They feared that they, despite how ‘civilised’ they were, had the potential to return to a primitive state. Thus, the gothic comes into play – English people were terrified of the ‘primitive’. Because the imperial machine relied on racist ideologies such as eugenics, phrenology and most importantly, social Darwinism, to continue – the non-white were cast as the other, deemed to be more primitive, more savage, more barbarous. This ‘other’ was frequently represented by those living in colonies. And the burden of this horror was placed upon the other, the non-civilised, whose presence in society was deemed to threaten the steady march of progress. The potential for degeneration, for their society to go ‘backwards’, was a dominant discourse, a prevailing horror. The Victorian era, in particular, was a moment of rapid change, and English people worried that the endpoint of this progress would be a collapse into a dark age. But English people were concerned about the end of progress. In 18th and 19th century literature, when imperialism was at its peak, English society saw itself as the most advanced, civilised nation, particularly for those living within major cities, and especially London. Most importantly in the context of Mexican Gothic, the gothic is used to explore concerns of degeneration brought about specifically the intermingling of British colonialists with other nations during the colonial period. The ‘other’ can be anything, as long as it’s allowing a return of the repressed, or for society or individuals to degenerate, and it usually subverts social norms and ideals. Barbarism is horror, and horror is barbaric. It is concerned with exposing the barbaric and always casts the barbarous as horror. The first thing you need to know about the gothic is it is concerned with degeneration, with a return of the repressed, and with ‘the Other’ taking control. Through this twisting story about voices in the walls, murder, sick sisters and weird family members, one thing really stood out to me – the skilful way Moreno-Garcia post-colonial ideas What is The Gothic? Also, the family is racist, leave their well-read books about eugenics lying around. The family have strict, unexplained rules, Catalina is perpetually sick with an illness that can’t be explained, and talking about hearing voices in the walls. Concerned for her cousin, Noemí arrives at High Place, to find things are strange and amiss. Set in Mexico, the central character, Noemí, receives a mysterious letter from her cousin Catalina, begging to be rescued from the house in which she lives with her husband and his strange family. Mexican Gothic is a 2020 novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia which utilises the gothic to explore post-colonial realities. Or more accurately, books that utilise the gothic to explore post-colonial society and discourses which dominate our social consciousness right now. I’ve read a lot of classic gothic literature, but one of the most fascinating emerging branches of gothic literature is, in my opinion, post-colonial gothic. The gothic can do so much! Exploring sexuality, nationality, race, gender and more. I love gothic literature, I love how it uses aesthetics to explore themes and comment on dominant social ideologies and discourses. The gothic has always been one of my favourite literary modes. SPOILER WARNING FOR MEXICAN GOTHIC BY SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA: This post makes many parts of the plot of this book explicit.
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