Taxidermy and the Gothic
The Horror of Still Life
By Elizabeth Effinger
Anthem Studies in Gothic Literature
Taxidermy and the Gothic: The Horror of Still Life is the first extended study of the Gothic’s collusion with taxidermy. Focusing on contemporary cultural and material texts, it shows how taxidermy’s imbrication with Gothic horror is more than skin deep: these are rich discourses stuffed by affinities for corporeal transgressions, the uncanny, and the counterfeit.
Book Summary
Taxidermy and the Gothic: The Horror of Still Life is the first extended study of the Gothic’s collusion with taxidermy. Focusing on contemporary cultural and material texts, it shows how taxidermy’s imbrication with Gothic horror is more than skin deep: these are rich discourses stuffed by affinities for corporeal transgressions, the uncanny, and the counterfeit.
Praise
Stuffed full of valuable reflections on the fictional representation of taxidermy and its evolving engagement with epistemological, phenomenological, sexual, racial, and, of course, thanatological discourses, Effinger’s highly original and captivating book is destined to become a timeless classic.
—Dr. Xavier Aldana Reyes, author of Gothic Cinema (2020) and Body Gothic (2014).
Elizabeth Effinger eloquently makes the case that taxidermy has been intertwined with Gothic horror from the nineteenth century to the present. This brilliant book—about the frozen stare of the taxidermied animal and the horror of stasis—is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in Gothic.
—Dawn Keetley, Professor of English and Film, Lehigh University, USA
About the Author
Elizabeth Effinger is an associate professor of English at the University of New Brunswick. She is the co-editor of William Blake’s Gothic Imagination: Bodies of Horror.
About Anthem Press – Anthem Press is a leading medium-sized independent academic, professional and trade publisher in established and emerging social sciences, business/law and humanities fields of study with a strong international and interdisciplinary focus.
