BIOLOGICAL HORROR IN ARTHUR MACHEN'S THE GREAT GOD PAN

Abstract

 This article analyzes a work of Welsh Gothic literature under the perspective of biological horror, as outlined by Jason Colavito (2007), as an expression of the social and cultural anxieties that emerged in late 19^th century Britain. The analysis seeks to understand how the apprehensions of British society brough on by the fin de siècle are expressed in the novella The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen. Along with the general concerns about quick scientifical development and perceived moral degeneration, it can be argued that Machen’s work, as a Welsh author who struggled to identify as such, displays underlying fears of Otherness and of threats to a stable identity. Then, this article seeks to debate how the Gothic mode, and specifically the structure of narratives of biological horror, intertwine with narratives of complex and hybrid cultural identities. The first section explains the concept of biological horror in Colavito’s (2007) terms and briefly reviews Welsh history to detail the reasons why Welsh identity is an amply debated issue in literature; the second section recounts the plot to the novella and applies the aforementioned concepts in a critical analysis of the text. It is possible to conclude that Arthur Machen materializes within the literary text the fears of Otherness with the particularities of a Welsh author writing in English – portraying Wales as a dangerous, yet appealing land, with ambiguous and demonic characters.