The Gothic and Grotesque in Barbara Gowdy’s Mister Sandman

The fiction of Barbara Gowdy is peopled with physically or spiritually aberrant characters that can trigger shock and disgust in readers. Her novel Mister Sandman (1995), however, calls for a more nuanced response to "the unusual," one triggered by Gowdy's parodic use of the gothic and grotesque as well as by instances of humour, comic relief, and a light-hearted tone. Such a combination of literary modes arouses sympathy for the novel's "monstrous" characters, making Mister Sandman representative of what Catherine Spooner calls the "Gothic-Carnivalesque." The novel's parodic rewriting of E.T.A. Hoffmann's short story "Der Sandmann" (1816), and Gowdy's use of grotesque imagery to produce humour rather than horror, are emblamatic of what Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik call "the comic turn" in contemporary gothic fiction, and complicate the traditional concepts of the grotesque articulated by Wolfgang Kayser and Mikhail Bakhtin

The Rogue as an Artist in Patrick deWitt’s "The Sisters Brothers"

This article explores Eli Sisters as a reinvigorated rogue who finds his artistic calling in Patrick deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers, published in 2011. With the help of insights from narratology and genre theory, the article provides a textual analysis of Eli’s discourse, perspective and behaviour. Eli casts a critical light on the senseless violence, unbridled greed, ecological devastation, and hyper-masculinity inherent to America’s Frontier myth. As a reinvigorated rogue, he raises questions about what it means to be human and reflects upon morality. With hindsight, the rogue as an artist creates a generically hybrid narrative that parodically imitates and transforms the genre conventions of the Western and the picaresque tale. The article also draws attention to the power that Eli assigns to women in a story about male heroic conquest. These include otherworldly female figures from classical mythology and the brothers’ mother

Growth response of syndromic versus non-syndromic children born small for gestational age (SGA) to growth hormone therapy: a Belgian study

IntroductionA substantial proportion of SGA patients present with a syndrome underlying their growth restriction. Most SGA cohorts comprise both syndromic and non-syndromic patients impeding delineation of the recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) response. We present a detailed characterization of a SGA cohort and analyze rhGH response based on adult height (AH).MethodsClinical and auxological data of SGA patients treated with rhGH, who had reached AH, were retrieved from BELGROW, a national database of all rhGH treated patients held by BESPEED (BElgian Society for PEdiatric Endocrinology and Diabetology). SGA patients were categorized in syndromic or non-syndromic patients.Results272 patients were included, 42 classified as syndromic (most frequent diagnosis (n=6): fetal alcohol syndrome and Silver-Russell syndrome). Compared with non-syndromic patients, syndromic were younger [years (median (P10/P90)] 7.43 (4.3/12.37) vs 10.21 (5.43/14.03), p=0.0005), shorter (height SDS -3.39 (-5.6/-2.62) vs -3.07 (-3.74/-2.62), p=0.0253) and thinner (BMI -1.70 (-3.67/0.04) vs -1.14 (-2.47/0.27) SDS, p=0.0054) at start of rhGH treatment. First year rhGH response was comparable (delta height SDS +0.54 (0.24/0.94) vs +0.56 (0.26/0.92), p=0.94). Growth pattern differed with syndromic patients having a higher prepubertal (SDS +1.26 vs +0.83, p=0.0048), but a lower pubertal height gain compared to the non-syndromic group (SDS -0.28 vs 0.44, p=0.0001). Mean rhGH dose was higher in syndromic SGA patients (mg/kg body weight/day 0.047 (0.039/0.064) vs 0.043 (0.035/0.056), p=0.0042). AH SDS was lower in syndromic SGA patients (-2.59 (-4.99/-1.57) vs -2.32 (-3.3/-1.2), p=0.0107). The majority in both groups remained short (<-2 SDS: syndromic 71%, non-syndromic 63%). Total height gain was comparable in both groups (delta height SDS +0.76 (-0.70/1.48) vs +0.86 (-0.12/1.86), p=0.41).ConclusionsCompared to non-syndromic SGA patients, syndromic SGA patients were shorter when starting rhGH therapy, started rhGH therapy earlier, and received a higher dose of rhGH. At AH, syndromic SGA patients were shorter than non-syndromic ones, but their height gain under rhGH therapy was comparable

The Grotesque as an Instrument of Sociopolitical Critique in Rawi Hage’s Migrant Fiction

This essay considers the function of the grotesque mode in Rawi Hage’s novels Cockroach (2008) and Carnival (2012). The grotesque is an artistic form with which Hage draws attention to the predicament of the class of poor and disadvantaged new immigrants in contemporary Montreal. He thereby offers a recent immigrant’s unsettling, ex-centric perspective on the Canadian multicultural ideal that proclaims the acceptance of ethnic and racial difference.Formal aspects that generate a grotesque effect include the first-person narrator’s self-image, his disruptive discourse of resistance, his disorienting view of urban reality, and spatial metaphors in the context of the protagonist’s social alienation and marginalisation. Influential theories of the grotesque, introduced by Mikhail Bakhtin and Wolfgang Kayser, help to describe recurrent shifts in the literary text from “the carnivalesque” to “the demonic grotesque”. In addition, Julia Kristeva’s related notions of “the abject” and “semiotic discourse” throw light on the sense of fear and repulsion felt towards the urban poor, and on the protagonist’s deliberate identification with vermin in the context of his discourse of resistance.Even though the underprivileged migrant is able to answer back, Hage’s novels are devoid of true regenerative and liberating power. As soon as the literary carnivalesque shifts towards the demonic grotesque, the narrative gives prominence to the migrant’s isolation and socio-economic outsider position. Nonetheless, the grotesque mode, being typically associated with flux and the rupturing of boundaries, does function as a powerful tool with which the author depicts the recent immigrant as an individual with an indomitable spirit.</p

The Unsettling Portrayal of Migrant Existence in Rawi Hage’s Urban Fiction

This essay considers the function of the grotesque mode in Rawi Hage’s novels Cockroach (2008) and Carnival (2012). The grotesque is a provocative tool with which Hage draws attention to the predicament of the class of poor and disadvantaged new immigrants in contemporary Montreal. He offers a male immigrant’s unsettling perspective on the Canadian multicultural ideal that proclaims the acceptance of ethnic and racial difference. Formal aspects that generate a grotesque effect include the first-person narrator’s self-image, his disruptive discourse of resistance, his disorienting view of urban reality, and spatial metaphors in the context of the protagonist’s social alienation and marginalisation. Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection throws light on the sense of fear and repulsion felt towards the urban poor, and on the protagonist’s deliberate identification with vermin in the context of his discourse of resistance. Even though the underprivileged migrant is able to answer back, Hage’s novels are devoid of true regenerative and liberating power. The literary texts give prominence to the migrant’s isolation and socio-economic outsider position. Nonetheless, the grotesque mode also functions as a powerful tool with which the author depicts the recent immigrant as someone with a resilient and mobile identityEste ensayo considera la función de la moda grotesca en las novelas de Rawi Hage “Cucaracha” (2008) y “Carnaval” (2012). Lo grotesco es un arma provocativa con la que Hage dirige la atención a la predicación de nuevos inmigrantes de clase pobre y desfavorecida en el Montreal contemporáneo. Ofrece una perspectiva incómoda desde el punto de vista del inmigrante masculino sobre la idea de la Canadá multicultural que proclama la aceptación de las diferencias étnicas y raciales. Algunos aspectos formales que generan este efecto grotesco incluyen: la imagen que tiene de sí mismo el narrador en primera persona, el discurso disruptivo de resistencia, su visión desorientada de la realidad urbana, y metáforas espaciales en el contexto de la alienación social y marginalización del protagonista. La teoría de la abyección de Julia Kristeva arroja luz sobre el sentimiento de miedo y repulsión que se siente hacia los pobres urbanos, y la identificación deliberada del protagonista con las alimañas en el contexto de su discurso de resistencia. Aunque el migrante desamparado es capaz de responder, las novelas de Hage están desprovistas de verdadero poder regenerativo o liberador. Los textos literarios le dan más importancia a la soledad y aislamiento del migrante, así como a su posición inferior en el contexto socio-económico. Pese a todo, el modo grotesco también funciona como una arma poderosa con la que el autor representa al inmigrante como alguien con resiliencia y una identidad móvi

Deviance and the Subversive Grotesque in Barbara Gowdy’s 'We So Seldom Look on Love'

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This article examines We So Seldom Look on Love, a short story collection by the Canadian author Barbara Gowdy who displays a strong interest in extreme forms of physical and mental deviance in relation to the act of looking. Discursive forms are analyzed that revolve around the tyranny of the normative gaze and the fear of deviance, the bounded bodily ideal as opposed to the body in pieces. Kaja Silverman's psychoanalytic theory of the field of vision in relation to deviant bodies throws light on these recurring issues in Gowdy's short stories. Additionally, contemporary theories of the grotesque inform the analysis of the Gothic-Carnivalesque, a subversive strategy with which the author provokes our perception and classification of humans, identities, and sexes. The collection will be shown to culminate in the final story that contains a scene in which a female protagonist bestows "the productive look" (Silverman) upon her transsexual husband.status: publishe

The Gothic and Grotesque in Barbara Gowdy's 'Mister Sandman'

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