Session 7: In the Words of FHT I
Session 7: In the Words of FHT 1
Chair: Allan McConnell
The Gothic topography in Scandinavian Horror Fiction
Yvonne Leffler
Department of Literature, University of Gothenbourg, Sweden
It is possible to discern a certain Gothic tradition in Scandinavian literature and film from the late 18th century to the present day. The stories are located in specific Scandinavian environments and regional folklore and local traditions are used to enhance the local atmosphere, as well as to intensify the gothic mode. The gothic castle or haunted house is replaced by the wilderness, the large dark forest, the stormy sea or the crags and rocks of the mountains.
In this paper I will show how the protagonists in Scandinavian horror fiction are victims of the environment in contrast to the traditional gothic villain. Their loss of control and their dark side is much more distinct than in European fiction and connected to and triggered by the landscape and therefore an integral part of the barbaric pagan past. Therefore it is noteworthy that Scandinavian writers and filmmakers do not, as most European ones, return to the Middle Ages to revive a feudal past in their horror stories. Instead they recall prehistoric times further back in history, i.e. the pagan premediaeval era before Christianity was brought to Scandinavia.
On the basis of selected examples I will show what I call the gothic topography in Scandinavian horror fiction, that is the complex relationship between landscape and character, space and focalisation, external environment and internal mental state, the present time and the hidden past. In this way I will introduce a new way of analysing characteristic elements in horror fiction with specific focus on those which are especially frequent in Scandinavian fiction.
Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)
Legends and Ghost Stories in Naples between Two Centuries: Matilde Serao, Roberto Bracco and Benedetto Croce
Armando Rotondi
Italian Literature and History of the European Theatre Literature at the Department of Modern Philology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy
The following study wants to show how three important Italian intellectuals, between XIX and XX centuries, are interesting in ghost stories and describe ghost legends of Naples, city where the three authors live: Matilde Serao, and her Leggende Napoletane (1881); Roberto Bracco, with his Spiritismo di Baby (1886), a positivist divertissement, where Bracco ridicules the esoteric fashion diffused in Naples and in Italy; Benedetto Croce and his Storie e leggende napoletane, one of the last chapters particularly, dedicated to “ghost houses” in Naples. The study wants to put in relationship the works of these three authors, to delineate the characteristics of ghost stories in Naples between the two centuries.
Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)
Re-reading Fear in Fairy Tales: Little Brave Riding Hood
Cynthia Jones
State University of New York at Buffalo, USA
Little Red Riding Hood is not a tale that evokes fear, but far from it; it is a tale that subverts fear. The wolf, commonly interpreted as the “Big Bad Wolf” of male lust and desire to violate women, is actually the projection of LRRH’s inner ‘animal’ nature that she is not yet consciously aware of. This is not a tale to teach children to fear the “Big Bad Wolf”, but rather a tale of consciously becoming aware of one’s dual nature: wild/culture, masculine/feminine and good/evil. This tale certainly evokes fear, but we must keep in mind that LRRH subverts it and that this is truly a tale about the internalization of one’s dual nature, despite the challenges that fear presents.
By looking at the oral folk version, The Grandmother’s Tale, collected by Peter Delarue in comparison with the more famous versions by Charles Perrault and the Brother’s Grimm, one can see the internalization of the wolf in LRRH as she confronts her dual nature. Within in the three texts there are situations in which one should be fearful, for example, the woods, the wolf and cannibalism, but no where in the text does LRRH show fear; rather she is willing to internalize this part of her nature. In this paper I will show how the wolf is the representation of the ‘wild’ and ‘animal’ nature within LRRH, and that she subverts fear by allowing herself to be swallowed by the wolf. Thus, she internalizes her inner ‘animal’ nature and becomes consciously aware of her animus. This tale is not a merely a cautionary tale meant to evoke fear, but a tale about subverting the fear of one’s inner ‘animal’ nature.
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