The Victorian Ghost Story and Theology

From Le Fanu to James
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-319-30218-8
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 188 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 3645 g

This book argues that theology is central to an understanding of the literary ghost story. Victorian ghost stories have traditionally been read in the context of agnosticism – as stories which reveal a society struggling with Christian orthodoxy in a new ‘Enlightened’ world. This book, however, uses theological ideas from St Augustine through to modern theologians to identify a theological journey taken by the protagonists of such stories, and charts each stage of this journey through the short stories it examines. It also proposes a theory of reader participation which creates an imaginary space in which modern epistemology is suspended. The book studies the work of four major authors of the supernatural tale: Arthur Machen, M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu and Henry James.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lehmann Imfeld, Zoe

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Gattungen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literatursoziologie, Gender Studies
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Strömungen & Epochen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- 1. ‘Strangely mistaking death for life’: Arthur Machen.- 2. ‘What is this that I have done?’: M.R. James.- 3. ‘These devils have made quite a saint of you.’: Sheridan Le Fanu.- 4. ‘He’s there from the moment he knows somebody else is.’: Haunted by Paralysis in the Stories of Henry James.- Conclusion.- Bibliography.- Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Zoë Lehmann Imfeld is Lecturer in Modern English Literature at the University of Bern, Switzerland. She is co-editor of the volume Theology and Literature after Postmodernity.