Southern Ontario Gothic

Southern Ontario Gothic is a sub-genre of the Gothic novel genre and a feature of Canadian literature that comes from Southern Ontario.

Related Topics:
Sub-genre - Gothic novel - Canadian literature - Southern Ontario

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Writers of this sub-genre include Alice Munro, Timothy Findley, Douglas Anthony Cooper, Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Jane Urquhart, Marian Engel, James Reaney, Susan Swan, Graeme Gibson and Barbara Gowdy.

Related Topics:
Alice Munro - Timothy Findley - Douglas Anthony Cooper - Margaret Atwood - Robertson Davies - Jane Urquhart - Marian Engel - James Reaney - Susan Swan - Graeme Gibson - Barbara Gowdy

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Like the Southern Gothic of American writers such as William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty, Southern Ontario Gothic critiques race, gender, religion, and politics, but in a Southern Ontario context. Southern Ontario Gothic is generally characterized by a stern realism set against the dour small-town Protestant morality stereotypical of the region, and often has underlying themes of moral hypocrisy. Actions and people that act against humanity, logic, and morality all are portrayed unfavorably, and one or more characters may be suffering from some form of mental illness.

Related Topics:
Southern Gothic - American - William Faulkner - Flannery O'Connor - Eudora Welty - Realism - Protestant - Mental illness

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Some (but not all) writers of Southern Ontario Gothic use supernatural or magic realist elements; a few deviate from realism entirely, in the manner of the fantastical gothic novel. Virtually all dwell to a certain extent upon the grotesque.

Related Topics:
Supernatural - Magic realist - Grotesque

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Notable novels of the genre include Davies' Deptford Trilogy, Findley's Headhunter, The Last of the Crazy People and The Wars, Cooper's Amnesia and Delirium, and Atwood's The Blind Assassin, Cat's Eye and Alias Grace.

Related Topics:
Deptford Trilogy - Headhunter - The Last of the Crazy People - The Wars - Amnesia - Delirium - The Blind Assassin - Cat's Eye - Alias Grace

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See also United Empire Loyalists, Methodist Rome.

Related Topics:
United Empire Loyalists - Methodist Rome

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