Beyond the Boundaries of Realism
Monstrous Islands and Literary Hybrids at the Fin de Siècle in Conan Doyle’s, R. L. Stevenson’s and H. G. Wells’s Fiction
Abstract
This article explores the way in which at the fin de siècle, Doyle, Stevenson and Wells chose to set their works on marginal islands in order to spatially escape not only from the bleak reality of the modern world, but also from the constraints of realism, and to reconnect with more imaginative forms of writing. It thus aims to shed new light on the relationship between geographical space and literary aesthetics, and to demonstrate that the island space is especially conducive to generic excursions out of realism and towards the fantastic, the marvellous and even the monstrous, leading to the creation of eminently hybrid literary texts.
Presentato: 06 Novembre 2020 | Accettato: 12 Dicembre 2020 | Pubblicato 21 Dicembre 2020 | Lingua: en
Keywords Uncanny • Aesthetics • Stevenson • Hybridity • Form • Narrative Annexe • Border-crossing • Victorian Era • Genre • Wells • Realism • Space • Romance • Gothic • Monsters • Fin de siècle • Islands • Geopoetics • Doyle • Fantastic • Marvellous • Escapism
Copyright © 2020 Julie Gay. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/EL/2420-823X/2020/01/005