Untitled - Sexey's School Moodle

is depicted as a tangible possibility; and third in the exposure of the psychological
processes operating in the character of Ambrosio as he undergoes first repression then
elation. Considering Jauss’ theories of reader-response, one could easily make the case
that the disclosure of uncanny events constantly changes the reader’s “horizons of
expectations,” whose direct consequence is to reinforce the compelling power of the
narrative. Similarly, by referring to the “horizons of expectations,” Jauss retraces the
contemporary critic’s rejection of the Gothic as a new form of cultural production
through the notion of “Aesthetic Distance”:
If one characterizes aesthetic distance the disparity between the
given horizon of expectations and the appearance of a new work,
whose reception can result in a “change of horizons” through
negation of familiar experiences or through raising newly
articulated experiences to the level of consciousness, then this
aesthetic distance can be objectified historically along the spectrum
of the audience’s reactions and criticism’s judgment (spontaneous
success, rejection of shock, scattered approval, gradual and belated
understanding). (1556)
What is particularly interesting in Jauss’ statement is his argument that a “change of
horizons” prompted by a new work—such as The Monk—could trigger “newly
articulated experiences to the level of consciousness,” a notion that seems to echo that of
Bataille regarding transgression and that of “innovator” as articulated by Julius.
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The Gothic novel has also been intensively scrutinized by Feminist critics, who
examined the perceptions of gender during the period that coincided with the appearance
of the genre. Napier refers to several feminist critics who “have claimed its pertinence in
delineating the distinctively feminine problems of constricted social, sexual, and authorial
roles in the period” (xi). In reference to the earlier observation regarding Radcliffe’s
“conservativeness” and her standing as a “proto-feminist,” critics have striven to explain