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Gothic Literary Studies
Welsh Gothic
Welsh Gothic introduces readers to the array of Welsh Gothic literature published from 1780 to the present day. Calling on postcolonial and psychoanalytic theory, Jane Aaron argues that many of the fears encoded in Welsh Gothic writing are specific to the history of the Welsh and reveal much about the varying ways in which the Welsh people have been perceived and have viewed themselves throughout history. The first part of the book explores Welsh Gothic writing from its beginnings in the last decades of the eighteenth century to 1997. The second part focuses on the figures specific to the Welsh Gothic genre who have entered literature from folklore and local superstition, such as the sin-eater, hellhounds, dark druids, and Welsh witches.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2013
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About the author
Jane Aaron
22 books3 followersJane Rhiannon Aaron is a former Professor of English at the University of Glamorgan and has published extensively on Welsh literature and the writings of Welsh women.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 15, 2023
"haunted by History...."
December 28, 2019
Really good, wide-ranging study of Welsh Gothic fiction that clearly sets it within its historiographical context.
Some now-outdated scholarship re: the figure of the witch in that particular chapter, but if you want to read more detailed studies on this as a topic in itself Suggett & Hutton have studies (articles & monographs) with the witch & the witch in Wales as the main focus.
Engagingly written and well-presented, this book is a brilliant introduction to the subgenre of Gothic fiction. Highly recommend it!
Some now-outdated scholarship re: the figure of the witch in that particular chapter, but if you want to read more detailed studies on this as a topic in itself Suggett & Hutton have studies (articles & monographs) with the witch & the witch in Wales as the main focus.
Engagingly written and well-presented, this book is a brilliant introduction to the subgenre of Gothic fiction. Highly recommend it!
May 10, 2024
This is the kind of book I could talk about for hours. Jane Aaron has put together a comprehensive analysis on how the Gothic has been used in Welsh fiction and how the folklore of Wales has influenced the larger subgenre. Through this, she explores Welsh history and the relationship between Wales and England, providing detailed context surrounding the Gothic tales she discusses.
Aaron makes the argument that Welsh Gothic has been overlooked and ignored, despite offering a unique view on both the country and the genre. The first part of the book outlines the different trends through time, using writing both by Welsh and English authors, and in both languages. There’s a difference in how the Welsh write the Gothic, and how the English do, especially when it relates to Wales, and it’s interesting to see the views – how the Welsh are perceived and how we view ourselves – side by side.
One of the running themes throughout is how Wales is a land steeped in superstition, but the way this is portrayed varies from one writer to another. The second part explores four figures from Welsh folklore who have become key parts of the genre and, in some ways, representative of Wales itself; witches, druids, the cwn annwn, and the sin-eater. The way these have shifted, changed and endured is really fascinating to read, especially as Aaron traces their lineage back as far as possible. It’s also probably the most comprehensive writing around the concept of the sin-eater that I’ve seen.
In recent years, we’ve seen the Gothic reclaimed more and more by writers from colonized countries, and Aaron suggests Wales has a unique place within the genre for similar reasons. As a country, Wales has had its language, culture and traditions stripped by its neighbour, but that does not place Wales or the Welsh without blame, and some of the earlier texts have various representations of the Welsh past haunting the present day. There’s a sense of writers figuring out their own national identity in these works, while across the border the English were portraying Wales as a wild, backwards, remote place. There’s also a sense of guilt running through the gothic writings of Wales, an acknowledgement that the relationship with England is more complicated than that of coloniser and colonised (and there are large debates around even labelling Wales a colony), and Aaron lays out how this sense of guilt and complicity feeds into the gothic in Wales.
It's a fascinating look at both the country and the genre, with a unique view on both and providing enough historical context that one doesn’t have to be overly familiar with Welsh history to get it, while also not being too repetitive with the history for those more versed in it. If you have an interest in the Gothic genre, I really do recommend this one.
Aaron makes the argument that Welsh Gothic has been overlooked and ignored, despite offering a unique view on both the country and the genre. The first part of the book outlines the different trends through time, using writing both by Welsh and English authors, and in both languages. There’s a difference in how the Welsh write the Gothic, and how the English do, especially when it relates to Wales, and it’s interesting to see the views – how the Welsh are perceived and how we view ourselves – side by side.
One of the running themes throughout is how Wales is a land steeped in superstition, but the way this is portrayed varies from one writer to another. The second part explores four figures from Welsh folklore who have become key parts of the genre and, in some ways, representative of Wales itself; witches, druids, the cwn annwn, and the sin-eater. The way these have shifted, changed and endured is really fascinating to read, especially as Aaron traces their lineage back as far as possible. It’s also probably the most comprehensive writing around the concept of the sin-eater that I’ve seen.
In recent years, we’ve seen the Gothic reclaimed more and more by writers from colonized countries, and Aaron suggests Wales has a unique place within the genre for similar reasons. As a country, Wales has had its language, culture and traditions stripped by its neighbour, but that does not place Wales or the Welsh without blame, and some of the earlier texts have various representations of the Welsh past haunting the present day. There’s a sense of writers figuring out their own national identity in these works, while across the border the English were portraying Wales as a wild, backwards, remote place. There’s also a sense of guilt running through the gothic writings of Wales, an acknowledgement that the relationship with England is more complicated than that of coloniser and colonised (and there are large debates around even labelling Wales a colony), and Aaron lays out how this sense of guilt and complicity feeds into the gothic in Wales.
It's a fascinating look at both the country and the genre, with a unique view on both and providing enough historical context that one doesn’t have to be overly familiar with Welsh history to get it, while also not being too repetitive with the history for those more versed in it. If you have an interest in the Gothic genre, I really do recommend this one.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews