| Description |
xii, 222 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Series |
Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 12 |
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Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 12
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| Contents |
Pt. I. Techniques of Ghost-Seeing. 1. The case of the Cock Lane ghost. 2. Producing enthusiastic terror -- Pt. II. The Business of Romance. 3. The advantages of history. 4. Back to the future. 5. The value of the supernatural in a commercial society -- Pt. III. The Strange Luxury of Artificial Terror. 6. Women, luxury and the sublime. 7. The supernatural explained. 8. Like a heroine -- Pt. IV. Magico-Political Tales. 9. The terrorist system. 10. Conspiracy, subversion, supernaturalism |
| Summary |
Not only are ghost stories successful commodities in the rapidly commercialising book market, they are also considered here as reflections on the disruptive effects of this socio-economic transformation. In providing a newly detailed context for the rise of supernatural fiction, Clery's work will change our view of its dramatic role - as much commercial as creative - in the movement from Enlightenment to Romanticism |
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A genre of supernatural fiction was among the more improbable products of the Age of Enlightenment, but produced a string of bestsellers. E. J. Clery's original and historically sensitive account charts the troubled entry of the supernatural into fiction, and examines the reasons for its growing popularity in the late eighteenth century. Beginning with the notorious case of the Cock Lane ghost, a performing poltergeist who became a major attraction in the London of 1762, and with Garrick's spell-binding performance as the ghost-seeing Hamlet, it moves on to look at the Gothic novels of Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, M. G. Lewis and others, in unexpected new lights. The central insight emerging from the rich resources of Clery's research concerns the connection between fictions of the supernatural and the growth of consumerism |
| Analysis |
English fiction Horror stories |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [207]-217) and index |
| Notes |
Also available online |
| Subject |
English fiction -- 18th century -- History and criticism.
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Ghost stories, English -- History and criticism.
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Gothic revival (Literature) -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
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Horror tales, English -- History and criticism.
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Literature and society -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
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Literature publishing -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
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Supernatural in literature.
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| LC no. |
94010649 |
| ISBN |
052145316X |
|
0521664586 |
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