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Gothic Trends in Contemporary Great Plains Literature

LaDuke, Aaron J.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1368028912

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, English (Arts and Sciences).
This study argues for the emergence of a Gothic literature in the Great Plains region. Plains fiction has long been dominated by the pioneer ideal put forth by authors such as Willa Cather. I posit that a thread of contemporary authors of the region are now challenging these myths and creating works that engage a repressed history of the plains through the use of a Gothic style. The study begins with a look at Cather as a writer who perhaps most famously establishes the pioneer myth. Cather writes in praise of the yeoman farmer with her use of the garden myth and democratic utopia, but she also plants some seeds of the Gothic with the dark eruptions that occur in her narratives. Wright Morris is an author who challenges ideal versions of Great Plains history through his plains expatriate characters but also struggles with nostalgic conceptions of the region. He serves as the bridge between Cather and the primary writer of the study: Annie Proulx. In her three collections of Wyoming stories, Proulx creates a sober picture of the plains that focuses on more painful aspects of the region’s history such as the widespread failure of small farmers and ranchers. Her fiction makes use of a wide range of Gothic, stylistic techniques and builds on the previous regional Gothics of New England and the South. The conclusion to the project explores other contemporary Great Plains writers working in a Gothic mode. Several of these writers take a particular focus on the repressed history concerning the oppression of Native Americans. The final chapter looks at an additional text in the form of current media coverage of the region, which provides a unique perspective on the cyclical nature of the history that has defined the plains.
Paul Jones (Committee Chair)
274 p.
American Literature
Great Plains literature; Gothic; Annie Proulx

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • LaDuke, A. J. (2013). Gothic Trends in Contemporary Great Plains Literature [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1368028912

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • LaDuke, Aaron. Gothic Trends in Contemporary Great Plains Literature. 2013. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1368028912.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • LaDuke, Aaron. "Gothic Trends in Contemporary Great Plains Literature." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1368028912

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.