The aim of my dissertation is to analyse Elizabeth Bowen’s novel The Last September (1929), by focusing in particular on its hybridity: in this text, in fact, modernist and Gothic elements coexist. Starting by attempting to define Modernism and underlining the importance of women writers like Bowen for the development of Modernist literature, I provide an account on the Gothic tradition and its connection with Modernism, by explaining how they can coexist and the features they share. The focus is especially on the Gothic tradition in Ireland, since Bowen was part of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy and continued, with her short texts, the tradition of Irish ghost stories of Le Fanu and Riddell. Moreover, I found it necessary to provide also a brief historical account on Ireland, especially on the Anglo-Irish War of the early twentieth century, since it is a fundamental component of the novel; the story setting is in fact County Cork, during September 1920. In the second part of my dissertation, I discuss Bowen’s life, which affected also the writing of The Last September, some of the most meaningful topics of the novel and how she managed to represent them by using both Modernist and Gothic practices.
Elizabeth Bowen’s Gothic Modernism in The Last September
ANDRIGHETTO, MARTA
2022/2023
Abstract
The aim of my dissertation is to analyse Elizabeth Bowen’s novel The Last September (1929), by focusing in particular on its hybridity: in this text, in fact, modernist and Gothic elements coexist. Starting by attempting to define Modernism and underlining the importance of women writers like Bowen for the development of Modernist literature, I provide an account on the Gothic tradition and its connection with Modernism, by explaining how they can coexist and the features they share. The focus is especially on the Gothic tradition in Ireland, since Bowen was part of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy and continued, with her short texts, the tradition of Irish ghost stories of Le Fanu and Riddell. Moreover, I found it necessary to provide also a brief historical account on Ireland, especially on the Anglo-Irish War of the early twentieth century, since it is a fundamental component of the novel; the story setting is in fact County Cork, during September 1920. In the second part of my dissertation, I discuss Bowen’s life, which affected also the writing of The Last September, some of the most meaningful topics of the novel and how she managed to represent them by using both Modernist and Gothic practices.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/44230