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1、Introduction:TheGhostofaHistoryThisbookhastwoaims.ThefirstistointroducethereadertoGothicwritingoverthelasttwohundredyears,itsvarietiesandmajorfeatures,itsdominantmodesanddifferentsub-genres.ThesecondistopresentsomeofthemostsignificantandinterestingcontemporaryapproachestotheGothic,andthusin
2、evitablytobringthereaderintocontactwithsomeoftheideasthathavemostshaped,andarecontinuingtoshape,Gothiccriticism.Bothoftheseaims,however,havetheirowncomplexities.ToturnfirsttothequestionofGothicwriting,itneedsatoncetobesaidthatthenotionofwhatconstitutesGothicwritingisacontestedsite.Everybody
3、would,ofcourse,agreethatitmakessensetoconsidertheearlymastersandmistressesofthegenre-HoraceWalpole,AnnRadcliffe,MatthewLewis-asGothicwriters,buteventheseearlyfigureswerealsowritinginquitedifferentgenres.BythetimewereachMaryShelley,thequestionofwhetherthe‘originalGothic’hasalreadyfallenapart
4、,becometransmutedintodifferentforms,leftonlytracestobepickedupandre-utilisedbylaterwriters-forperhapsquitedifferentpurposesandoftenperhapsquiteanxiously-isalreadyavexedone.Dickens,totakeanexample,isawriterwhomwemighthesitatetocallGothic;indeed,wemightfeelthathisworkwouldbeinsomewaydemeanedb
5、ysuchalabel.ButtheprevalenceofclaustrophobiainDickens,theforeclosureofescapefrominstitutionordestitution,thegrotesqueexaggerationofcharacterandlocation,areallrecognisably‘Gothic’features,evenastheyplayacrucialroleinestablishingwhateveritiswemeanbythecategoryandstereotypeofthe‘Dickensian’.Mo
6、sthistoriansoftheGothicwouldagreethataclusteroftextstowardstheendofthenineteenthcentury,bysuchwritersasStoker,Stevenson,WellsandWilde,constitutesakindofGothicrenaissance,althoughquitewhythisshouldhavebeensohasbeensubjecttovariousinterpretations.Many,again,wouldagreethattheghoststory,initscl
7、assicEdwardianform,hassomerelationtotheolderGothic.Butbeyondthis,aswemoveintothetwentiethcentury,weencounter,aswemightexpect,furtherfragmentation.Wheremightwe-totakeaparticularlyintriguingexample-locatethe‘Gothicmoment’inmodernism?Ormightweprefertoseeinm
