The Gothic Body: Sexuality, Materialism, and Degeneration at the Fin de Siecle - Paperback

by Kelly Hurley (Author), Hurley Kelly (Author), Gillian Beer (Editor)

This book accounts for the resurgence of Gothic, and its immense popularity, during the British fin de siècle. In particular, Kelly Hurley explores a key scenario that haunts the genre: the loss of a unified and stable human identity, and the emergence of a chaotic and transformative "abhuman" identity in its place. Gothic is revealed as a highly productive and speculative genre, strongly indebted to nineteenth-century scientific, medical and social theories, including evolutionism, criminal anthropology and degeneration theory.