Gothic radicalism : literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis in the nineteenth century

Applying ideas drawn from contemporary critical theory, this book historicizes psychoanalysis through a new and significant theorization of the Gothic. The central premise is that the nineteenth-century Gothic produced a radical critique of accounts of sublimity and Freudian psychoanalysis. This book makes a major contribution to an understanding of both the nineteenth century and the Gothic discourse which challenged the dominant ideas of that period. Writers explored include Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Bram Stoker. Andrew Smith Reconsiders The Relationship Between The Nineteenth-century Gothic, Theories Of The Sublime And Freudian Psychoanalysis, Showing How The Gothic Of The Period Produces A Radical Critique Of These Ideas As It Forms Its Own Version Of Sublimity And The Unconscious. At Issue Here Is An Identification Of A Specific Gothic History, One Which Rewrites The Dominant Intellectual History Of The Time. The Argument Is Made That The Gothic Critically Reads Freudian Ideas Avant La Lettre And So Requires Us To Move Beyond Psychoanalysis To Develop An Enquiry Into The History Of Ideas. By Applying Contemporary Critical Theory, This Study Historicises Psychoanalysis Through A New And Significant Theorisation Of The Gothic. A Range Of Writers Including Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson And Bram Stoker Are Explored In Order To Illustrate How The Gothic Rewrites Both An Idealist Philosophy And Freudian Psychoanalysis.--jacket. The Gothic And The Sublime -- Frankenstein: Sublimity Reconsidered, Foucault And Kristeva -- History And The Sublime -- Sublime Utterance: Gothic Voyages, Going Public With The Private -- The Urban Sublime: Kant And Poe -- Textuality And Sublimity In Dracula -- Freud's Uncanny Sublime. Andrew Smith. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 179-185) And Index. "Andrew Smith reconsiders the relationship between the nineteenth-century Gothic, theories of the sublime and Freudian psychoanalysis, showing how the Gothic of the period produces a radical critique of these ideas as it forms its own version of sublimity and the unconscious. At issue here is an identification of a specific Gothic history, one which rewrites the dominant intellectual history of the time. The argument is made that the Gothic critically reads Freudian ideas avant la lettre and so requires us to move beyond psychoanalysis to develop an enquiry into the history of ideas.". "By applying contemporary critical theory, this study historicises psychoanalysis through a new and significant theorisation of the Gothic. A range of writers including Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker are explored in order to illustrate how the Gothic rewrites both an idealist philosophy and Freudian psychoanalysis."--BOOK JACKET. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-10 The Gothic and the Sublime....Pages 11-37 Frankenstein: Sublimity Reconsidered, Foucault and Kristeva....Pages 38-58 History and the Sublime....Pages 59-75 Sublime Utterance: Gothic Voyages, Going Public with the Private....Pages 76-102 The Urban Sublime: Kant and Poe....Pages 103-128 Textuality and Sublimity in Dracula....Pages 129-147 Freud’s Uncanny Sublime....Pages 148-173 Afterword....Pages 174-178 Back Matter....Pages 179-188