Anti-Structure and the Gothic Formula - Anth

• institutional organizations within society
• composition and combinations of the elements of knowledge
• the sequence of events in a folktale
• behaviour that conforms to societal norms

• institutionalized liminal statuses on society's margins
• emergent institutions that challenge society's structure
• behaviour that mocks/inverts codes of behaviour (often in socially sanctioned ritual experiences)

binary opposition of life-enhancing structure and life-diminishing anti-structure

• separate one from everyday life
• dissolve one’s social status,
• transform the individual, and then
• return him or her to everyday life transformed in some way (new status, refreshed, reaffirmed, etc.)

the stage of a ritual during which individuals are removed from their community or status

• a ritual phase or permanent condition of marginality in which many of the structures and classifications imposed by social institutions are dissolved
• the stage of a ritual in which one has passed out of an old status but not yet entered a new one
• altered state of consciousness

• the perceived state of oneness an individual experiences upon entering with others into a liminal phase or condition
• perceived solidarity, equality, and unity among people

the stage of a ritual during which a participant is returned to his or her community with a new status

• an 18th and 19th Century reaction in Europe against neoclassicism and rationalism
• values nature, emotion, and imagination
• given expression through the use of symbol and myth
• what lies beyond life and the mysterious dark

• Imagery of death
Nature
• The afterlife
• The surreal or preternatural
Graveyard imagery/funeral imagery
Passionate/dramatic language
Symbolism of death and the afterlife
• Melancholic mood

• (lit.) refers to a dark story often containing elements of suspense or the paranormal
• a critique of society bereft of a life-enhancing dynamic
• creates and explores psychological tension

extreme rational fear of some accepted form of reality where the nature of the danger is clear

• an extreme irrational fear of the utterly unnatural or the “supernatural.”
• the feeling of dread and anticipation occurs before something frightening is experience

• terror for love
• death for sexuality
• dream and imagination for reason

• happy homes to houses of ruin
• nobel minds to minds in ruin
• sanity to madness
• normal time to time distorted
• security of relationship to fear of abandonment
• engagement in life to obsession
• justice to revenge

• salient because of economic uncertainty, heightened class tension, and police ineptitude of the time
• suspected immigrants, Prince Albert, mental institution escape

• a form of folklore that consists of friend-of-a friend stories that may or may not be based in actual event, but are told AS IF they are.
• As cautionary tales, urban legends give expression to what is expected to happen (but generally never does)

• industry success depends on appealing to the folk
• speak symbolically to our fearful expectations about the future