Irish Gothic : An Edinburgh Companion (Edinburgh Companions to the Gothic)

A thorough account of the engagements with the Gothic mode by Irish artists from the eighteenth century to today. Challenging conventional conceptualisations and understandings of 'the Irish Gothic', the collection advances new critical perspectives and embodies the latest thinking and research in this area In its attention to a cross-generic selection of literary and cultural forms from the late eighteenth-century to today, the collection probes and expands the body of texts traditionally associated with Irish Gothic cultural production and, in so doing, offers the most expansive and comprehensive overview of the subject to date Presenting cutting-edge approaches to Irish Gothic, while summarising the critical discourse that has shaped and continues to shape the field, the collection provides a useful and accessible research tool for established researchers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students Irish Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion provides a comprehensive account of the extent to which Gothic can be traced in Irish cultural life from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century, across both elite and popular genres, and through a range of different media, including literature, cinema, and folklore. It responds, in particular, to the understanding that Gothic is ubiquitous in Irish literature. Rather than focus specifically or exclusively on the oft-studied Irish Gothic foursome Charles Maturin, Sheridan Le Fanu, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker this companion turns attention to overlooked 'minor' figures such as Regina Maria Roche, Stephen Cullen, and Anne Fuller. At the same time, it considers the multi-generic nature of Irish Gothic, thinking beyond fiction and, in particular, the novel, as the Gothic genre par excellence. The collection thus affords fresh perspectives on Irish Gothic and its pervasiveness in Irish culture from the eighteenth century to today.