Fiction and the Supernatural

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From Horace Walpole to Ann Radcliffe, renegade novelists of the eighteenth century wanted to claim back the supernatural for fiction and so invented the Gothic Novel.
This lecture pursues the gift of Gothic to later novelists, seeing how great Victorian novelists like Emily Brontë, Charlotte Brontë and Charles Dickens were entranced by the supernatural. Finally, it looks at how the possibility of supernatural explanation energises contemporary novelists like Hilary Mantel and Sarah Waters.
A lecture by John Mullan
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
www.gresham.ac....
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/...

Опубликовано:

4 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 20

@chrystalbrown1869 2 года назад

I could listen to John Mullan all day 👂👂

@bludeetu321 3 года назад

The success of the old and the modern supernatural tale is that so many people WANT to believe. There is something delicious about scaring yourself half to death in the safety of your (well-lit) living room. Thank you for pointing me to some new tales to hunt down and read.

@hannabelle7019 3 года назад

Really interesting lecture, however I find myself disappointed by the extremely narrow look Professor Mulllen took - the English Gothic writers are fantastic, but supernatural literature is and has been a worldwide phenomeon, and the Gothic tradition has inspired countless modern authors who bring their own cultures and landscapes to the genre (Anne Rice and New Orleans, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and the rural mountains of Mexico, Carlos Ruiz Zafón and the winding streets of Barcelona, to give just a few examples.) It feels as though this almost might have been better served as part of a longer series exploring different aspects of the supernatural in fiction - it was mentioned that 'ghost stories' almost deserve their own lecture, and I am inclined to agree.

@vittoriahawksworth8117 5 месяцев назад

Walpole House in Twickenham can be visited. I had a lovely guided tour in the evening.

@josephyoung2593 19 дней назад

Teaching horror literature in Bosnia I sensed I had gotten ahead of my students. Pausing, I muttered it would help if the students knew Scooby-Doo. Everyone laughed; it transpired that Scooby-Doo reruns are abidingly popular on Bosnian TV. With that point of reference in mind the rest of the course went very smoothly.

@clayburris2757 3 года назад

Not one mention of the best ghost story creator not only in England, but in the world? Montague James should always be part of this discussion...

@BaldingClamydia 3 года назад

In the show it's always explained supernatural, but almost all the Scooby movies are actually supernatural events, but they generally find a way to live with that. For instance, vampires were a problem in one movie, but they weren't terrible people so all was well. :D Have to admit, I didn't expect to hear about Scooby Doo on a Gresham lecture, but it was the first thing I thought about when he was talking about consistently explained supernatural.

@satanscrow8016 3 года назад

Rationalism is the real monster here. Takes the mystery and imagination out of everything and will be the death of us all. Rational thought is the forbidden fruit. With our finite reason we even think we can now judge the infinite. Utter nonsense. Like the playwright said, our arms are far too short for a fight like that.

@BaldingClamydia 3 года назад

@@satanscrow8016 No matter how much we explain, we are always left with more questions. I don't think rationalism is monstrous

@satanscrow8016 3 года назад

@@BaldingClamydia I didn't say you did, I said that. Don't care if you agree or not. Still true.

@BaldingClamydia 3 года назад

@@satanscrow8016 No reason to be mean about it, you're not in the general comments, you replied to my comment. So I replied, just adding my perspective, not trying to change your mind.

@satanscrow8016 3 года назад

@@BaldingClamydia I can be mean if I want. Wasn't trying to be.

@WildBillCox13 3 года назад

Liked and shared. Thanks, Gresham, for posting this most interesting lecture!

@WildBillCox13 3 года назад

Sir Dennis' (Sir Dennis Nayland Smith) perennial hunt for a ghost in human form . . . do I smell mimosa? Houdini and Doyle went looking for the supernatural. It was an age for such things; the "godless" age. Science would explain away all the mysteries . . . or would it?

@paulcityrocker 2 года назад

I wish John had taught me.

@thomasjamison2050 3 года назад

Of course there are ghosts. They are all over the place, but the thing about them that strikes my curiosity is why it is that they almost all prefer to haunt bed and breakfast establishments.