Disability is central to the Gothic imagination. This Element draws together disability and Gothic literature in ways that show the interplay between them. The first chapter offers a brief history of Critical Disability Studies, and the manner in which Gothic has been integral to the evolution of disability theory. It shows the increasing centrality of the Gothic to the development of Critical Disability Studies, and describes the emergence of the subfield of Gothic Disability Studies. The second chapter and third chapters offer close readings of particular texts, showing how Gothic bodies and minds articulate and shift their relationship to the aesthetic and affective frameworks of the nineteenth century. While disability sometimes represents the 'other' in Gothic literature, this positioning far from exhausts the ways in which disability is presented in this genre.
By:
Essaka Joshua (University of Notre Dame Indiana) Imprint: Cambridge University Press Country of Publication: United Kingdom ISBN:9781009300902 ISBN 10: 1009300903 Series:Elements in the Gothic Pages: 82 Publication Date:12 March 2026 Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active
1. Disability Studies and the Gothic; 2. Disability and the Gothic Body; 3. Gothic Madness and Neurodiversity; 4. Reclaiming Gothic: Concluding Questions; References.
