Introduction and meaning of “gothic”

I love reading books. Particularly, I enjoy reading books from the Gothic genre. But, whenever I say the word “gothic,” the response that I usually get is “what are you talking about?” or “do you mean those people with heavy make up and black hair?”

Although I do not blame anyone for this assumption, I would like to shed some light on the word’s actual meaning especially when it is applied to literature.

First, I would like to talk about the history of the term by answering the following questions: Where does the word “gothic” come from? And, how does this background provide the foundation for the genre?

To answer the first question, the word “gothic” comes from a Germanic tribe that migrated from south Sweden during the 3rd and 4th Centuries. Around that time, the Goths had become influential in world events since they brought down the Roman Empire and the Huns. 

Later on, the Visigoths  went on to rule Spain and France before they eventually disappeared during the Middle Ages. From the Goths, an entire art and architectural movement took over in Europe which led to the construction of cathedrals and paintings.

By the 19th Century, this medieval style resurfaced in England during a movement called the Gothic Revival. 

Within the same period, Horace Walpole went down in literary history after he published the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. 

It is Walpole’s story that began the genre’s tradition and it inspired later novels, like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Even today, this form of storytelling resurfaces again and again in several types of media (including books, movies, shows, etc). 

On this blog, I want to discuss Gothic novels as well as the elements that help shape the entire genre. In addition, I would like to see how these tropes change over time.