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University of Wales Press - Ardel Haefele-Thomas

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Queer Others in Victorian Gothic: Transgressing Monstrosity explores the intersections of Gothic, cultural, gender, queer, socio-economic and postcolonial theories in nineteenth-century British representations of sexuality, gender, class and race. From mid-century authors like Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell to fin-de-siecle writers such as J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Florence Marryat and Vernon Lee, this study examines the ways that these Victorian writers utilized gothic horror as a proverbial 'safe space' in which to grapple with taboo social and cultural issues. This work simultaneously explores our current assumptions about a Victorian culture that was monolithic in its disdain for those who were 'other'.
Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: The Spinster and the Hijra: How Queers Save Heterosexual Marriage in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone Chapter Three: Escaping Heteronormativity: Queer Family Structures in Elizabeth Gaskell's Lois the Witch and 'The Grey Woman' Chapter Four: Disintegrating Binaries, Disintegrating Bodies: Queer Imperial Transmogrifications in H. Rider Haggard's She Chapter Five: '"One Does Things Abroad That One Would Not Dream Of Doing In England"': Miscegenation and Queer Female Vampirism in J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla and Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire Chapter Six: In Defense of Her Queer Community: Vernon Lee's Coded Decadent Gothic

Sujets

Literary Criticism

Idioma inglés

English

Romance

Gothic

Anglais

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Publié par	University of Wales Press
Date de parution	15 mars 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780708324660
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1250€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Gothic Literary Studies
Queer Others
in Victorian Gothic
Transgressing Monstrosity
Ardel Haefele-Thomas
University of Wales Press
Demy cover Gothic Lit St template copy.indd 1 28/03/2012 19:41:22Demy cover Gothic Lit St template copy.indd 2 28/03/2012 19:41:22QUEER OTHERS IN VICTORIAN GOTHIC
00 Prelims Queer Others 6_2_2012.indd 1 2/6/2012 1:13:39 PMSERIES PREFACE
Gothic Literary Studies is dedicated to publishing groundbreaking
scholarship on Gothic in literature and flm.The Gothic,which has
been subjected to a variety of critical and theoretical approaches,
is a form which plays an important role in our understanding of
literary, intellectual and cultural histories. The series seeks to
promote challenging and innovative approaches to Gothic which
question any aspect of the Gothic tradition or perceived critical
orthodoxy. Volumes in the series explore how issues such as gender,
religion, nation and sexuality have shaped our view of the Gothic
tradition . Both academically rigorous and informed by the latest
developments in critical theory, the series provides an important
focus for scholastic developments in Gothic studies, literary studies,
cultural studies and critical theory.The series will be of interest to
students of all levels and to scholars and teachers of the Gothic and
literary and cultural histories.
SERIES EDITORS
Andrew Smith, University of Glamorgan
Benjamin F. Fisher, University of Mississippi
EDITORIAL BOARD
Kent Ljungquist, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Massachusetts
Richard Fusco, St Joseph’s University, Philadelphia
David Punter, University of Bristol
Chris Baldick, University of London
Angela Wright, University of Sheffeld
Jerrold E. Hogle, University of Arizona
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Transgressing Monstrosity
Ardel Haefele-Thomas
UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
CARDIFF
2012
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material
form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic
means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of
this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner.
Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce
any part of this publication should be addressed to the University of Wales
Press, 10 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff CF10 4UP.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library CIP Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-7083-2464-6 (hardback)
978-0-7083-2465-3 (paperback)
e-ISBN 978-0-7083-2466-0
The right of Ardel Haefele-Thomas to be identifed as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Typeset in Wales by Eira Fenn Gaunt, Cardiff
Printed by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
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00 Prelims Queer Others 6_2_2012.indd 5 2/6/2012 1:13:39 PM00 Prelims Queer Others 6_2_2012.indd 6 2/6/2012 1:13:39 PMContEntS
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction1
2 The Spinster and the Hijra: How Queers Save
Heterosexual Marriage in Wilkie Collins’s The Woman
in White and The Moonstone 8
3 Escaping Heteronormativity: Queer Family Structures in
Elizabeth Gaskell’s Lois the Witch and ‘The Grey Woman’ 48
4 Disintegrating Binaries, Disintegrating Bodies: Queer
Imperial Transmogrifcations in H. Rider Haggard’s She 72
5 ‘One does things abroad that one would not dream
of doing in England’: Miscegenation and Queer Female
Vampirism in J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla and Florence
Marryat’s The Blood of the Vampire 96
6 In Defence of Her Queer Community:Vernon Lee’s
Coded Decadent Gothic120
Notes 149
Bibliography181
Index191
00 Prelims Queer Others 6_2_2012.indd 7 2/6/2012 1:13:39 PM00 Prelims Queer Others 6_2_2012.indd 8 2/6/2012 1:13:39 PMACknowlEdgEmEntS
It is not an exaggeration to say that I have been thinking about the
intersections of sexuality, gender, race and empire in Victorian Gothic
for the past two decades, and I am grateful for all of the support I
have had along the way. In the earliest stages of this project, which
was part of my doctoral thesis at Stanford University, I would like to
thank Lisa Cody, Barbara Gelpi, Peter Stansky and Regenia Gagnier.
Without their integrity, kindness and guidance, I would not have
been able to ask some of the early, more diffcult questions surround -
ing the histories of diverse and marginalized people.
I would like to thank everyone at the International Gothic
Association; they have created such a fantastic venue for creative, stimulating
and intellectual discussions. Since 1995, I have had this wonderful
and quirky conference to look forward to on all of the ‘odd’ numbered
years. Some of my most fulflling academic relationships have been
formed through the IGA. More specifcally, I would like to thank
William Hughes and Andrew Smith, whose energetic support of
my work has been unfagging throughout the years; they have both
so enthusiastically and generously created space for my work on
Queer Gothic. I would also like to thank Paulina Palmer for our
discussions about Lesbian Gothic as well as Agnes Andeweg and Sue
Zlosnik for our discussions about Elizabeth Gaskell’s short gothic
fction.
I want to thank everyone at the University of Wales Press for giving
me this opportunity to work with them. Sarah Lewis and Gabi Maas
have been incredibly helpful at various stages in the writing process.
Siân Chapman ensured the smooth production of the book. A nd a
very special thank you to Dafydd Jones who has maintained a
fabulous sense of humour throughout all of my queries about citation
and style; he has made this project fun.
I am very blessed to live near two outstanding research insti tutions
– UC Berkeley and Stanford University. There are countless people
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at both libraries who were able to help me in my research. In
particular, I want to thank Stanford Special Collections for their amazing
holdings. It was there that I was able to actually hold one of the
original copies of The Y ellow Book and read Vernon Lee’s ‘Prince Alberic
and the Snake Lady’ within the context of the book as a whole. I
was also able to slowly work my way through gorgeous bound copies
of James Forbes’s gigantic collected writing and illustrations from
his travels in India. For me, it really did make a difference to be able
to touch these controversial and beautiful old books as I conducted
my historic research. The most unusual research help, however, did
not come from an academic institution or library, but rather from
Gay’s The Word bookshop in London. I want to say a special ‘thank
you’ and ‘cheers’ to Jim MacSweeney and Uli Lenart for helping
me to fnd historic books about underground queer culture in London
in the 1800s. Beyond book help, however, they were also able to
answer my numerous e-mail questions about homosexual male
cruising areas – and with a great sense of humour they addressed my
query regarding Hampstead Heath in the nineteenth century. After
all, I was curious about Walter Hartright (and of course Anne Catherick)
wandering around Hampstead Heath at one in the morning; in the
twentieth century, Walter would most assuredly been looking to
‘hook up’ with another man.
I spent one year (2004–5) in Lexington, Kentucky teaching at
Lexington Community College, where I met Dr Eileen Abel, an
avid swimmer and, perhaps more importantly, another Victorianist.
The focus of Eileen’s doctoral thesis was Elizabeth Gaskell, and it
was through conversations with her that I frst discovered Gaskell’s
gothic short fction. I remember the moment when Eileen looked
at me with a glint in her eye and said, ‘so you want something queer?
Have you read ‘The Grey Woman’? I cannot thank Eileen enough
for her generosity and for our continued discussions about the deeply
radical and subversive ‘Mrs Gaskell’. I would like to dedicate my
chapter on Elizabeth Gaskell’s queer family structures to Eileen.
Leslie Minot has been a friend and colleague from the moment
we met at the Soko Joshi Judo Club in San Francisco in 1992. Leslie
and I worked our way through graduate school in the same time
frame; she was a doctoral student in Comparative Literature at UC
Berkeley. When she was not literally throwing my body around on
x
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the mat at the dojo, Leslie found ways to send my brain sailing (I say
this with affection). Throughout my doctoral thesis, our collaboration
on ‘Queer Sexuality and Empire’ written for The Reader’s Guide to
Gay and Lesbian Studies as well as countless discussions leading up
to this current book, Leslie has never ‘pulled the punches’ on her
questions. I am grateful to her for this because her keen insight always
prodded me to dig deeper into my own stereotypes and notions
about the Victorian era. Leslie has read this book in its entirety, but
I would like to dedicate the H. Rider Haggard chapter to her in
particular.
None of this would have been possible without my best friend, the
love of my life and my wife, Louisa (Lisa) Gardner Haefele-Thomas.
Her one ‘shortcoming’ is that she is a Modernist, so the Victorian
novel is a bit like a torture device. What that means, though, is that
she must love me very much for wading through numerous Victorian
novels as well as all of the drafts of all of the chapters to this book.
I could not have done this without her kindness and integrity. She
has kept me honest throughout this project.
Finally, I would like to thank Kelly Hurley at the University of
Colorado, Bou