L’estetica dell’impossibile: lo strano caso del gotico e della fantascienza
10.13125/2039-6597/3607
Nella storia della creatività umana, l'atto di immaginare l'impossibile si pone al centro della percezione fisica e metafisica dell'ignoto. Il dibattito sulla natura dell'impossibile ha poi acquisito particolare rilevanza nel contesto dell'Illuminismo britannico quando la nascente scienze moderna si unì alla letteratura nel tentativo di fornire una validazione empirica al dominio dell’inspiegabile e del soprannaturale. In tal senso, le discrepanze tra le ontologie sovrapposte delle cosiddette Age of Faith e Age of Reason trovarono ulteriore esplicitazione nell’intersezione tra l’ancestrale discorso letterario del fantastico e l’esordiente genere del novel. In particolare, l’assimilazione delle convenzioni tematiche della letteratura soprannaturale all'interno della cornice narrativa del realismo formale ha portato allo sviluppo di due sottogeneri romanzeschi piuttosto longevi e articolati: il gotico e la fantascienza. Il primo, evolutosi attorno ai temi della  trasgressione del codice morale implicito alla costruzione dell'ordine civico, il secondo legato alla trasposizione di specifiche strutture del gotico nella più ampia dimensione di ansia sociale relativa ai pericoli degli abusi della ragione celati dietro l’avanzata progressista verso il bene comune e il futuro.Esplorando le trasformazioni dell’immaginario del romanzo gotico e la sua dissoluzione nell'orizzonte narrativo della fantascienza, questo articolo mira a rintracciare le radici moderne del dialogo tra scienza e letteratura nell’umana ricerca dell'impossibile. L’interdipendenza dei due generi sarà analizzata alla luce della comune matrice di paura e desiderio caratterizzante la loro funzione ideologica.
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Federica Perazzini
Between
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Æstheticising the Impossible:  the Strange Case of the Gothic and Science Fiction
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Federica Perazzini
2019/10/24
10.13125/2039-6597/3607
Sapienza, University of Rome
2039-6597
17
Science Fiction
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Æstheticising the Impossible:  the Strange Case of the Gothic and Science Fiction
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                 Æstheticising  the  Impossible:                      
                the  Strange  Case  of  the  Gothic              
                       and  Science  Fiction  

                                       Federica  Perazzini  


Abstract  
       In  the  history  of  human  creativity,  the  act  of  imagining  the  impossible  has  
been  at  the  core  of  the  physical  and  metaphysical  perception  of  the  unknown.  
The  scholarly  debate  regarding  the  nature  of  the  impossible  gained  particular  
relevance   in   the   context   of   British   Enlightenment   when   the   expanding  
sciences,   along   with   literature,   attempted   to   provide   empirical   validation   to  
inexplicable   and   supernatural   phenomena.   In   this   way,   the   discrepancies  
between  the  overlapping  ontologies  of  the  Age  of  Faith  and  the  Age  of  Reason  
became  apparent  as  the  ancestral  literary  practice  of  the  fantastic  merged  with  
the   rising   genre   of   the   novel.   The   assimilation   of   the   conventional   tropes   of  
supernatural  literature  within  the  narrative  frame  of  formal  realism  led  to  the  
development  of  two  fortunate  sub-­‐‑genres:  the  Gothic  and  Science  Fiction.  The  
former   evolved   around   the   mutual   disruption   of   the   empirically-­‐‑based  
conception   of   reality   and   the   transgression   of   the   moral   code   implied   in   the  
construction   of   civic   order.   The   latter   derived   from   the   relocation   of   specific  
gothic  features  into  a  larger  dimension  of  social  anxiety  concerning  the  abuses  
of  reason  concealed  as  a  path  towards  common  good  and  future  progress.    
       By  exploring  the  evolution  of  the  gothic  imagery  and  its  dissolution  into  
the  narrative  horizon  of  Science  Fiction,  this  article  will  trace  the  early  modern  
roots  of  the  permeation  between  science  and  literature  in  the  human  quest  for  
the   impossible.   The   thesis   that   Gothic   and   Science   Fiction   are   historically  

Between,  vol.  IX,  n.  17  (Maggio/May  2019)    
ISSN  2039-6597  
DOI:  10.13125/2039-­‐‑6597/3607  
interdependent   will   be   reviewed   in   light   of   the   common   matrix   of   fear   and  
desire  which  characterises  their  ideological  function.  
         
Keywords  
      Fantastic, Gothic Novel, Science Fiction, Mary Shelley  
  




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                                                   Between,  vol.  IX,  n.  17  (Maggio/May  2019)  




      Æstheticising  the  Impossible:  the  
      Strange  Case  of  the  Gothic  and  
               Science  Fiction  
                               Federica  Perazzini    

             ’Tis  an  establish’d  maxim  in  metaphysics,  that  whatever  the  
             mind   clearly   conceives   includes   the   idea   of   possible  
             existence,   or   in   other   words,   that   nothing   we   imagine   is  
             absolutely  impossible.  
                                      David  Hume,  A Treatise on Human Nature  


       1.  Introduction:  Arenas  of  Modern  Impossibilia  
       As   the   basic   pattern   of   human   creativity,   imagining   the  
impossible   can   be   regarded   as   the   condition   of   possibility   for   the  
conceptual  understanding  of  what  lies  beyond  the  ordinary  constraints  
of  reality  (James  2002).  Such  a  momentum  toward  the  intangible  realm  
of   the   infinite   has   characterised   the   scholarly   inquiries   of  
mathematicians,   philosophers,   novelists,   scientists,   and   all   sorts   of  
visionaries   across   the   ages,   becoming   a   milestone   in   the   historical  
process   that   witnessed   the   birth   of   modernity.   Indeed,   in   the  
seventeenth   and   the   eighteenth   centuries   the   pervasive   penetration   of  
the   codes   and   discursive   practices   of   experimental   epistemology   in  
almost   every   field   of   knowledge   led to   the   development   of   new  
empirical  approaches  to  the  measurement  of  impossibilia against  the  foil  
of  the  cognitive  frames  of  the  real  perceivable  world  (Fludernik  1996).  
In   this   way,   by   equating   the   impossible   to   the   unnaturalness   that  
eludes   the   principles   of   logical   causation,   both   modern   science   and  
fiction   embraced   the   challenge   of   providing   rational   explanations   to  



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Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



wondrous   and   supernatural   phenomena,   thus   bridging   the   gap  
between  the  overlapping  world-­‐‑views  of  faith  and  reason. The  clash  of  
ontologies  triggered  by  the  debate  about  the  status of  the  inadmissible  
soon   acquired   a   prominent   role   in   both   the   literature   and   science   of  
British   Enlightenment   culture.   On   the   one   hand,   within   the   sphere   of  
literary   production,   the   multifaceted forms   of   what   we   now   call   “the  
fantastic”  took  over  the  novelistic  market  as  the  privileged  site  for  the  
representation  of  the  same  principle  of  empirical  validation  entailed  to  
the  rise  of  the  new  science.  On  the  other  hand,  by  questioning  the  very  
notion   of   divine,   science   irreversibly   impacted   the   social   construction  
of  the  everyday  real,  paving  the  way  to  the  development  of  new  kinds  
of   technologies   which   not   only   revolutionised   the   domestic  
environment,   but   also   rapidly   transformed   the   country   into   a  
capitalistic  world  power.  The  general  climate  of  anxiety  and  excitement  
that  accompanied  such  radical  changes  was  successfully  intercepted  by  
the   cannibalistic   genre   of   the   novel,    and   in   particular   by   two   sub-­‐‑
                                                           1




genres  that  at  various  moments  have  been  associated  with  the  fantastic,  
i.e.  the  Gothic  and  Science  Fiction.    
           Often   referred   to   as   the   daring   form   to   speak   the   “socially  
unspeakable”,  the  Gothic  is  one  of  the  ideological  products  of—rather  
than  a  reaction  to—the  Age  of  Reason  (Punter  1980).  This  is  due  to  its  
intrinsic   tendency   to   renegotiate   the   limits   of   what   characterises   evil  
while   testing   the   boundaries   of   moral   and   social   acceptability.   At   the  
same   time,   the   growing   interest   in   moral   behavior   along   with   the  
apprehension  for  ethical  accountability  regarding the  consequences  of  
scientific   progress   soon   became   the   propelling   forces   that   pushed   the  
boundaries   of   the   early   gothic   writing   into   the   domain   of   Science  
Fiction.  But  what  are  the  specific  narratological  features  at  the  basis  of  


                                                                                                 
       1
                       The   notion   of   the   novel   as   an   aggressive   genre   swallowing   up   pre-­‐‑
existent   forms   and   conventions   was   coined   by   Michael   McKeon:   «the  
newcomer   that   arrives   upon   a   scene   already   articulated   into   conventional  
generic  categories  and  proceeds  to  cannibalise  and  incorporate  bits  of  other  
forms»  (McKeon  1987:  11).  


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such   a   drift?   Have   these   two   genres   evolved   in   separate   directions   or  
have  they  merged  in  a  new  unified  fictional  horizon?    
          In  the  attempt  to  answer  these  questions,  in  what  follows  I   will  
analyse  the  early  modern  roots  of  the  dialogue  between  literature  and  
science   within   the   cultural   experience   of   the   representation   for   the  
impossible.   I   will   begin   by   addressing   the   ideological   function  
informing   the   evolution   of   the   fantastic   and   its   most   representative  
sub-­‐‑genres.  I  will  then  proceed  by  highlighting  the  specific  traits  of  the  
gothic   imagery   at   the   basis   of   the   narrative   field   of   Science   Fiction  
focusing   on   the   pivotal   role   of   Mary   Shelley’s   Frankenstein (1818) and  
The Last Man (1826)   as   the   original   departing   point   of   the   enduring  
interdependency  of  the  two  genres.  The  conclusions  will  point  out  how  
both  gothic  and  science-­‐‑fiction  writing  rely  on  a  shared  emotional  and  
cognitive  dimension  of  fear  linked  to  the  counterfactual  exploration  of  
the  unknown.  

 2.  Narratives  of  the  Impossible:  The  Fantastic  from  the  
              ancient  epic  to  the  gothic  novel  
       Defined  by  Todorov  as  the  form  of  “ontological  hesitation”  of  the  
enquiring   mind   once   confronted   to   potentially   impossible   scenarios
(Todorov   1975), the   fantastic   is   a   main   fictional   mode   of   modern  
literary   production.   One   of   its   earliest   precursors   can   be   found   in   the  
supernatural  characters  and  portents  typical  of  the  fictional  universe  of  
ancient   epic.   In   this   genre   the   pervasive   immanence   of   divine   is  
associated,  however,  to  the  place  of  the  individual  in  the  organic  whole  
of  the  cosmic  order.  As  Ortega  y  Gasset  states,  in  ancient  epic  «the  gods  
stand  for  a  dynasty  under  which  the  impossible  is  possible»  (Ortega  y  
Gasset   1965:   138),   therefore   Homer   or   Virgil’s   heroes   never   really  
question  or  doubt  the  nature  of  the  laws  behind  their  encounters  with  
the  supernatural.  This  same  attitude  toward  the  status  of  the  fantastic  
is   perpetuated   in   the   Middle   Ages   when   the   rise   of   popular   genres  
such   as   fairy   tales,   literary   ballads,   or   chivalric   romances   extensively  
deployed   magic   and   wondrous   motifs   encompassing   folk   models  



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Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



within  the  narrative  framework  of  moralising  storytelling. Assumed  as  
familiar   and   rarely   explained,   in   medieval   romance   the   preternatural  
functioned   as   an   indicator   of   the   personal   qualities   of   the   chivalric  
heroes   while   laying   the   basis   for   the   construction   of   the   new   code   of  
values   of   the   aristocratic   ideology.   Not   only   did   the   exceptionality   of  
the   quests   and   endeavours   of   Arthurian   knights   serve   to   assess   their  
worthiness,  it  also  measured  their  conformity  to  the  Christian  ontology  
reflected   in   the   courtly   ideals   (Sweene   2000).   This   same   medieval  
world-­‐‑view   will   later   be   subjected   to   a   radical   reconfiguration   during  
the   Renaissance;   a   period   characterised   by   the   scholarly   attempt   to  
depict  a  modern  image  of  the  universe  through  the  new  paradigms  of  
physics   and   natural   philosophy   (Gatti   1989).   As   Thomas   Pavel   points  
out,   the   pervasive   use   of   the   supernatural   in   Shakespeare’s   works  
should  be  considered  in  light  of  the  cultural  process  of  assimilation  of  
the  “peripheral  shadows”  of  the  late  medieval  world  into  the  modern  
one  (Pavel  1986).  In  the  same  spirit  of  ontological  coexistence,  Milton’s  
Paradise Lost managed   to   portray   and   somewhat   resolve   the  
contradictions  implied  in  the  natural  and  political  philosophy  of  post-­‐‑
civil   war   England   by   portraying   a   new   conception   of   nature   that   is  
partly   independent   of   God   as   well   as   directly   responding   to   His  
centralised  divine  power.    
          Less  than  fifty  years  later,  the  ontological  harmony  of  the  Great  
Chain   of   Being   that   both   Elizabethan   drama   and   Milton’s   epic   had  
contributed   to   undermine was   irreversibly   discarded   by   early  
Enlightenment  culture.  The  proliferation  of  a  new  kind  of  materialism  
derived   by   the   progress   of   the   new   science   threatened   Christian  
theology   and   changed   the   traditional   conception   of   the   fantastic   and  
the   supernatural.   Indeed,   while   the   mechanistic   worldview   envisaged  
by   Descartes   and   Hobbes   was   increasingly   depriving   the   material  
sphere   of   any   divine   agency,   the   persistence   of   puritan   theology  
elevated  God  as  the  only  source  and  directing  hand  of  earthly  events.  
Beyond   the   rhetorical   debate   carried   out   through   the   pamphlets   and  




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philosophical   essays   of   the   newly   born   scientific   community,    the   war                  2




of   words   between   theology   and   science,   and   in   particular   between  
Christian   providentialism   and   empirical   materialism,   was   primarily  
fought   within   the   emergent   field   of   “empirical”   writing.   By  
incorporating   the   old   schemes   of   Romance   into   the   empirical   attitude  
toward   verisimilitude   typical   of   formal   realism,      genres   such   as   the  
apparition  narrative  gained  the  favour  of  the  reading  public  using  the  
preternatural   as   the   ultimate   tool   for   the   ontological   inquiry   of   the  
unseen.  This  was  mainly  configured  in  terms  of  first-­‐‑hand  experiences  
of  inexplicable  phenomena,  such  as  apparitions  of  ghosts  and  all  sorts  
of   otherworldly   beings,.    Even   though   they   were   originally   conceived  
                                         3




as   factual   reports   and   testimonies,   apparition   narratives   soon  
abandoned   their   scientific   and   theological   matrix   to   become,   over   the  
course   of   the   eighteenth   century,   the   recognisable   body   of  fiction   that  
will   constitute   the   formal   premises   for   the   fortunate   season   of   the  
gothic  novel.    
          As   recent   scholarship   has   pointed   out,   the   representation   of  
supernatural   in   the   gothic   genre,   whether   rationally   explained   or  
simply   accepted,    responds   to   an   implicit   logic   of   correspondence  
                             4




                                                                                                 
        2
                      Even  though  the  eighteenth  century  can  certainly  be  considered  as  the  
cradle   of   the   deist,   materialist,   and   agnostic   doctrines   that   so   profoundly  
subverted the   whole   system   of   religious   belief   and   its   institutions,   a   direct  
confrontation   between   religion   and   science   did   not   take   place   until   the  
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  While  religious  thinkers  tended  to  be  
fiercely   defensive   about   the   spirit   of   enquiry   of   modern   natural   philosophy  
men  of  science  showed  a  more  cautious  awareness  of  their  limits.  (Capoferro  
2010)  
        3
                          «The   new   science   […]   carried   with   it   an   insistence   that   all   truths   be  
demonstrated,   an   emphasis   on   the   need   for   direct   experience,   and   a  
disinclination   to   accept   inherited   dogmas   without   putting   them   to   the   test»  
(Thomas  1971).  
        4
                       The   differentiation   between   supernatural   accepted   and   explained  
within  gothic  fiction  is  crucial  in  Todorov’s  theorisation  of  the  fantastic:  «The  
fantastic   therefore   leads   a   life   full   of   dangers,   and   may   evaporate   at   any  
moment.  It  seems  to  be  located  on  the  frontier  of  two  genres,  the  marvellous  


                                                                                                                      5  
Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



between   the   surfacing   of   wondrous   instances   and   the   drive   of  
unnatural   impulses   that   contravene   the   social   intercourse.   This  
specular  disruption  of  the  empirically-­‐‑based  conceptions  of  reality  and  
the  transgression  of  the  moral  order  (Capoferro  2010)  can  be  found  in
The Castle of Otranto, with   Manfred’s   incestuous   desire   for   Matilda  
emerging   in   concomitance   with   the   ghostly   apparition   of   the  
monstrous   helmet.   The   same   threat   of   violation   of   the   terms   of  
appropriateness   implied   in   the   social   contract   is   also   reflected   in  
another   specific   feature   of   the   genre,   namely   the   theme   of   survival   of  
the  innocent  in  the  face  of  a  persecution.  Here,  the  illegitimate  appetite  
of  the  villain  to  acquire  something  that  he  lacks  finds  its  correlative  in  
the  motif  of  the  damsel-­‐‑in-­‐‑distress  where  the  depravity  of  stereotypical  
aristocrats  or  clergymen  must  be  read  as  the  literary  transfiguration  of  
the   civic   anxiety   enabled   by   a   new   social   imaginary   based   on   the  
limitation   of   individual   freedom   in   favour   of   public   order   (Perazzini  
2013).   In   this   perspective,   the   claustrophobic   imagery   of   abductions,  
confinements,   secret   passages,   or   even   demoniac   possessions   that  
characterises  gothic  genre  specificity  interprets  the  general  discourse  of  
deviance   as   a   form   of   moral   and   social   failing.   Indeed,   in   its   modern  
form   as   lunacy   and   madness,   deviance   becomes   the   extreme  
manifestation   of   the   dangers   of   promethean   individualism   within   the  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
and   the   uncanny,   rather   than   to   be   an   autonomous   genre.   One   of   the   great  
periods  of  supernatural  literature,  that  of  the  Gothic  novel,  seems  to  confirm  
this  observation.  Indeed,  we  generally  distinguish,  within  the  literary  Gothic,  
two   tendencies:   that   of   the   supernatural   explained   (the   “uncanny”),   as   it  
appears   in   the   novels   of   Clara   Reeve   and   Ann   Radcliffe;   and   that   of   the  
supernatural   accepted   (the   “marvellous”),   which   is   characteristic   of   the  
works   of   Horace   Walpole,   M.   G.   Lewis,   and   Maturin.   Here   we   find   not   the  
fantastic   in   the   strict   sense,   only   genres   adjacent   to   it.   More   precisely,   the  
effect  of  the  fantastic  is  certainly  produced,  but  during  only  a  portion  of  our  
reading:   in   Ann   Radcliffe,   up   to   the   moment   when   we   are   sure   that   the  
supernatural   events   will   receive   no   explanation.   Once   we   have   finished  
reading,  we  understand  —  in  both  cases  —  that  what  we  call  the  fantastic  has  
not  existed»  (Todorov  1975:  42).  


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increasingly  regulated  context  of  eighteenth-­‐‑century  civil  society.   Just            5




like  the  case  of  many  hero-­‐‑villains  in  Lewis’s  or  Radcliffe’s  works,  the  
unrestrained  attitude  of  the  characters  make  them  fail  their  community  
in  the  attempt  to  overcome  the  limits  of  the  impossible  for  either  selfish  
reasons   or   for   the   sake   of   scientific   progress.   The   character   type   that  
mostly  connects  the  figure  of  the  overreaching  individual  to  the  theme  
of   man’s   violation   of   social   and   natural   laws   is   certainly   the   gothic  
alchemist:   a   modern   rewriting   of   the   Faustian   genius   whose   superior,  
as   yet   secret   and   outlawed,   knowledge   allows   him   to   rebel   against  
authority  and  challenge  dominant  ideologies.    
          On  the  basis  of  these  premises,  in  the  next  section  I  will  analyse  
the   confluence   of   gothic   imagery   into   the   new   genre   dimension   of  
Science   Fiction   with   particular   reference   to   the   assimilation   of   the  
discourse   of   modern   science   into   the   cultural   scheme   of   alchemy   in  
novels   such   as   William   Godwin’s   St. Leon (1799) and Mary   Shelley’s  
Frankenstein.   I   will   then   focus   on   Mary   Shelley’s   The Last Man   as   an  
early  example  of  the  broad,  multi-­‐‑genre  category  of  speculative  fiction  
where  the  imaginative  construction  of  post-­‐‑apocalyptic  futures  stands  
out  as  a  main  trope.  




                                                                                                 
      5
                       Derived   from   pro-­‐‑mathein,   think   ahead,   the   term   promethean  
obviously  refers  to  the  ancient  Greek  myth  of  Prometheus  as  it  appears  from  
the   writings   of   Hesiod   and   Aeschylus.   According   to   Pseudo-­‐‑Apollodorus,  
the   Titan   was   the   main   responsible   for   the   creation   of   the   human   race,  
forming   our   ancestors   out   of   clay,   and   the   subsequent   development   of  
civilisation  thanks  to  the  gift  of  fire,  stolen  from  the  sun.  Leading  to  human  
advance   in   writing,   mathematics,   agriculture,   medicine,   and   science,  
Prometheus’   gift   to   mankind   violated   the   will   of   the   Gods.   For   this  
insubordinate   act   of   trespass   against   the   sanctity   of   the   divine   realm,  
Prometheus  was  punished  by  Zeus  and  this  is  the  reason  why  Prometheus  is  
historically   associated   with   hubris,   overstepping   of   limits   into   forbidden  
territories,  and  violating  the  sacred.  


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Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  




       3.  The  Literary  Roots  of  Modern  Impossibilities:  
          Frankenstein, The Last Man,  and  the  Birth  of                        
                           Science  Fiction  
         The   disruptive   coexistence   of   the   realms   of   magic   and  
supernatural   into   the   epistemological   paradigm   of   Enlightenment  
culture   contributed   to   further   expand   the   aesthetics   of   modern  
impossibilities.  Among  the  most  powerful  tropes  featuring  the  dissident  
potential   of   such   a   discourse,   the   gothic   alchemist   is   certainly  
noteworthy   in   light   of   its   function   as   generic   precursor   of   Science  
Fiction’s   character   type   of   the   mad   scientist.   Embodying   the  
ontological   friction   between   the   old   system   of   pre-­‐‑Baconian  
metaphysics   and   the   scientific   rationalism   that   would   dominate   the  
following   century,   alchemy   is   defined   by   the   fourth   edition   of   the  
Encyclopaedia   Britannica   of   1810   as   «that   branch   of   chemistry   which  
had  for  its  principal  objects  the  transmutation  of  metals  into  gold;  the  
panacea,   or   universal   remedy   […]   and   many   other   things   equally  
ridiculous».   Notwithstanding   the   clearly   derisive   trait   of   such   a  
description,   before   the   rise   of   the   new   science   in   the   seventeenth  
century,  alchemy  was  one  of  the  places  where  natural  philosophy  was  
carried   out.   In   particular,   the   study   of   the   physical   properties   of   the  
elements   (chemistry),   the   treatment   of   diseases   (medicine),   or   the  
disposition   of   the   stars   (astronomy)   appeared   as   a   contradictory   and  
yet   unified   mixture   of   disciplines   whose   theoretical   value   relied   in   its  
inclusiveness   and   comprehensiveness.   In   time,   the   magical   elements  
inherent  to  this  body  of  knowledge  were  gradually  dissolved  under  the  
attacks  of  materialist  and  mechanistic  scholarship  so  that  by  the  end  of  
the   eighteenth   century   the   orthodoxy   of   Enlightenment   epistemology  
had   completely   eradicated   any   mystical   and   supernatural   component  
from  the  domain  of  natural  sciences.  Such  a  dissolution  was  elaborated  
by   the   literature   of   terror   through   a   modern   interpretation   of   the  
character   type   of   the   anarchic   alchemist   as   in   the   case   of   William  
Godwin’s philosophical  fable  St. Leon. In  this  work,  Godwin  substitutes  
explicit   supernaturalism   with   St.   Leon’s   mastering   of   the   secret  



8  
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discipline   allowing   his   character   to   rise   above   the   mundane   state   of  
coercion   entailed   in   the   domestic   ideology   and   the   patriarchal  
institutions  of  marriage  and  primogeniture.  However,  in  the  pursuit  of  
the   ancestral   quest   for   the   secret   elixir   of   eternal   life   and   wealth,   St.  
Leon’s   aspiration   to   greatness   are   constantly   frustrated   by   the  
dominant   order.   In   fact,   his   attempts   to   use   the   newly   acquired  
alchemical   skills   for   altruistic   purposes   result   in   continuous  
persecution  as  his  magical  powers  end  up  destroying  his  family  while  
dooming  him  to  an  immortal  and  solitary  wandering  across  the  world.6    
          A  few  years  later,  a  similar  fate  is  encountered  by  Mary  Shelley’s  
Victor  Frankenstein:  the  creator-­‐‑figure  made  of  «a  peculiar  mixture  of  
artist,   philosopher,   craftsman,   and   chemical   experimenter»   (Baldick  
1987:   63)   who   finds   its   most   resonant   echoes   today   in   popular   horror  
and  science-­‐‑fiction  culture.  Indeed,  the  deranged  demiurge  of  Geneva  
embodies   the   dream   of   reason   that   produces   monsters,   as   Francisco  
Goya  would  put  it.  Progenitor  not  only  of  his  hideous  creature  but  also  
of  a  long  line  of  mad  scientists  like  Stevenson’s  Dr.  Jekyll,  Wells’s  Dr.  
Moreau,   or   even   down   to   the   most   contemporary   Dr.   Strangelove,  
Victor   Frankenstein   works   as   a   characterisation   of   the   Enlightenment  
culture   of   science   where   chemistry,   electricity,   and   experimental  
research   in   general,   «are   associated   to   values   such   as   atheism,  
materialism,   and   hubris   that   contributed   to   fuel   the   negative   view   on  
the   discipline»   (Schummer   2006:   101).   In   particular,   Shelley’s  
construction   of   Victor   Frankenstein   as   an   outcast   genius   is   strongly  
indebted   to   Godwin’s   radical   thought   and   work   as   well   as   his  
adaptation   of   the   trope   of   the   gothic   alchemist.   As   Fred   Botting   has  
shown,   in   Frankenstein   the   cultural   scheme   of   alchemy   functions   as   a  
contrastive   ideology   that   highlights   the   coercive   power   of   dominant  
familial,  intellectual  and  scientific  forces  that  influence  Victor’s  young  
                                                                                                 
                   6
                        For   a   critical   account   of   Godwin’s   St. Leon   as   the   gothic   paradigm   of  
the   modern   alchemist,   see   the   interesting   contribution   by   Evert   Jan   van  
Leeuwen,   Romantic Alchemists: dissident androgyny in Anglo-American gothic
fiction from Godwin to Melville. Lewiston   (New   York),   Edwin   Mellen   Press,  
2011.    


                                                                                                                  9  
Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



developing  mind  (Botting  1991).   In  fact,  Victor’s  first  engagement  with  
                                               7




natural  philosophy  as  an  untutored  and  brilliant  boy  is  portrayed  as  a  
fortuitous   encounter   with   a   «volume   of   the   works   of   Cornelius  
Agrippa»,  a  German  alchemist  of  the  sixteenth  century.  His  reaction  to  
such   book   is   enthusiastic—«A   new   light   seemed   to   dawn   upon   my  
mind»   (Shelley,   1992:   23) —but   as   soon   as   he   relates   his   exciting  
                                       8




discovery  to  his  father,  this  latter  comments:  «Ah!  Cornelius  Agrippa!  
My   dear   Victor,   do   not   waste   your   time   upon   this;   it   is   sad   trash»   (F:  
25).   Notwithstanding   his   father’s   censorship,   young   Victor’s  
fascination  with  alchemy  continues  in  secrecy  when  he  declares  that  he  
has   become   a   “disciple”   of   Albertus   Magnus,   a   Dominican   friar   and  
master   of   the   occult:   «He   was   a   famous   Magician,   and   that   he   had  
formed   a   machine   in   the   shape   of   a   man,   which   served   him   as   an  
oracle».  Like  Albertus,  Victor  «entered  with  the  greatest  diligence  into  
the  search  of  the  philosopher’s  stone  and  the  elixir  of  life.  But  the  latter  
obtained   my   most   undivided   attention:   wealth   was   an   inferior   object;  
but   what   glory   would   attend   the   discovery,   if   I   could   banish   disease  
from   the   human   frame,   and   render   man   invulnerable   to   any   but   a  
violent   death!»   (F:   26).   Later   in   the   novel,   when   entering   to   the  
university   of   Ingolstadt,   Victor   is   further   encouraged   to   abandon   the  
childish   chimeras   of   alchemy   to   take   up   new   science.   His  
apprenticeship   in   modern   chemistry   and   physiology   fuelled   his   thirst  
for   discovery   pushing   his   enquiry   beyond   the   limits   of   agreed  
knowledge:  «None  but  those  who  have  experienced  them  can  conceive  
of   the   enticements   of   science.   In   other   studies   you   go   as   far   as   others  
have   gone   before   you,   and   there   is   nothing   more   to   know;   but   in   a  
scientific  pursuit  there  is  continual  food  for  discovery  and  wonder»  (F:  
34).   At   this   stage,   it   is   clear   that   Victor   has   never   actually   forsaken  
alchemy   or   magic,   he   has   just   supplemented   it   and   «animated   by   an  
                                                                                                 
       7
                      For  a  thorough  interpretation  of  Victor  Frankenstein’s  connection  with  
alchemy   see   Markman,   Ellis,   “Fictions   of   science   in   Mary   Shelley’s  
Frankenstein”,  in  Sydney Studies in English,  Vol.  25,  1999:  27–46.  
       8
                      All  further  references  to  Mary  Shelley’s  Frankenstein  will  be  quoted  as  
F.  


10  
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almost   supernatural   enthusiasm»   he   begins   to   tackle   the   “bold”  
question  concerning  the  creation  of  life:  «Whence  ...  did  the  principle  of  
life  proceed?»  (F:  35).  
           In  this  perspective,  channelling  the  scientific  discourse  within  the  
narrative   horizon   of   supernatural   literature,   Shelley’s   Frankenstein  
interprets   the   social   anxieties   of   modern   experience   regarding   the  
inability   of   humanity   to   deal   with   the   products   and   consequences   of  
science  and  technology.  The  very  monstrosity  of  the  creature  responds  
to   a   logic   of   transmutations   of   the   supernatural   into   the   cultural  
scheme   of   alchemy   where   Frankenstein’s   artificial   Adam   can   be  
interpreted  in  terms  of  what  Michael  Foucault  defined  as  antiphysis:  a  
form   of   aberration   that   both   eludes   the   laws   of   nature   and   defies   our  
categories  of  understanding,  whether  these  be  civil,  scientific,  religious,  
ethical   or   aesthetical   (Foucault   1974).   Several   aspects   make  
Frankenstein’s   creature   unnatural   while   other   attributes   make   it  
supernatural.  In  primis  its  unearthly  ugliness  (F:  157),  as  the  monster  is  
unnatural   for   it   was   created   in   an   unnatural   way   by   an   unnatural  
method.  Then,  the  «spark  of  being»  (F:  34)  used  to  bring  the  inanimate  
collection   of   limbs   to   life   is   surrounded   by   an   aura   of   supernatural  
mysticism.   Likewise,   by   abusing   the   natural   force   of   electricity   to  
stimulate  «the  lifeless  thing»  (F:  158),  Frankenstein  leaves  the  ordinary  
course   of   nature   and   produces   something   abnormal   and   supernatural  
whose   physical   power   exceeds   that   of   human   beings.   For   all   these  
reasons,  the  fear  Shelley’s  monster  evokes  is  not  a  mere  reflection  of  its  
anatomical   abjection   or   unearthly   strength   but   the   mirror   of   the  
contemporary   concerns   regarding   the   future   progress   of   mankind.   In  
other   words,   the   awareness   that   scientific   knowledge   could   evolve   to  
the   extent   of   creating   such   abominations   appears   to   be   more  
frightening  than  any  sort  of  gothic  imaginary  ghost.    
           Besides   the   obsession   with   alchemy   and   magic,   Shelley’s   novel  
retains   from   the   Gothic   a   series   of   distancing   features   that   induce  
readers’   critical   perspective   about   the   accepted   values   and   beliefs   of  
modern   society   as   well   as   the   nature   of   knowledge   itself,   which   in   a  
familiar   setting   would   have   been   too   destabilizing.   Such   features   can  
be   either   thematic,   including   the   use   of   exotic   and   sublime   European  


                                                                                                 11  
Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



locations,   or   narratological,   such   as   the   use   of   the   story-­‐‑within-­‐‑the-­‐‑
story   device   and   the   presence   of   multiple   unreliable   narrators.    In              9




particular,  the  fact  that  Frankenstein  presents  the  reader  with  three  first-­‐‑
person   narrative   voices   with   no   external   guide   to   arbitrate   between  
their   frequently   contradictory   perspectives,   generates   a   novel   which  
places   a   huge   emphasis   on   the   reader’s   own   interpretative   response  
thus   stimulating   a   continuous   evaluation   of   the   validity   of   the  
characters’   words   and   actions.   In   addition   to   that,   the   series   of  
subjectified   versions   of   the   tale   produced   by   Frankenstein’s   unreliable  
narrators   leads   to   the   construction   of   the   sense   of   cognitive  
estrangement  intrinsic  to  both  the  fantastic  and  the  gothic  genres  that  
further   contributes   to   externalise   the   inward   scrutiny   of   the   maniacal  


                                                                                                 
       9
                       An   unreliable   narrator   is   a   narrator   whose   credibility   has   been  
seriously  compromised.  These  are  almost  by  definition  first-­‐‑person  narrators  
who  hide  essential  information  or  deliberately  mislead  the  reader  in  order  to  
preserve   the   surprise   ending.   The   unreliable   narrator   can   make   delusional  
claims  or  being  severely  mentally  ill,  or  even  appear  as  a  character  in  a  frame  
story.   For   example,   Shelley’s   character   of   Captain   Walton   constitutes   an  
immediate   problem   for   the   readers.     His   lack   of   education,   paired   with   his  
lack   of   experience   and   his   young   age   as   captain   of   an   expedition   (F:   28),  
make   him   unreliable   for   readers;   should   Captain   Walton   have   been   more  
advanced   in   age,   he   would   seem   more   reliable,   thanks   to   his   greater  
experience.  Furthermore,   Captain   Walton   records   Victor   Frankenstein’s  
story;   the   fact   that   Walton   serves   as   a   middle   man   creates   a   dilemma   with  
regards  to  the  accuracy  of  the  story.  Walton  openly  admits  that  he  can  only  
listen  to  Frankenstein’s  story  during  the  moments  in  his  expedition  when  he  
is  available  and  free  from  his  captain’s  duties;  afterwards,  he  must  record  the  
story   as   he   remembers   it   from   what   Frankenstein   has   told   him   (F:   63).  This  
leaves   an   uncomfortable   amount   of   room   for   human   error   in   the  
transcription  of  Frankenstein’s  story.  Readers  have  no  way  of  checking  what  
Walton   transcribes,   and   no   way   of   knowing   whether   Frankenstein   omits  
details  of  his  story.  Neither  do  readers  know  whether  Walton  chooses  to  omit  
some   of   the   story   Frankenstein   has   told   him.  Hence,   the   novel’s   narrator   is  
unreliable,  and  readers  are  left  to  ponder  the  truth  of  the  story.  


12  
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mind  into  a  larger-­‐‑scale  imagery  of  disaster  which  will  be  at  the  core  of  
the  science-­‐‑fiction  genre.
          The  interest  in  the  above  mentioned  formula  of  catastrophe  and  
generalised  aesthetic  of  destruction  constitute  the  structuring  principle  
of   another   less   fortunate   novel   by   Mary   Shelley   which   appeared   in  
1826   with   the   evocative   title   of   The Last Man. Often   considered   as   the  
ultimate  transition  of  the  Gothic  into  the  world  of  Science  Fiction,  The
Last Man   problematises   the   fictional   type   of   the   story   of   the   future  
constructing   an   apocalyptical   fantasy   revolving   around   the   end   of  
civilisation.   The   plot   deals   with   the   lives   of   six   characters   among   the  
supposedly   final   generation   of   humans   on   earth,   all   progressively  
destroyed   by   an   uncontrollable   plague,   whose   personal   and   domestic  
interests   are   contextualised   in   the   collective   scale   of   political   needs   of  
the  collapsing  order. Rather  than  in  a  remote  medieval  past,  Shelley’s  
imagination  of  a  worldwide  disaster  is  dislocated  in  an  unusually  far-­‐‑
distanced  future,  a  21st  century  England  not  quite  dissimilar  from  the  
19th   century   one.    This   allows   a   double   scrutiny   on   both   the   level   of  
                           10




the   individual   dimension   of   characters—failing   to   escape   or   survive  
the   disease—and   the   public   extent   of   the   disaster   through   the  
description  of  the  ways  in  which  society  and  democracy  would  likely  
fall  in  the  face  of  such  a  calamity  (Fisch  1993). Readers  of  Gothic  fiction  
will   recognise   in   The Last Man the   same   distancing   techniques  
                                                                                                 
       10
                         Considering   the   extensive   use   of   carriages,   steam   boats   and   flying  
balloons   as   principal   means   of   transportation   in   the   novel,   Shelley’s  
futuristic-­‐‑setting   is   quite   anachronistic.   Such   a   lack   of   more   inventive   and  
daring   inquiry   of   the   theme   of   material   technology   into   the   story   has   been  
harshly   criticised.   However,   as   Robert   Scholes   points   out:   «The  
consciousness   that   history   is   an   irreversible   process   led   man   inevitably   to   a  
new   view   of   the   future   […].   The   idea   that   the   future   might   be   radically  
different   in   its   social   or   economic   organisation   was   unthinkable   until   some  
time  in  the  seventeenth  or  eighteenth  century,  and  the  impact  of  irreversible  
technological   change   did   not   become   apparent   until   the   nineteenth.   The  
result  of  these  and  other  developments  was  that  man  could  finally  conceive  
of  the  future  historically»  (Scholes  1975:  14).  



                                                                                                           13  
Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



employed   by   Matthew   Lewis   or   Ann   Radcliffe   to   generate   sufficient  
fictional   separation   from   the   real   cultural   events   of   the   time   so   as   to  
avoid   political   censorship.   At   the   same   time,   Shelley’s   revision   of  
inherently  gothic  themes  such  as  loss,  isolation,  and,  most  importantly,  
survival  in  the  key  of  a  specific  imagery  of  futuristic  eschatology  seems  
to  respond  to  a  deliberate  attempt  to  formalise  «gothic  preoccupations  
in  guises  which  [did]  not  pay  lip-­‐‑service  to  the  dominant  trappings  of  
the  genre»  (Punter  1980:  116).  
          From   what   has   been   stated   so   far,   the   role   of   Mary   Shelley’s  
work   in   the   migration   of   gothic   writing   into   the   realm   of   Science  
Fiction   appears   unquestionable.   However,   many   other   writers   can   be  
and  have  been  counted  among  the  pioneers  of  the  genre,  especially  on  
the   other   shore   of   the   Atlantic.   For   example,   authors   like   Hawthorne,  
Melville,  and  most  peculiarly  Poe  contributed  to  the  genesis  of  modern  
Science  Fiction  through  a  series  of  hybrid  works  exploring  an  uncanny  
imagery  of  automation.  In  Hawthorne’s  The Artist of the Beautiful  (1844)  
for   example,   the   hero   rivals   nature   by   creating   a   mechanical   butterfly  
whereas   Melville’s   The Bell-Tower   (1855)   reflects   on   the   relationship  
between   creator   and   creature   in   one   of   the   first   robot   stories   ever  
written  in  English.  
          Conversely,   critics   have   argued   that   it   was   not   until   the   advent  
of   H.G.   Wells,   Jules   Verne,   and   Hugo   Gernsback   that   a   conscious  
construction  of  Science  Fiction  as  a  genre  actually  began  to  take  shape  
(Aldiss   1973).   This   is   certainly   due   to   the   unprecedented   amount   of  
technological   innovations   and   new   scientific   theories   that   emerged   in  
the   cradle   of   Victorian   positivism   at   the   fastest   pace.   In   this  
perspective,   the   novels   that   appeared   towards   the   end   of   the   19th  
century  reflect  both  the  terror  and  excitement  that  dominated  the  spirit  
of  rational  inquiry  of  the  time  thus  blueprinting  the  architecture  of  the  
genre.  An  example  is  Stevenson’s  problematic  fable  of  Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde (1886). Directly   correlated   with   the   real   scientific   advancements  
of   its   Victorian   setting,   Stevenson’s   work   follows   the   footsteps   of  
Frankenstein questioning   the   morality   of   biological   engineering   while  
exposing  the  duality  between  experimenter  and  subject  in  the  light  of  
the  social  responsibilities  of  the  scientist.    


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        As   anticipated   in   the   introduction,   in   this   section   I   have  
reconstructed   the   main   points   of   conflation   between   the   gothic  
discourse   and   the   new   narrative   instances   of   science   fiction   in   the  
works   of   William   Godwin   and   Mary   Shelley.   In   the   next   and  
conclusive  section  I  will  concentrate  on  the  genre  convergence  between  
Gothic   writing   and   the   Science   fiction   on   the   basis   of   their   shared  
emotional  matrix  of  fear.  

              Conclusions:  Universal  Patterns  of  Fear  
       From  the  outset  the  intention  of  this  article  was  to  prove  how  the  
narrativization   of   the   impossible,   seen   in   terms   of   envisaging   the  
unknown  and  the  unseen,  has  been  at  the  core  of  both  the  literary  and  
scientific   discourses   of   the   modern   age.   Juxtaposed   to   the   basic   laws  
and   patterns   of   the   real,   such   a   process   originated   from   the  
novelisations   of   the   literature   of   supernatural,   which   evolved   an  
empirically-­‐‑oriented  system  of  verisimilitude.  This  latter  can  therefore  
be   considered   as   a   possible   criterion   for   a   general   theory   of   the  
fantastic  where  even  the  farthest  ontologically  removed  settings  or  the  
most   unlikely   contortions   of   time   and   space   are   shaped   by   the   socio-­‐‑
anthropological   imagination   of   realism.   From   this   standpoint,   having  
considered   the   evolution   of   modern   impossiblities   within   the   sphere   of  
supernatural   across   the   centuries,   the   emergence   of   the   Gothic   novel  
can  be  read  as  the  stage  at  which  the  pre-­‐‑history  of  the  fantastic  ends  
and   its   history   begins.   Indeed,   the   Gothic   resulted   from   the   fusion   of  
various  pre-­‐‑existent  genres,  such  as  apparition  narratives,  the  poetry  of  
supernatural,   and   Elizabethan   drama,   where   the   representation   of  
incomprehensible,   wondrous   occurrences   served   as   the   ideological  
response  to  the  restriction  of  God’s  agency  that  took  place  throughout  
the   seventeenth   and   the   eighteenth   centuries.   At   the   same   time,   the  
transposition  of  the  gothic  inward  exploration  of  the  private  nightmare  
of  characters’  deviance  into  the  imagery  of  disaster  in  future  worlds  led  
to  the  development  of  the  new  genre  of  science  fiction.  The  distinctive  
physiognomy   of   this   literary   form   derives   from   the   conjectural  
construction   of   worlds   where   the   laws   of   the   real   and   the   possible   as  


                                                                                                 15  
Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



we  know  them  in  our  current  society  are  altered.  The  outcomes  of  such  
narrative   scenarios   can   be   explored   through   the   two   main   fictional  
types   of   the   story   of   the   future   and   story   of   invention.   The   former,  
articulated   around   the   fantasy   of   technological   or   counterfactual  
prognostication,   finds   its   novelistic   correlative   in   Mary   Shelley’s   The
Last Man.   The   latter,   consisting   in   a   state   of   affairs   marked   by   the  
presence   of   an   innovation that   imposes   an   analysis   of   its   implications  
and   consequences,   owes   its   modern   formulation   to   the   gothic  
alchemists   of   Godwin’s   St. Leon and   Shelley’s   Frankenstein.
Notwithstanding   the   general   scholarly   consensus   in   identifying   the
“Frankenstein   pattern” as   the   true   origins   of   Science   Fiction  
(Brantlinger   1980),   the   article   suggested   how   there   is   nothing  
conclusive.   For   example,   Robert   M.   Philmus   locates   the   beginning   of  
Science  Fiction  long  before  Shelley’s  novel,  indicating  the  lunar  landing  
of  Francis  Godwin’s  The Man in the Moone  (1638)  as  the  first  work  of  the  
genre  (Philmus  1970).  Instead,  Brian  Aldiss argued  that  the  first  writers  
to   actually   produce   epistemologically-­‐‑committed   works   of   Science  
Fiction  were  Jules  Verne  in  the  1870s  and  H.G.  Wells  in  the  1890s,  even  
if   Wells   himself   believed   that   his   “scientific   romances”   were   a   mere  
transposition  of  Gothic  elements  (Aldiss  1973).  
          In   this   perspective,   despite   the   distinguished   set   of   tropes   and  
conventions  that  mark  the  specificity  of  the  two  genres,  what  actually  
connects   the   Gothic   and   the   Science   Fiction   literary   experiences   is   the  
common   matrix   of   fear:   the   cognitive   and   emotional   response   that  
marks   the   threshold   between   the   known   and   unknown.   As   a   basic  
predictive  emotion,  fear  is  indeed  both  the  root  and  the  product  of  the  
attempt  of  the  Enlightenment  reason  to  bring  all  things  under  rational  
control;   the   price   of   the   regularisation   of   the   unordinary   and   the  
inexplicable.  Fear  haunts  the  obscure  past  of  the  Gothic  settings  as  well  
as  the  dystopian  futuristic  worlds  of  Science  Fiction.  After  all,  as  Sian  
Mac   Arthur   points   out,   «there   is   much   to   be   frightened   of   in   the  
concept   of   the   unknown   regardless   of   the   context   in   which   the  
‘unknown’  appears»  (MacArthur  2015)  for  past  and  future  dislocations  
are   but   the   two   sides   of   the   same   narrativization   of   the   anxieties   and  



16  
                                            Between,  vol.  IX,  n.  17  (Maggio/May  2019)  



uncertainties  experienced  by  the  modern  subject  while  making  sense  of  
the  impossible.                            




                                                                                         17  
Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  




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                                 The  Author  
Federica  Perazzini  


                                                                                           19  
Federica  Perazzini,  Æsteticizing  the  Impossible  



        Federica  Perazzini  is  a  PhD  in  English  Literature  at  University  of  
Rome   Sapienza   where   she   currently   teaches   English   Literature   and  
Culture.   Awarded   a   Fulbright   Fellowship   in   2011,   she   was   visiting  
researcher   at   Stanford   University   where   she   joined   Franco   Moretti’s  
research  group  at  the  Literary  Lab.  Her  main  research  interests  involve  
the   application   of   computational   tools   to   the   study   of   literary   genres  
and  cultural  discourse  analysis.  Her  pioneering  dissertation,  published  
in   two   volumes   in   2013,   is   an   example   of   computational   criticism  
applied   to   the   case   study   of   the   English   gothic   novel.   Her   latest  
research  projects  include  the  computational  analysis  of  the  emergence  
of  modern  subjectivity  in  the  Long  18th  Century  (La  Cifra  del  Moderno,  
2019   and   Figures   of   canonicity,  2019)   and   the   publication   of   a   study   on  
the   intersections   between   English   fashion   and   literature   titled   Fashion  
Keywords  (2017).  
  
        Email:  f.perazzini1@gmail.com  



                                         The  Article    
Date  sent:  15/02/2019s  
Date  accepted:  15/04/2019  
Date  published:  30/05/2019  



                              How  to  cite  this  article  
Perazzini,  Federica,  “Æsteticizing  the  Impossible:  The  Strange  Case  of  
the   Gotic   and   Science   Fiction”,   Immaginare   l’impossibile.   trame   della  
creatività  tra  letteratura  e  scienza,  Eds.  L.  Boi,  F.  D’Intino,  G.  V.  Distefano,  
Between,  IX.  17  (Maggio  2019),  http://www.Between-­‐‑journal.it/.  


  




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