Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21066/carcl.libri.12.2.3
Neil Gaiman’s Coraline – a Gothic Bildungsroman
Ljubica Matek
orcid.org/0000-0003-2373-2418
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia
Zvonimir Prtenjača
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia
Abstract
The paper proposes that Neil Gaiman’s critically acclaimed children’s novel Coraline (2002) is a successful example of hybrid and crossover literature as it tells an empowering growing-up story, equally rewarding for young and adult readers, by combining themes and motifs pertinent to several different literary genres. By employing literary features of Gothic, fantasy, and coming-of-age novels (Bildungsroman), Gaiman tells a story about a girl who discovers a secret door in her new home. The door represents an entrance into a dark and dangerous parallel world, which prompts her to embark on a hero’s journey. By saving both her parents and herself, Coraline finds her own identity as well as love for those around her. In its conceptualisation of Coraline as a nomadic subject, the novel represents her growing-up as an affirmative process, despite its numerous challenges. This confirms the paper’s thesis
that the reception of Gothic literature for children has empowering and positive effects, whereas Gothic literature for adults aims at destabilising the subject and questioning extant social practices.
Keywords
Bildungsroman; Gothic literature; hero’s journey; Coraline; Neil Gaiman;
Hrčak ID:
314294
URI
Publication date:
2.12.2023.
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