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EcoGothic, Ecohorror and Apocalyptic Entanglement in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Tales of the Black Freighter
- Author(s):
- James L. Smith (see profile) , Colin Yeo
- Date:
- 2019
- Group(s):
- Cultural Studies, Environmental Humanities, Horror, Speculative and Science Fiction
- Subject(s):
- Ecocriticism, Gothic literature, Science fiction, Comic books, strips, etc.--Study and teaching
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- EcoGothic, Watchmen, Nautical, Nuclear paranoia, monsters, Comic book studies, Literary landscapes
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/snrg-3a02
- Abstract:
- This essay explores the ecoGothic resonances of Tales of the Black Freighter, a dark pirate tale embedded within Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' 1986-87 postmodern DC graphic novel. By providing a grim prism for themes such as nuclear paranoia, the monstrous transformation of the self, and the horrifying possibilities of scientific solutions to social ills, Black Freighter provides a vocabulary of horror that echoes the grim post-modern alternate 1980s of its host narrative. The Gothic gives a voice to the subsumed existential dread exuded by the escalating nuclear tension and apocalyptic imagination of Watchmen, and the environmental entanglement and degradation of the body at sea serves as an ecocritical lens through which to view a corresponding societal degeneration in the face of a moribund social and political ecology. It is the technique of metatextual commentary, separating and intertwining, that brings the ecoGothic themes of Watchmen to light.
- Notes:
- Full journal volume available at https://gothicnaturejournal.com/issue-1/
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 4 years ago
- License:
- Attribution
smith-yeo_155-176.pdf