Sue Zlosnik | Manchester Metropolitan University (original) (raw)

Papers by Sue Zlosnik

Research paper thumbnail of Mantel, Hilary

The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction

Research paper thumbnail of Women and the Gothic : an Edinburgh companion

Women and the Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion, ed. by Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik (Edinburgh: Edi... more Women and the Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion, ed. by Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016)One of the many strengths of Women and the Gothic is its timing. Edited by Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik, the book has emerged as 2016 unfolds as a period of tremendous change, particularly in respect to politics and women. Women have recently gained significant political power, and the chance to alter the course of Western history dramatically. Women and the Gothic therefore appears at a crucial time, and is an excellent contribution to the ongoing conversations concerning women, feminism, and gender.The above events may appear unrelated to gothic literature but, as Horner and Zlosnik outline in the book's introduction, the analysis presented here is contextualised within wider political discourses. The editors muse upon the changing face of feminism, with recent online activities such as the Everyday Sexism Project reflecting a general movement to 'revive feminism' (p. 2). The events listed above very much contribute to this, as discussions about feminism are evident within mainstream debate. It is against this backdrop that the book reengages with the gothic and seeks to analyse women's place within it. The central argument in Horner's and Zlosnik's introduction - which is reinforced by every chapter - is simple: the gothic provides a highly effective mode through which writers can interrogate women's (dis)enfranchisement within patriarchal systems of power.Horner and Zlosnik invite us to explore the gothic from a woman's perspective on all levels: the book focuses on gothic texts written by women, about women, and for women. This fact is one of the reasons the book is a pleasure to read; the collection is very much a celebration of literature's gothic women in all their guises. Inevitably, this focus begins by engaging again with the term 'Female Gothic', as coined by Ellen Moers and, indeed, Moers's work is influential for much of the analysis in the book, including Lucie Armitt's essay 'The Gothic Girl Child' and Gina Wisker's 'Female Vampirism'.1 However, along with the notion of feminism itself, the essays move beyond any simple definition of the 'Female Gothic' in order to interrogate and, in the end, complicate the ideas associated with it. This movement is indicated by the book's structure, which organises the chapters into three sections. The first, 'Family Matters', examines collectively the conventional identities afforded to the gothic heroine, identities which reflect her status within a family structure, such as 'orphan' or 'mother', and how this enables her literal or psychological confinement. 'Trangressions', the second section, focuses on gothic or monstrous women, such as the vampire or witch, who push against such rigid identity and behavioural boundaries. The final part of Women and the Gothic, entitled 'New Directions', then posits fresh ways for analysing the gothic heroine - through an engagement with 'queer Gothic', and by analysing representations of age - or alternative forms through which she may experience the gothic, such as the virtual spaces created by new technologies, including computer games.Several trends emerge across the chapters which, together, highlight the book's key strengths. First, the importance of historically and politically contextualising the gothic text is underlined regularly within the collection: for example, Laurence Talairach-Vielmas outlines the medical thinking behind locking up women in the nineteenth century, and Sue Chaplin reflects upon women's changing legal status from the eighteenth century onwards. Across the book's various sections, a particular emphasis on new readings is also evident, whether this takes the form of revisiting classic texts from new perspectives (such Ann Radcliffe's works or Henry James's The Turn of the Screw (1898)) or analysing less famous stories (like Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire (1897) and the figure of the soucouyant, a transformative figure from Caribbean and African folklore often compared to Western ideas of the witch or vampire). …

Research paper thumbnail of Barbara Comyns

Research paper thumbnail of Du M aurier, D aphne

The Encyclopedia of the Gothic

Research paper thumbnail of Chapter 12 No Country for Old Women: Gender, Age and the Gothic

Women and the Gothic, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Globalgothic at the top of the world

Research paper thumbnail of I nternational G othic A ssociation, The

The Encyclopedia of the Gothic, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Writers of Gothic

The Handbook of the Gothic, 2009

Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European ... more Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European Magazine, 1822), a tale that relies heavily on artificial ‘SUPERNATURAL’ devices in the ANN RADCLIFFE mode for its effect. It was followed by ‘The Spectre Bride’ (Arliss’s Pocket Magazine, 1822) and his early Gothic tales were collected in his first book, the anonymous December Tales (1823). All of this youthful work — which displays more enthusiasm than polish — was produced while Ainsworth was living in Manchester, where he had been born in 1805.

Research paper thumbnail of Portraits

The Encyclopedia of the Gothic, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Gothic Terms, Themes, Concepts and Contexts

The Handbook of the Gothic, 2009

Just as THE UNCANNY offers a connection to the structure of the unconscious, the abject offers a ... more Just as THE UNCANNY offers a connection to the structure of the unconscious, the abject offers a sensation of horror that connects us viscerally to the experience of repression and the process of subject formation. For Julia Kristeva, in Powers of Horror, abjection disturbs ‘identity, system, order’ and is characterised by ‘the in-between, the ambiguous, the composite’.

Research paper thumbnail of Seeing Together: Friendship Between the Sexes in English Writing, from Mill to Woolf

Research paper thumbnail of Abstracts and Keywords

Women: A Cultural Review, 2009

s and

Research paper thumbnail of Women and the Gothic

Edinburgh University Press

Women and the Gothic revitalises the long-running debate about women, the Gothic and identity. Co... more Women and the Gothic revitalises the long-running debate about women, the Gothic and identity. Containing fourteen original essays by established scholars and emerging critics in the field, it prioritises the concerns of woman as reader, author and critic. Recognising that since the 1970s theorisation of gender has become increasingly sophisticated and has resulted in a long interrogation of the category ‘women’, the contributors in this volume tackle the resulting conundrums in lively essays that explore Gothic works – from established classics to recent films, novels and digital games- from feminist and/or post-feminist perspectives. The result is a book that combines rigorous close readings with elegant use of theory in order to question some ingrained assumptions about women, the Gothic and identity. Part One examines family dynamics in the Gothic, focusing on female roles and identities from the late eighteenth century onwards: the girl child; the heroine figure seeking escape;...

Research paper thumbnail of Patrick McGrath

Research paper thumbnail of Home is the sailor, home from sea': Robert Louis Stevenson and the End of Wandering

The Yearbook of English Studies, 2004

Stevenson's stepson, S. Lloyd Osbourne, said of him, 'RLS always said he hoped to die i... more Stevenson's stepson, S. Lloyd Osbourne, said of him, 'RLS always said he hoped to die in a ditch' and that 'the picture of him as a white-haired and expiring wanderer' was 'ineffaceably fixed' in his mind.1 Robert Louis Stevenson's penchant for travel led him eventually to ...

Research paper thumbnail of Glimpses of the dark side

Research paper thumbnail of Landscapes of desire: metaphors in modern women's fiction

Research paper thumbnail of Dead funny: gothic, gender and the comic turn

Anglophonia, 2004

Cet article envisage le traitement comique des themes gothiques tels qu'ils apparaissent dans... more Cet article envisage le traitement comique des themes gothiques tels qu'ils apparaissent dans deux textes britanniques des annees 1980 : The Life and Loves of a She Devil (1983) de Fay Weldon et The Wasp Factory de Iain Banks (1984). Tout en reconnaissant les apports d'une approche psychanalytique dechiffrant dans la litterature gothique une mise en recit du manque et des perversions du desir, les auteurs de l'article suggerent qu'une telle approche a pu amener a negliger deux caracteristiques essentielles du mode gothique : son hybridite et la presence de l'humour noir. Dans les deux reecritures du mythe de Frankenstein et de la recreation monstrueuse qui sont etudiees ici, l'instabilite des identites sexuelles est en effet simultanement traitee comme un sujet d'horreur (ou d'anxiete) et comme une ressource comique.

Research paper thumbnail of Extremely valuable property': the marketing of Rebecca

Research paper thumbnail of Daphne du Maurier : sex and death the Italian way

Research paper thumbnail of Mantel, Hilary

The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction

Research paper thumbnail of Women and the Gothic : an Edinburgh companion

Women and the Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion, ed. by Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik (Edinburgh: Edi... more Women and the Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion, ed. by Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016)One of the many strengths of Women and the Gothic is its timing. Edited by Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik, the book has emerged as 2016 unfolds as a period of tremendous change, particularly in respect to politics and women. Women have recently gained significant political power, and the chance to alter the course of Western history dramatically. Women and the Gothic therefore appears at a crucial time, and is an excellent contribution to the ongoing conversations concerning women, feminism, and gender.The above events may appear unrelated to gothic literature but, as Horner and Zlosnik outline in the book's introduction, the analysis presented here is contextualised within wider political discourses. The editors muse upon the changing face of feminism, with recent online activities such as the Everyday Sexism Project reflecting a general movement to 'revive feminism' (p. 2). The events listed above very much contribute to this, as discussions about feminism are evident within mainstream debate. It is against this backdrop that the book reengages with the gothic and seeks to analyse women's place within it. The central argument in Horner's and Zlosnik's introduction - which is reinforced by every chapter - is simple: the gothic provides a highly effective mode through which writers can interrogate women's (dis)enfranchisement within patriarchal systems of power.Horner and Zlosnik invite us to explore the gothic from a woman's perspective on all levels: the book focuses on gothic texts written by women, about women, and for women. This fact is one of the reasons the book is a pleasure to read; the collection is very much a celebration of literature's gothic women in all their guises. Inevitably, this focus begins by engaging again with the term 'Female Gothic', as coined by Ellen Moers and, indeed, Moers's work is influential for much of the analysis in the book, including Lucie Armitt's essay 'The Gothic Girl Child' and Gina Wisker's 'Female Vampirism'.1 However, along with the notion of feminism itself, the essays move beyond any simple definition of the 'Female Gothic' in order to interrogate and, in the end, complicate the ideas associated with it. This movement is indicated by the book's structure, which organises the chapters into three sections. The first, 'Family Matters', examines collectively the conventional identities afforded to the gothic heroine, identities which reflect her status within a family structure, such as 'orphan' or 'mother', and how this enables her literal or psychological confinement. 'Trangressions', the second section, focuses on gothic or monstrous women, such as the vampire or witch, who push against such rigid identity and behavioural boundaries. The final part of Women and the Gothic, entitled 'New Directions', then posits fresh ways for analysing the gothic heroine - through an engagement with 'queer Gothic', and by analysing representations of age - or alternative forms through which she may experience the gothic, such as the virtual spaces created by new technologies, including computer games.Several trends emerge across the chapters which, together, highlight the book's key strengths. First, the importance of historically and politically contextualising the gothic text is underlined regularly within the collection: for example, Laurence Talairach-Vielmas outlines the medical thinking behind locking up women in the nineteenth century, and Sue Chaplin reflects upon women's changing legal status from the eighteenth century onwards. Across the book's various sections, a particular emphasis on new readings is also evident, whether this takes the form of revisiting classic texts from new perspectives (such Ann Radcliffe's works or Henry James's The Turn of the Screw (1898)) or analysing less famous stories (like Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire (1897) and the figure of the soucouyant, a transformative figure from Caribbean and African folklore often compared to Western ideas of the witch or vampire). …

Research paper thumbnail of Barbara Comyns

Research paper thumbnail of Du M aurier, D aphne

The Encyclopedia of the Gothic

Research paper thumbnail of Chapter 12 No Country for Old Women: Gender, Age and the Gothic

Women and the Gothic, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Globalgothic at the top of the world

Research paper thumbnail of I nternational G othic A ssociation, The

The Encyclopedia of the Gothic, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Writers of Gothic

The Handbook of the Gothic, 2009

Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European ... more Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European Magazine, 1822), a tale that relies heavily on artificial ‘SUPERNATURAL’ devices in the ANN RADCLIFFE mode for its effect. It was followed by ‘The Spectre Bride’ (Arliss’s Pocket Magazine, 1822) and his early Gothic tales were collected in his first book, the anonymous December Tales (1823). All of this youthful work — which displays more enthusiasm than polish — was produced while Ainsworth was living in Manchester, where he had been born in 1805.

Research paper thumbnail of Portraits

The Encyclopedia of the Gothic, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Gothic Terms, Themes, Concepts and Contexts

The Handbook of the Gothic, 2009

Just as THE UNCANNY offers a connection to the structure of the unconscious, the abject offers a ... more Just as THE UNCANNY offers a connection to the structure of the unconscious, the abject offers a sensation of horror that connects us viscerally to the experience of repression and the process of subject formation. For Julia Kristeva, in Powers of Horror, abjection disturbs ‘identity, system, order’ and is characterised by ‘the in-between, the ambiguous, the composite’.

Research paper thumbnail of Seeing Together: Friendship Between the Sexes in English Writing, from Mill to Woolf

Research paper thumbnail of Abstracts and Keywords

Women: A Cultural Review, 2009

s and

Research paper thumbnail of Women and the Gothic

Edinburgh University Press

Women and the Gothic revitalises the long-running debate about women, the Gothic and identity. Co... more Women and the Gothic revitalises the long-running debate about women, the Gothic and identity. Containing fourteen original essays by established scholars and emerging critics in the field, it prioritises the concerns of woman as reader, author and critic. Recognising that since the 1970s theorisation of gender has become increasingly sophisticated and has resulted in a long interrogation of the category ‘women’, the contributors in this volume tackle the resulting conundrums in lively essays that explore Gothic works – from established classics to recent films, novels and digital games- from feminist and/or post-feminist perspectives. The result is a book that combines rigorous close readings with elegant use of theory in order to question some ingrained assumptions about women, the Gothic and identity. Part One examines family dynamics in the Gothic, focusing on female roles and identities from the late eighteenth century onwards: the girl child; the heroine figure seeking escape;...

Research paper thumbnail of Patrick McGrath

Research paper thumbnail of Home is the sailor, home from sea': Robert Louis Stevenson and the End of Wandering

The Yearbook of English Studies, 2004

Stevenson's stepson, S. Lloyd Osbourne, said of him, 'RLS always said he hoped to die i... more Stevenson's stepson, S. Lloyd Osbourne, said of him, 'RLS always said he hoped to die in a ditch' and that 'the picture of him as a white-haired and expiring wanderer' was 'ineffaceably fixed' in his mind.1 Robert Louis Stevenson's penchant for travel led him eventually to ...

Research paper thumbnail of Glimpses of the dark side

Research paper thumbnail of Landscapes of desire: metaphors in modern women's fiction

Research paper thumbnail of Dead funny: gothic, gender and the comic turn

Anglophonia, 2004

Cet article envisage le traitement comique des themes gothiques tels qu'ils apparaissent dans... more Cet article envisage le traitement comique des themes gothiques tels qu'ils apparaissent dans deux textes britanniques des annees 1980 : The Life and Loves of a She Devil (1983) de Fay Weldon et The Wasp Factory de Iain Banks (1984). Tout en reconnaissant les apports d'une approche psychanalytique dechiffrant dans la litterature gothique une mise en recit du manque et des perversions du desir, les auteurs de l'article suggerent qu'une telle approche a pu amener a negliger deux caracteristiques essentielles du mode gothique : son hybridite et la presence de l'humour noir. Dans les deux reecritures du mythe de Frankenstein et de la recreation monstrueuse qui sont etudiees ici, l'instabilite des identites sexuelles est en effet simultanement traitee comme un sujet d'horreur (ou d'anxiete) et comme une ressource comique.

Research paper thumbnail of Extremely valuable property': the marketing of Rebecca

Research paper thumbnail of Daphne du Maurier : sex and death the Italian way