Publisher's Synopsis
Gothic writing has enjoyed a revival in recent years and many lesser-known titles have been republished. Most critical studies, however, have continued to analyze it in terms of escapist fantasy or as an unconscious reaction against the Enlightenment. Robert Miles challenges this view and argues that we should read Gothic texts as self-conscious interventions. Drawing on the ideas of Michel Foucault, he situates Gothic writing within the discursive tensions of the period. By switching focus from genre to discourse, he is able to examine the Gothic across literary modes, including poetry and drama as well as the Gothic novel. Widening the focus of study in this way, Robert Miles effectively brings Gothic writing in from the margins of "popular fiction", setting it at the centre of the debate about Romanticism.
