Gothic Afterlives: Radcliffe’s Literary Precursors, Rivals, and Descendants

(Proposed special session for the 2017 NASSR conference)

Since the mid-1990s, a number of studies have not only extended the years that “Romanticism” encompasses as a literary and cultural period but also suggested that classic gothic literature (1764-1824) holds a significant place within Romantic studies. Thanks to presses like Broadview and Valancourt, a host of classic gothic novels by Clara Reeve, Sophia Lee, Charlotte Smith, William Godwin, Regina Maria Roche, Charlotte Dacre, Percy Shelley, and others that were once out of print and available only in special collections are now easily accessible.

This proposed panel for NASSR 2017 in Ottawa aims to reassess neglected classic gothic texts and in the process, highlight texts that have often been overshadowed by work on Walpole, Beckford, Lewis, and Radcliffe. What value do novels by Radcliffe’s literary precursors, rivals, and descendants—many of whom Austen satirized—hold for

•    current conceptions of Romanticism and the gothic?
•    the relationship between gothic authors or generations of gothic authors?
•    gender and genre?
•    new theorizations within Romantic and/or gothic studies?

Which of these texts deserve to be unearthed and resuscitated? Why?

Please submit 300-word proposals for 15-minute papers and a brief (1-page) CV to Nowell Marshall (nmarshall@rider.edu) by Jan. 10.