Gothic Topic: Where Goths Get Their Name

[billectric]

Gothic Topic: Where Goths Get Their Name


First there was Gothic horror, then the Goth punk/alternative style -- black fingernail polish, dark clothes, eyeliner, and blood-red lips -- but where did the terms “Goth” and “Gothic” come from? These words came to be identified with the macabre in a round-about way that I find fascinating.



I mentioned the word “Goth” to a friend of mine who is a former college professor of architecture, now retired. He told me that Gothic architecture is also called "Christian" architecture. That sounded strange, so I asked him why. Here is the story:


Back in medieval times, around 200 A.D. just before the middle Ages, a tribe of Germanic people called the Goths (similar to the Huns) invaded the Roman Empire. They eventually wiped out the Roman Empire, or as some people see it, the Roman Empire blended in with the Goths. Then, at some point, the Goth leaders converted to Christianity. The churches and other buildings they constructed had high pointed arches, rib vaulting, and other things that gave it a certain style. It was known as "Christian" or "Goth" because it was built by the Goths after their official religion became Christianity.



Now -- fast forward to the 1800's – hundreds of years after the Goth invasions. Writers found that their readers loved “safe danger" – this meant you could read about something really scary and get the thrill of terror, but you knew it was just a story so you enjoyed the rush. Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in 1818, Edgar Allan Poe wrote his Tales of Mystery and Imagination in the 1840's, and Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in 1897. There were many others as well.



It just so happened, by coincidence, that in England during the 1800’s, they were discovering a lot of the old Gothic architecture from centuries earlier, much like the pyramids were rediscovered in Egypt. It became popular to copy the old Goth style, or restore some of the old castles and churches. Nowadays we might call it “retro.” Many of the horror stories written in the 1800’s would feature an old Gothic structure for the vampire’s hideout or the madman’s lair. Some of the writers actually referred back to the medieval days and some just wrote about their own time, but Gothic art & architecture became associated with stories of the grotesque, the mysterious, and the desolate.

End

[mindbum]

what's this funny link you say? bilbliowho?

http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/331/2422

well this is the link to the first ever 'gothic book'

the castle of otranto by horace walpole. i have read this classic tome in paperback. i also read the first ever 'fantasy novel' not too long ago. though written some century distant they have similarities.

actually i found a cooler link:

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
with annotations advancing emotional literacy education from the Encyclopedia of the Self http://selfknowledge.com/cotrt10.htm

[perezoso]

"Goth" originally related to a central european people called the goths (including ostrogoths and visigoths) by the Romans--they were considered barbarians. I m not sure of their geography, but it was expansive, covering southern germany, slavic areas, Gaul (france), northern spain....spanish has some visigothic influences.

the ancient Gothic language is thought to be a precursor to German (hoch deutsch) , and thus related to indo-european....there are some fragments of it....and translations of screepture into goth

later it came to be a term for the gloomy, ornate, bizarre architecture and art--from like 1100 to about 1500? The Cologne cathedral is, at least to me and some others, High Gothic--as is Notre Dame I guess: .gargoyles, spires, crypts under the floor, naves, stained glass, . flying buttrresses--

You are right the Romantics did gothic stuff and thats what people think of, but it goes way back....:Shelley doesnt seem that goth to me--more greek...

If you see the movie Titus ( based on Shakespeares' Titus Andronicus and roman history) you note that Tamara is the Queen of the Goths and quite the nasty critter as are her sons ...done by Jessica Lange (and her very nice tits) in the flick.....

[billectric]

mindbum, this is quite fascinating. I'm a little too sleepy to start reading it now, but I sense that this is something I will like very much! Thanks.

perezoso, I agree with you that Shelley isn't a good example of Gothic literature. I guess I have oversimplified the article. I should probably research it more and revise. The thing is, the more I read, the more intricate the history became, and I felt the article would never get written if I kept following all the branches. I appreciate your comments!

[perezoso]

For a scary example of goth imagery check out Bosch.....or Brueghel (his painting The Triumph of Death is on the cover of Burroughs' Cities of the Red Night--which is not so far from goth either)

Great non-fiction example of "gothism" is Tuchman's Distant Mirror--about the 14th century--featuring the 100 years war, black plague, peasant rebellions--pretty much Death everywhere. It f-n rules. Nothing like ruined european cities full of piled up-bodies while wolves and rats roam the streets at will feasting on corpses
.