25. 'Gothikana', it's all in the name
Intertextuality and the making new from the old
Who else had “Gothic-inspired, erotic and messy” on their Dark Academia bingo card this season?
No, me neither. But here we are!
The review for ‘Gothikana' by RuNyx is live on the blog today, as is the podcast episode. And let me tell you, it's one heck of a ride.
This is one of those books that you know will be hitting chords, not always the right ones, or even the right notes, but it's hitting ‘em anyway. And the finished song is like that tune you can't say you particularly like but you simply cannot stop listening to it on repeat.
This romp of a book is a lot. And where I don't think it's going to be featuring at the top of my list for books read in 2023, it did have some interesting aspects. What I've come to find is that RuNyx is a fan of a misspelled reference.
The title of the book itself, ‘Gothikana’, is a tell-tale sign of authorial intent. It's like Halle Berry's ‘Gothika' circa 2003, all over again, and I was actually here for it, until I realised that we were actually going to go down the “is it paranormal or just poor mental health?” path. It's never my favourite trope.
Other clues within the narrative, heavy handed or not, include:
Verenmore - the name of the university Corvina attends… it's a simple anagram of ‘Nevermore', which coupled with the fact her name ‘Corvina', as she translates in the book, means ‘Little Raven’, alludes to Edgar Allan Poe's ‘The Raven' poem.
Clemm - if you thought the yarn ended there, no, no. Corvina Clemm takes her namesake from Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe. The long-suffering wife of Edgar. Does this foreshadow the age gap between Corvina and Vad? Maybe. Let me just leave this here: Virginia was 13 when she married Edgar, who was 27.
Vad Deverell - I don't have a direct match for him. But let me make a couple of connections. Walter Deverell was an artist very much involved with the pre-raphaelite movement. He allegedly “discovered” Elizabeth Siddal, who was an important muse for them. Vad, as a name, means something wild, untamed, and uncontrollable, and there is something about his name as a whole that sounds synonymous with “The Devil”. If we're also going to consider the use of ‘Dracula’ within the text too, Vad is very reminiscent of ‘Vlad' (see: The Impaler).
Other books that feel present within ‘Gothikana' include ‘The Castle of Otranto' by Horace Walpole, ‘Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher' by Edgar Allan Poe.
There's a lot of narrative silliness in ‘Gothikana' which ultimately results from underdeveloped characters and relationships. It's melodramatic, incredulously filthy, and unforgivably throws up red flags left, right and centre.
It's got the bones, and as I've listed above, it has rested itself on some strong foundations. Sometimes, you just gotta build that castle on a different mountain, and make it out of stronger bricks.
Sarah
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