SOURCE: "Imperial Gothic: Atavism and the Occult in the British Adventure Novel, 1880-1914," in Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperalism, 1830-1914, Cornell, 1988, pp. 227-53.
In the book-length study excerpted below, Brantlinger examines the genre he identifies as "imperial gothic," which uses spiritualism to emphasize the themes of regression, invasion, and the lack of British heroism. In this excerpt, the critic argues that the genre is symptomatic of the gradual disintegration of British imperialism towards the end of the nineteenth century.
This is a free excerpt of 81 words. There are 12,922 words (approx.
43 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Colonialism in Victorian English Literature: Patrick Brantlinger Access Pass.
