Horror Studies Now

Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference

Description

Stephen Knight and History Seen Through a Gothic Lens
This paper is part of a developing project on Gothic historical television dramas: fictions set in the past that use a Gothic mode to emphasise not just historical traumas but the persistence of those traumas to the present day. Stephen Knight’s work shows repeated concern with the traumas of exploitative capitalism, particularly on masculinity, and presented characters who have pushed back against systems that are stacked against them, in Peaky Blinders, Taboo, even in his adaptations of Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations. This paper outlines these themes, and the way that the aesthetics of the productions serve as pointers to how these programmes can be interpreted. While this is an author-based examination, it will also briefly consider how these productions fit into a wider pattern of Gothic historical dramas, suggesting a somewhat coherent grouping or trend, albeit one where Knight is a key figure.
Period30 May 2024
Event typeConference
LocationNewcastle Upon Tyne, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

Keywords

  • Gothic
  • Television
  • Historical television drama
  • Public history
  • Adaptation
  • Charles Dickens

Documents & Links

Related content