What makes a piece of literature goth?

minorkey · 12-10-2008, 11:26 AM

Hello all. I am currently researching and writing a seminar paper for Lauren Goodlad's Goth/ic Genres literature course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The paper examines William Gibson's Neuromancer and Poppy Z. Brite's Wormwood and the degree to which their "gothness" is a result of the works themselves (e.g. characterization, plot, setting, etc.) and/or the elements that are jointly controlled by the author and his/her publishing company (the author's reputation, the book's cover art, etc.). As I am not a member of the goth subculture myself, any input that you can give would be wonderful. (And I will, of course, give you full credit for your insights within the text of the seminar paper. I can also send you a copy of the paper when it's done, if you'd like to see it.)

So-- what pieces of literature do you consider goth? Why? (How much of that identification is based on the work itself and how much is based on its packaging?)

Man In Room 5 · 12-10-2008, 11:56 AM

Dude, you're about the 1 millionth new member to come here just to ask us to help with your homework. 90% of this forum detests that (and are unable to answer your question intelligently anyway). The other 10% could probably answer it but they think you're dumb for even having to ask. If I was you, I'd just use the search feature and read the old posts. The whole "what is gothic" question has been done to death here and it's all on record.

tekajo · 12-10-2008, 12:07 PM

Yes! We cannot be torn away from our intraforum squabbles to help you. You'll do better by finding DocBrite's LJ and ask her personally. Or as Man In Room 5 said...search the hundreds other threads started by term paper writing non-goths asking for help.

Actually, i'm sure someone will come in here and help ya, sit tight.

Man In Room 5 · 12-10-2008, 12:11 PM

I have all the answers actually. I'm just not telling.

HumanePain · 12-10-2008, 12:42 PM

I do not feel qualified to answer in full because I write a variant of Gothic Romance that does not have vampires, monsters or other imaginary entities. These were present in early Gothic Romance such as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Castle of Otranto, The Mysteries of Udolpho etc.

But the genre I enjoy writing includes romance set against a dark background with power struggles, murders, suspense, mysteries and locations. (Rainy nights with castles in forests etc.)

For brief example (a short story) read here:

http://gothic.net/boards/showthread.php?t=4508

The above example contains my only attempt at including ghosts in my writing. Enjoy!

The Brooding One · 12-14-2008, 07:36 AM

What makes a piece of literature goth?

It has to be gay to the Nth degree.

FACT!!!!

Man In Room 5 · 12-14-2008, 09:04 AM

This guy never did come back. I wonder if he took my advice and just searched the old threads? The sad thing about Gnet is that the people most willing to help a guy like this are the least qualified to do so and the people most qualified to help him are the least likely to do so. Personally, I'd never come to a public forum like this and ask for college level homework help. He's only going to get a bunch of replies from a bunch of Arnold Horshack wanna-bes.

KontanKarite · 12-15-2008, 02:40 PM

I agree with Man In Room 5.

Then again, goth/punk/post-punk movements in the 80s isn't the same as gothic literature.

You might be better off asking a New Romantic instead of a forum full of people who don't really know the difference between lyrics by Specimen and poetry by Poe.

Bard-De-Purgatory · 12-29-2008, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man In Room 5

The sad thing about Gnet is that the people most willing to help a guy like this are the least qualified to do so and the people most qualified to help him are the least likely to do so. Personally, I'd never come to a public forum like this and ask for college level homework help. He's only going to get a bunch of replies from a bunch of Horshack[/url] wanna-bes.

^^ very true, my dark minded sentinel

Redgauntlet · 01-31-2009, 10:10 PM

Personally, when I do research, I don't come here and ask stupid questions like what this guy did at the beginning of this thread. I'm sure he meant well and was legit in his asking but still... It wouldn't hurt to use Google, Dogpile, and other search engines for that purpose. Plus, there's always a local library to use. I realize that's redundant but that's what I would tell him. Otherwise, I'd just ignore him.

Besides, I've seen that same shit before on every message board and other chat rooms. Some newbie will always show up with a tag line: "Hi! I'm here to do research on (pick topic here.)" And everything snowballs from then on.
My thinking is that this guy's trolling for attention rather than getting into a rational discussion on what makes literature "goth."

Mealla · 02-03-2009, 03:06 AM

Neither of those books qualify as gothic from a literary standpoint. True gothic novels aren't contemporary. Besides, Poppy Z. Brite would fall under horror, whereas Neuromancer is undoubtedly cyberpunk. Also keep in mind that when doing a project or paper on something like literature, an online forum isn't a good source of information. Asking for info on gothic literature here is much like coming here to ask about the visigoths.