Reconstructing Gothic Architecture in Ann Radcliffe’s Novels: from Decorative Details to Picturesque Tableaux
According to Maurice Lévy, a Gothic novel is “Gothic” because its writing is closely related to architecture, the story being the very dramatization of a building. The ruined Gothic castle, abbey or monastery is indeed a cliché of the genre, the prerequisite decor for any real action to happen. The...
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| Xuất bản năm: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/polysemes, |
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| Tác giả chính: | |
| Định dạng: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Ngôn ngữ: | Anglais |
| Được phát hành: |
Polysèmes
2019
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| Những chủ đề: | |
| Truy cập trực tuyến: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Tóm tắt: | According to Maurice Lévy, a Gothic novel is “Gothic” because its writing is closely related to architecture, the story being the very dramatization of a building. The ruined Gothic castle, abbey or monastery is indeed a cliché of the genre, the prerequisite decor for any real action to happen. The aim of this paper is to explore the aesthetic dimension of Gothic architecture in Ann Radcliffe’s novels, especially its pictorial and visual effects, from decorative emblematic details that stamp a building as “Gothic” to the creation of picturesque “tableaux” composed as true “paintings in words”. This literary reconstruction of Gothic architecture echoes the reappropriation of Gothic forms by the Gothic Revival. Radcliffe transfers this ornamental Gothic into the realm of the novel, adapting the ancient style of the “Goths” to modern dramatic purposes. Characteristic Gothic motifs such as the painted window or the arch are used to create a sense of dread or reproduce compositional effects. Drawing on pictorial models and the picturesque qualities attributed to Gothic architecture, Radcliffe’s descriptions generate “pictures”, literary equivalents of the “Landscapes with [Gothic] Ruins” popular in her days. Finally, by inserting Rosa-like banditti into architectural settings, the novelist fuses the Gothic Revival in architecture with a subgenre then popular in painting, to compose her own Gothic “Landscapes with Banditti”. |
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