How did the Gothic novel form and develop in the history of English literature? What are the representative writers?

The gothic novel is a historically fixed genre of fiction that has persisted since the 18th century and encompasses a form of pan-horror fiction that includes modern psychic novels, horror novels, and even horror classics.

Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto announced the birth of the first Western Gothic novel, and also signaled the introduction of this type of novel creation mode. The creation mode of Gothic novel, as Horace

Allen Poe

Walpole said in the preface of the reprint of this book, is "the fusion of two kinds of legends, that is, the fusion of ancient legends and modern legends" (Walpole8), which is specifically expressed in a series of innovations in the story scenes, character paradigms, and thematic consciousness, and so on. This is manifested in a series of innovations in story scenes, character paradigms, and thematic awareness. Especially the "Gothic Castle" as the setting of the story has multiple symbolic meanings, which not only represents the revival trend of Gothic architecture in the 18th century British society, but also reflects the political concepts, ideological trends, and cultural values of that time, which were the antithesis of rationalism, and thus is indispensable to this kind of novel. The Gothic architecture of the 18th century represents the revival of Gothic architecture in 18th century English society, and also reflects the political concepts, ideological trends and cultural values of the time as the antithesis of "rationalism", which is an indispensable iconic factor of this kind of novel. This is why Horace Walpole added the word "Gothic" to the subtitle of The Castle of Otranto.

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