THE CONCEPT OF GOTHIC AND NEO-GOTHIC STYLE IN THE CONTEXT OF LITERATURE HISTORY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of the Gothic style in Western European prose. The origins of the Gothic tradition, the history of the term in literary criticism, the main stages in the development of the classic Gothic novel and the emergence of the Neo-Gothic phenomenon are considered. The article provides an overview of the most important works for this style, from Walpole 's Otranto to Maturin 's Melmoth the Wanderer, with an analysis of the key philosophical and aesthetic ideas of the era that influenced the formation of the genre (in particular, the concept of the sublime, formulated by Edmund Burke ). The article also touches upon the issues of studying classical Gothic literature and its perception by the student audience