ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre THE MACABRE It should be clear from what has been said so far that the macabre and the grotesque frequently overlap.

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre THE MACABRE [T]he macabre, if one understands it as the horrifying tinged with the comic, is a sub-form of the grotesque. Strictly speaking, macabre means 'pertaining to death' and it is only in comparatively recent usage that it has developed the connotation 'gruesome yet funny' (through association with 'macabre humour', 'macabre joke'). And it is still true that the gruesome element in the macabre considerably outweighs the comic. Often the latter represents not a confusing quality but a heightening of the horrible or gruesome: that is, the strange comic tinge is used to increase sensitivity to gruesomeness which, presented unadulterated in large doses, may dull our responses. In any case, the macabre seems to lack the balanced tension between opposites which is a feature of the grotesque. But this may be splitting hairs.

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre The Leader of the White Walkers (Zombies) in Game of Thrones)

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque Tim Burton (1958- ). American filmmaker The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque 1988 The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque 1990 The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque 1993 The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque 1999 The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque 2005 The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque 2007 The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre

ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque The Macabre ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: The Grotesque