Hearth and Home and Horror: Gothic Trappings in early C20th Latin American Short Fiction
- 1 July 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Edinburgh University Press in Gothic Studies
- Vol. 23 (2), 201-216
- https://doi.org/10.3366/gothic.2021.0094
Abstract
The Gothic short form in Latin America has yet to receive focused scholarly attention. Yet, despite no early Gothic novel tradition to speak of, the Gothic mode emerged in poetry and short fiction, representing particular anxieties and colonial/postcolonial realities specific to the region owing in part to a significant increase in periodicals. Focusing on two case studies – Clemente Palma's ‘La granja blanca’ (Peru, 1904) and Horacio Quiroga's ‘El almohadón de plumas’ (Uruguay, 1917) – this article will explore how Latin American authors classified as modern, modernista, and criollista were experimenting with Gothic forms, adapting the design of the traditional Gothic novel to intensify its effect and reach a wider readership. Demonstrating a particular influence of Poe, a unity of effect is created, one that suggests that the home is a place of horrors, not comfort, and the uniquely horrifying settings and plot ultimately challenge established moral codes and literary tendencies.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Companion to Spanish American ModernismoPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2007
- IntroductionPublished by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,2000
- The Age of Minerva, Volume 1Published by University of Pennsylvania Press ,1995