Gothic romance
1
9.3
- noun
- /ˈɡɑːθɪk rɪˈmæns/
- Literature
:
romance gótico
- The book isn't exactly the most original rendition of vampire meets girl, but I suppose its popularity is attributed to the fact that SM intended the book to be read by 12-16 year olds, unlike most vampire-gothic-romance books.
Examples
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The novel is a classic example of a Gothic romance, featuring dark castles and mysterious heroes.
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In the bizarre economy of the Gothic romance, Randall must sacrifice his and his brother's lives to the supernatural pull of their hoard.
Academic text (2016) -
I could describe this as an early 1900s English countryside gothic romance novel, but if I'd seen it described that way, I wouldn't have wanted to read it.
Blog text (22) -
This connects to the text's position as the latest copy in a long history of romance and Gothic romance, to its own doubling of the original book series, to Elena as the latest heroine in a long line, and yet because of this "latest" aspect, this sense of her immediacy, she is the most important, at least for now.
Academic text (2013) -
If Edmund is Fanny's master, then her capitulation to him at the end of Volume I raises the issue of her exercising free will over the course of Austen's "daylight equivalent" of Gothic romance.
Academic text (2018) -
Readers of Gothic romance often enjoy tales filled with suspense and eerie settings.
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In her new book, she blends adventure with Gothic romance, creating an atmosphere of intrigue and longing.
Antonyms
How Gothic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'gothic' (gloomy, mysterious, grotesque) modifies 'romance' (a type of story/novel), so a learner who knows both words can infer a romantic/novelistic genre with gothic qualities. This modifier+noun pattern is common cross-linguistically and the phrase is therefore immediately understandable to a B1 learner (context like 'novels' further clarifies genre vs. love-sense of 'romance').
Etymology
Gothic romance grew from long-ago stories that put dark, old castles and scary events together (Gothic) with tales of strong feeling and strange adventure (romance, an old word for a 'love or adventure story'). The image of a lonely hero or heroine in a haunted place with storms and secrets helps explain why the phrase now means a mysterious, emotional story.