THE GOTHIC CONVENTION AND THE DETERRITORIALIZATION

THE POETICS OF HORROR IN THE WORKS BY WITOLD GOMBROWICZ AND NATASHA TRETHEWEY

Abstract

The article aims to establish a relationship between the Gothic convention, discussed from the 1980s as an important interlocutor of literary texts that seek to challenge tradition in its oppressive aspects, and the deterritorialization. Formulated in the texts by Gilles Deleuze, the deterritorialization is indeed opposed to the unifying tendencies of cultural systems, proposing an experience of decentralized subjective dynamism, which can be found in the texts by Witold Gombrowicz. The esthetical ambiguity of the photography, which opens Deleuze’s reflection on deterritorialization confirms its efficacy in the Southern Gothic convention, in Natasha Trethewey's recent poetic work, which questions the representation of the ghost and the impact of the poetics of horror. Finally, the reflection seeks to grasp the deterritorialized character of Southern Gothic in its relation to European Gothic.