Typology of Gothic novels by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Abstract

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is one of the most prominent representatives of the ghost story genre. His works were widely popular not only during the years of their publication, but also many years after. The subject of research in this article is the problem of creating a genre typology. Based on the material of Gothic novels (collections "Purcell Papers", "In a glass darkly", etc.) by the British writer of the XIX century Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, the question of the optimal typological criterion is considered, which would allow creating an objective typology, the application of which would be possible when studying the works of other authors of Gothic minor prose of the second half of the XIX – early XX century. The methodological principles underlying this study take into account the achievements of cultural-historical, comparative, and structural-descriptive approaches. The novelty is associated with the absence of such a typology of Le Fanu's short stories, as well as with the fact that researchers prefer the novel form in the writer's work. However, this typology makes it possible to clarify some aspects of the development of Gothic minor prose both in the works of Le Fanu and in the works of other writers of this period. In addition, the typologization of Le Fanu's Gothic novels allows us to trace in more detail the change in the figurative system of Gothic short prose. Conclusions made as a result of the study: the objective typological criterion can be considered the specifics of the narrator's attitude to the category of the supernatural. Based on this criterion, the classic Gothic novel, the "scientific" Gothic novel, the humorous Gothic novel, the socio-psychological Gothic novel, the folklore-mythological Gothic novel are distinguished in Le Fanu's work.