The Influence of Gothic Literature on Gothic Music

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The Influence of Gothic Literature on Gothic Music

Gothic encompasses many genres of expression. Gothic artists speak out through the forms of literature, architecture, film, sculptures, paintings, and music. Many times, one genre of Gothic inspires another, creating fusing parallels between the two. In this way, each genre of Gothic rises to a more universal level, coalescing into the much broader understanding of Gothic. Gothic writers, such as Mary Shelley, influence Gothic music, as one sees in stylistic devices including diction, setting, and tone.

In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's eerie diction turns otherwise normal elements of life into bizarre institutions, a transition which Gothic musicians frequently utilize. Under Shelley's power, science turns ungodly, men evolve into monsters, and happiness sours into pain. To an audience taught to celebrate science as a positive step forward in mankind, Shelley shows the dark side of technology. Science grows as not a life-giving or life-retrieving tool, but the very temptation which causes the character, Frankenstein, to crawl "among the unhallowed damps of the grave" and lose "all soul or sensation but for" the unwanted recreation of life (Shelley 39). Frankenstein's passion helps no one, but actually forces a being into existence against its wishes and the betterment of the people around it. Similarly, Gothic musicians use diction to taint common human behavior, namely mental contemplation and sexual intercourse. Through the use of diction, the mind becomes "a twenty four hour unblinking watch," (Bauhaus) whose owner himself must trivialize as "silly" in order to come to grips with his thoughts. The depiction of the mind, no longer t...

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...The stylistics of Gothic intermingle to produce an overall dramatic effect across the board of art genres. Henceforth, a chain reaction occurs. Artists create Gothic art in multiple genres, fans of each genre expose themselves to the art, and inspiration leads to another rotation in the cycle of Gothic. Ultimately, the influence of art upon art keeps Gothic itself alive.

Sources Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Bantom Reissue edition, 1991.

Bowie, David. Outside. Beverly Hills, California, 1995.

Tones on Tails. Night Music. England, 1987.

The Cure. Seventeen Seconds. New York, New York, 1980.

Bauhaus. Swing the Heartache: The BBC Sessions. New York, New York, 1989.

Internet. Available WWW: http:www.gothic.net/darkside/dmusic.html

Internet. Available WWW: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/x.exe1.

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