What is Gothic?
Veronica Lavenz
I have an interesting dilemna. Whereas it's usually easy to pick
out a goth, it doesn't seem so easy to define Gothic. However, that is
exactly what I must do. I must explain to somebody (my professeur) who
isn't at all involved with Gothic things what Gothic is and what it means.
Could anybody who has the time, inclination, and a good definition please
send it to me? Here's my address:
cel...@u.washington.edu
I would appreciate anything that you'd like to send, whether it be in
regards to music, clothing, general outlook. Anything that you think
would apply. Also, send this as soon as you can. It _is_ for an imminent
paper.
Thank you
Celeste
Skate-Gundy
oh-ho anotehr paper topic.
look at Net Search. There's a lot on the Web...
Really, it helps if you do your own searching,
that way you can form your thesis topic better.
lXs
--
=======****> "What! No rat salad?! This is a day without sunshine."
WEB PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION at:
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~slchen/
Cardinal
On Thu, 16 May 1996, Veronica Lavenz wrote:
> I have an interesting dilemna. Whereas it's usually easy to pick
> out a goth, it doesn't seem so easy to define Gothic. However, that is
> exactly what I must do. I must explain to somebody (my professeur) who
> isn't at all involved with Gothic things what Gothic is and what it means.
> Could anybody who has the time, inclination, and a good definition please
> send it to me? Here's my address:
Defining the word "Gothic" is rather slippery since the word has a lot of
different connotations and denotations. I'll start at the top:
"Gothic" can refer to any of a number of tribes living mainly in Germany
and other parts of central Europe during the late Roman (fourth and fifth
century) periods. These tribes included (obviously) the Ostrogoths and
the Visigoths.
"Gothic" refers to a style of architecture popular in England, France,
and in some parts of central and western Europe between the late twelfth
and early fifteenth centuries. The style was noted for the use of flying
buttresses, high vaulted ceilings, and a general "lightness" of
architecture as opposed to the preceding "Romanesque" style which had a
much more utilitarian bent to it. The architectural form underwent a
revival of sorts during the nineteenth century, especially in England and
the United States. The term can also refer to a style of armor produced
chiefly in Germany during the original "Gothic" architectural period.
These suits of armor can be distinguished by their generally
close-fitting design and spikiness of style, as well as the extreme use
of fluting both for decorative and practical purposes.
"Gothic" refers to a style of writing popular in the late eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries; the "Gothic" novel being a brief but extremely
common example of this style. "Gothic" works are focused primarily upon
the "dark" side of humanity, with paranormal and unexplainable events
liberally sprinkled into the story, which itself is typically set in some
dark and forboding area such as a huge mansion of unbelievable age or an
underground labyrinth.
"Gothic" in the sense that it is frequently used today refers
simultaneously to a fashion and frame of mind that is increasingly
popular. The fashion aspects are readily identifiable: pale skin, black
clothing (either predominantly or exclusively), et cetera, et cetera. The
frame of mind is equally easy to identify: a generally sardonic attitude,
disillusionment, a sense of "jadedness" foreign to youths of the fifties,
et cetera. In short, the "Gothic" frame of mind as it is commonly spoken
of today is a sort of revival of the mindset of the "Lost Generation" of
the 1920s.
Good luck on the paper.
That is not dead which can eternal lie;
And with strange aeons even death may die.
--attrib. to Abdul Al-Hazred, _Kitab Al-Azif_
(more commonly attributed to H. P. Lovecraft)
DnA Dvorkin
***BLATANT ACT OF SELF-PROMOTION ALERT***
My home page has an article I wrote where I tried to encapsulate some of
my thoughts about this. Might be worth checking out.
her...@gil.com.au
Veronica Lavenz (cel...@u.washington.edu) wrote:
: I would appreciate anything that you'd like to send, whether it be in
: regards to music, clothing, general outlook. Anything that you think
: would apply. Also, send this as soon as you can. It _is_ for an imminent
: paper.
have a look in aus.culture.gothic for the information wanted re: goths
thread... we've just had a huge running debate about this topic, for the
same basic purpose as you're asking here...
mind you, we didn't exactly come up with a definitive answer :) get used
to that in your quest, i'm afraid...
good luck!
heretic [rvl.oOze.ph]
[[ "Falling in love is easy, it's the crawling out that's a bitch." ]]
--
-Synic-
dvo...@minot.com (DnA Dvorkin) did cunningly address to alt.gothic..
]***BLATANT ACT OF SELF-PROMOTION ALERT***
Heh.. ADC, I hope you realise it's -you- who's to blame for this trend! :->.
]http://www.greyware.com/authors/Daniel.Dvorkin
Would have made equally good .Sig fodder.
--
.-+ aus.culture.gothic FAQ,GothCode Homepage,aus.p Who's Who?,Bio,Photos, -.
| AusGoth Links,Tasteless,VRML,etc @ http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/~ptcaffin/ |
`-| GothCode 1.0B T3(4,Z) c7w++ P3(2) a H173 s8 k++ t- g+ r--- Srn lAUwa --'
|
/\oo/\
/`'\_
/
-Synic-
Veronica Lavenz <cel...@u.washington.edu> did cunningly address to
alt.gothic..
] I have an interesting dilemna. Whereas it's usually easy to pick
]out a goth, it doesn't seem so easy to define Gothic. However, that is
]exactly what I must do. I must explain to somebody (my professeur) who
]isn't at all involved with Gothic things what Gothic is and what it means.
]Could anybody who has the time, inclination, and a good definition please
]send it to me? Here's my address:
alt.gothic FAQ http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/~ptcaffin/arc/goth/gothfaq.htm
aus.culture.gothic FAQ http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/~ptcaffin/ausgoth.htm
Hope one (or both) of these can help.