Speaking the Unspeakable: Women, Sex, and the Dismorphmythic in Lovecraft, Angela Carter, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and Beyond

Wisker, Gina

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-95477-6_11

Gina Wisker²

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1 Citations

Abstract

Supernatural Horror in Literature canonizes a primarily male tradition of weird writing, and H.P. Lovecraft’s fictional women are often abject constructs; the sex acts he implies are linked to miscegenation that threatens humankind. Despite this, there is a Lovecraftian legacy of work by women writers, one this chapter explores, focusing on work by Angela Carter, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and selected stories collected in the anthology She Walks in Shadows, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles. These writers reinvigorate and subvert Lovecraft’s legacy, speaking back to his sexual fear and disgust while exposing deep-seated problems with gender and power.

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Notes

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CLT, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
Gina Wisker

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Gina Wisker
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University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Sean Moreland

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Wisker, G. (2018). Speaking the Unspeakable: Women, Sex, and the Dismorphmythic in Lovecraft, Angela Carter, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and Beyond. In: Moreland, S. (eds) New Directions in Supernatural Horror Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95477-6_11

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95477-6_11
Published: 09 September 2018
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95477-6
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