerning gothic aspects, there are numerous castles in the setting of RWBY. The world in RWBY is separated into four kingdoms (“Kingdoms”). Each of those have their own respective castles, with a mix of classic and futuristic architecture (“The Shining Beacon”). Some other residencies, such as where the antagonist Salem and her faction reside are also castles (“The Next Step”). To conclude, all three of these pieces of media demonstrate gothic elements that are significant to the story. Though all unique and different, they carry concepts that have roots in gothic literature. Some may like to think that modern entertainment and other outlets are set apart from works of the past with completely new ideas. While media and storytelling has changed, it is not a completely new animal. Literature, especially that of the gothic, continue to influence the current work of this era.
Various authors develop their stories using gothic themes and characterizations of this type to lay the foundation for their desired reader response. Although Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Peter Taylor’s “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time” are two completely different narratives, both of these stories share a commonality of gothic text representations. The stories take slightly different paths, with Poe’s signifying traditional gothic literature and Taylor approaching his story in a more contemporary manner.
Gothic Literature was a natural progression from romanticism, which had existed in the 18th Century. Initially, such a ‘unique’ style of literature was met with a somewhat mixed response; although it was greeted with enthusiasm from members of the public, literary critics were much more dubious and sceptical.
Romantic literature, as Kathy Prendergast further claims, highlighted things like splendor, greatness, vividness, expressiveness, intense feelings of passion, and stunning beauty. The Romantic literary genre favored “parts” over “whole” and “content” over “form”. The writer argues that though both the Romantic literary genre and the Gothic art mode were medieval in nature, they came to clash with what was called classical conventions. That’s why, preoccupations with such things as the supernatural, the awful, the dreadful, the repulsive and the grotesque were the exclusive focus of the nineteenth century Gothic novel. While some critics perceived the Gothic as a sub-genre of Romanticism, some others saw it as a genre in its own right (Prendergast).
Punter David, ‘The Literature of Terror’, in A History of Gothic Fictions from 1765 to the Present Day, The Modern Gothic. Harlow, eds. (UK: Pearson Education, 1996)
Word by word, gothic literature is bound to be an immaculate read. Examining this genre for what it is could be essential to understanding it. “Gothic” is relating to the extinct East Germanic language, people of which known as the Goths. “Literature” is defined as a written work, usually with lasting “artistic merit.” Together, gothic literature combines the use of horror, death, and sometimes romance. Edgar Allan Poe, often honored with being called the king of horror and gothic poetry, published “The Fall of House Usher” in September of 1839. This story, along with many other works produced by Poe, is a classic in gothic literature. In paragraph nine in this story, one of our main characters by the name of Roderick Usher,
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If that is true, I would have to say that many people praise American Gothic every day. It is parodied in the political cartoons of the newspapers around the country and on television as well. Almost anyone could recognize the solemn couple from having been printed on everything from coffee mugs to mousepads. Grant Wood’s classic tale of a farming family in rural Iowa has truly
Tibbetts, John C. The Gothic Imagination: Conversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
Gothic literature was developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth century of the Gothic era when war and controversy was too common. It received its name after the Gothic architecture that was becoming a popular trend in the construction of buildings. As the buildings of daunting castles and labyrinths began, so did the beginning foundation of Gothic literature. The construction of these buildings will later become an obsession with Gothic authors. For about 300 years before the Renaissance period, the construction of these castles and labyrinths continued, not only in England, but also in Gothic stories (Landau 2014). Many wars and controversies, such as the Industrial Revolution and Revolutionary War, were happening at this time, causing the Gothic literature to thrive (“Gothic Literature” 2011). People were looking for an escape from the real world and the thrill that Gothic literature offered was exactly what they needed. Gothic literature focuses on the horrors and the dark sides to the human brain, such as in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein. Gothic literature today, as well as in the past, has been able to separate itself apart from other types of literature with its unique literary devices used to create fear and terror within the reader.
The term ‘Gothic’ conjures a range of possible meanings, definitions and associations. It explicitly denotes certain historical and cultural phenomena. Gothicism was part of the Romantic Movement that started in the eighteenth century and lasted about three decades into the nineteenth century. For this essay, the definition of Gothic that is applicable is: An 18th century literary style characterized by gloom and the supernatural. In the Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a wide range of issues are explored. Frankenstein represents an entirely new vision of the female Gothic, along with many other traditional themes such as religion, science, colonialism and myth.
For my video paper I chose to do a Pixar movie called Finding Nemo. Although Pixar movies are more aimed for the younger generations, it is becoming more popular for these movies to be introduced in the classrooms. In our DeVito text it shows and explains all the different forms of communication that can be related back to Finding Nemo. Along with other Pixar movies, they all portray many different aspects of communication. Nonverbal communication is presented in the movie by using gestures/movement. Although cartoon characters are not actually real people in the movie, they are created by real people who have experienced nonverbal communication in their lives.
Hudson, Nicholas. "What is 'Gothic'." Approaches to Literature. University of British Columbia. Buchanan A, Vancouver, BC. 9 Sept. 2013. Lecture.
... subtle and not-so-subtle depictions of society and the truth that lurks in that society of that time. However, when compared to the 21st century, no form of reading is ever determined ‘dangerous’, arguably, for the young to read. As a civilized society we accept different forms of reading whether it is dark or an especially happy ending we have developed an open mind to consider whatever kind of literature to read. For those who are not interested in literature are encouraged to read the novels that the films have depicted. Either way, gothic literature is still immensely popular whether it is depicted in film, TV, music etc. there will always be a fascination with the art, architecture or history of gothic literature or the ‘gothic’ in general – children, teenagers, adults are fascinated with gothic literature in the different variations that appeals to them.
America is haunted, by headless horsemen and bloody battles, by addiction and a self gratifying obsession with immortality. America has a long-standing tradition with the gothic, and some of our most widely recognized authors, such as Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, and Stephen King, a more recent author borrowed from popular literature, utilize it frequently if not wholly in their writing. The gothic is an intrinsic part of our national identity, inhabiting our folklore, our literature, and influencing the way in which we view our celebrities and ultimately, ourselves.
Michael Gamer, Romanticism and the Gothic: Genre, Reception, and Canon Formation (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2000) 15, Questia, Web, 29 May 2010.
Science fiction and the Gothic share many similarities: a dark view of humanity, times of social and cultural upheaval, and conflicts between the old and the new, to name a few. But Gothic science fiction stories seem contained to Shelley-esque monsters and candle-lit laboratories, not in the pastel-toned and softly lit Spike Jonze movie Her. However, Jonze utilizes elements of the Gothic as described by Dr. Jerrold Hogle in his introductory essay “Introduction: modernity and the proliferation of the Gothic” to illustrate the ways in which technological advancements are slowly but surely driving us away from each other, painting innovation as a classic Gothic monster of our own making. Ultimately, Jonze argues that, while the unrelenting advance