The American Gothic

Throughout many centuries, the presence of the American Gothic traditions in literature and in cinema has provided tremendous enlightenment on the reality of different social, political, mental and individual issues. The presence of uncertainty and metaphysical dimensions evokes emotions that raise questions regarding social order and the disturbance of the boundaries between the inside and outside. With the use of imagery, themes and concepts, more specifically the uncanny and the sublime, the American Gothic “reflects an anxiety about the constitution of American society itself.”

In American Gothic traditions, the sublime and the uncanny represent two of the major themes adapted in gothic cinematography. The mixture of both painful and pleasurable feelings evoked by the experience of the sublime, creates uncertainty of what is good versus what is bad and expresses an appreciation of the fearful and irregular forms of nature and society. The sublime evokes emotions of terror while evoking emotions of pleasure. It’s ability to create both painful and pleasurable emotions captivates the audience attention due to the unusual combination of feelings related to the fear of the unknown. The sublime attracts the reader/viewer’s attention by creating situations that evoke interest but that are also excessive. In Gothic cinema, for example in the Master’s of Horror episode “The Black Cat” ( Stuart Gordon, 2007), the dramatic reveals are extremely important in the portrayal of society’s views. The reveal of the ex-wife’s living corpse and the presence of the supernatural, for instance, pushes the audience’s mind into further examination of the unknown. Also, the presence of unfaithfulness between sexual partners and the use of domestic violence pushes the boundaries by expanding the audience’s mind through mixtures of emotions to shed light on the social taboos of it’s society. Furthermore, in American Gothic literature, the meaning of the word sublime is often used in comparison to the sublime of nature. According the Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, the feeling of the sublime can be defined as “experiencing some overwhelming natural disaster from a safe distance.” He defines nature as being both beautiful and terrifying and compares it to the overwhelming feeling that captivates the mind when experiencing the emotions evoked by the sublime. The sublime also links itself to the notion of realism. In “The Black Cat” episode (Stuart Gordon, 2007), the clash of the two different cultures forces the audience’s attention on the broader knowledge of the reality of individuality and society. While escaping the limits of the notion of normalcy, the sublime gives us a glimpse of the irregular and chaotic forces exhibited in the world

Though the sublime concentrates more on the realism aspects of the American Gothic traditions, the notion of the uncanny refers more specifically to “the return of the repressed”, the reappearance of what was once forgotten. The uncanny relates to the Homely Gothic with its similar characteristics that create the unbalancing feeling between emotion and mind. The uncanny and the American Gothic traditions are categorized as creating feelings of insecurity and of not feeling at home. The uncanny is defined as what is outside the familiar, what was once familiar but is no longer. It threatens our “at-homeness”

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