Gothic and the visual arts: dialogue between writing and image

Call for Papers:
Gothic and the visual arts: dialogue between writing and image

Editors:
Jorge Victor Araújo (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)
Juliana Schmitt (Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado, Brasil)
Júlio França (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)

Special issue theme:
Originating from a posteriori definitions of the architecture and art of the Lower Middle Ages, the concept of Gothic came to describe, in the literature of the second half of the 18th century, a narrative mode characterized by the revival of various aspects of medieval culture. In the following centuries, the term went beyond the boundaries of literature, and Gothic elements began to be observed in other artistic forms. We are interested in publishing articles that deal, for example: with the ekphrasis of paintings, statues and drawings in Gothic works; with the illustrations of narratives of the Gothic tradition, such as those of Gustave Doré, based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe; with the romantic neo-Gothic of Caspar Friedrich’s landscapes, and the rediscovery of the medieval macabre in the 19th century; about the pictorial and sculptural works of “modern art”, that present typical motifs of this negative poetics, such as abysses, dark landscapes, ghosts, monstrosities, ruined castles, abandoned mansions, decomposing bodies; about surrealist distortions, the withered figures of Alberto Giacometti, the amorphous portraits of Francis Bacon, and countless other representatives of this aesthetic throughout the 20th century; about the medievalism in vogue in contemporary times, which emulate the art and architecture conventionally considered Gothic by the canon, notably when the medieval period is associated with the tragedies of the plagues; or, even, about contemporary art that incorporates the fascination with the macabre, the grotesque and the supernatural. In short, following the approach of theorists such as Anne-Marie Christin, Jacques Rancière and Wolfgang Iser, among others, this dossier aims to bring together articles and essays that discuss the relationships between writing and image in the “Gothic machinery”, in its most diverse supports and possibilities.

In the following centuries, the term went beyond literary boundaries and Gothic elements began to be observed in other artistic forms. We are interested in publishing articles on, for example: on the ekphraseis of paintings, statues and drawings in Gothic masterpieces; on the illustrations of narratives from the Gothic tradition, such as those by Gustave Doré, based on the work of Edgar Allan; on the romantic neo-Gothic of Caspar Friedrich's landscapes, and the rediscovery of the medieval macabre in the 19th century; on the pictorial and sculptural works of “modern art”, which have their own negative poetic motifs, such as abysses, dark landscapes, ghosts, monstrosities, ruined castles, abandoned mansions, decomposing bodies; on the surrealist distortions, the withered figures of Alberto Giacometti, the amorphous portraits of Francis Bacon, and countless other representatives of this aesthetic throughout the 20th century; on the medievalisms in vogue today, which emulate the art and architecture conventionalized by the canon as Gothic, especially when they associate the medieval period with the tragedies of the plagues; or even on contemporary art that incorporates a fascination with the macabre, the grotesque and the supernatural. In short, following the approach of theorists such as Anne-Marie Christin, Jacques Rancière and Wolfgang Iser, among others, this dossier aims to bring together articles and essays that discuss the relationship between writing and the image in the “Gothic machinery”, in its most diverse supports and possibilities.

 

Submissions are due January 15, 2025.