Review essay: Social Reform in Gothic Writing: Fantastic Forms of Change, 1764–1834 by Ellen Malenas Ledoux; Gothic Subjects: The Transformation of Individualism in American Fiction, 1790–1861 by Siân Silyn Roberts; and Episodic Poetics: Politics and Literary Form after the Constitution by Matthew Garret

Abstract

Review of Social Reform in Gothic Writing: Fantastic Forms of Change, 1764-1834 by Ellen Malenas Ledoux, Gothic Subjects: The Transformation of Individualism in American Fiction, 1790-1861 by Sian Silyn Roberts, Episodic Poetics: Politics and Literary Form after the Constitution by Matthew Garret Scholarly review of three recent monographs on late eighteenth century literary forms, namely the Gothic novel and the narrative episode. All three studies examine these forms in their historical context, focusing on the cultural and political work performed by each. Ledoux looks at the social issues explored by the Gothic novel and Gothic drama, Roberts looks at the work of Charles Brockden Brown in relation to individualism and the formation of a national subject in the post-Revolutionary era, and Garrett examines the importance and ideological work of the 'episode' in the same period. Although two of the studies focus on the United States, all three show the influence of transatlantic approaches in recent years.