Gothic Dissections in Film and Literature: The Body in Parts

Description

This is the first book-length study to systematically and theoretically analyse the use and representation of individual body parts in Gothic fiction. Moving between filmic and literary texts and across the body—from the brain, hair and teeth, to hands, skin and the stomach—this book engages in unique readings by foregrounding a diversity of global representations. Building on scholarly work on the ‘Gothic body’ and ‘body horror’, Gothic Dissections in Film and Literature dissects the individual features that comprise the physical human corporeal form in its different functions. This very original and accessible study, which will appeal to a broad range of readers interested in the Gothic, centralises the use (and abuse) of limbs, organs, bones and appendages. It presents a set of unique global examinations; from Brazil, France and South Korea to name a few; that address the materiality of the Gothic body in depth in texts ranging from the nineteenth century to the present; from Nikolai Gogol, Edgar Allan Poe, Roald Dahl and Chuck Palahniuk, to David Cronenberg, Freddy Krueger and The Greasy Strangler. Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 1-14 The Brain (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 15-31 Head and Face (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 33-47 Eyes (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 49-64 Ears and Nose (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 65-80 Teeth (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 81-95 The Tongue, Mouth and Lips (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 97-110 Hair and Fingernails (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 111-129 Hands (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 131-150 Feet and Limbs (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 151-164 Bones (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 165-179 Skin (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 181-196 The Heart (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 197-210 Genitalia (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 211-225 The Uterus (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 227-241 The Stomach, Intestines and the Anus (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 243-260 Epilogue (Ian Conrich, Laura Sedgwick)....Pages 261-262 Back Matter ....Pages 263-296