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...The peculiar aura of the Gothic is mainly the effect of the dissolution of all holistic theories about the world, theories ranging from philosophical movements such as positivistic scientism and Marxism to religious metaphysics. When facing the multifariousness of the postmodern condition, proponents of such theories soon discover that their previous ´metaphysics of presence,´ which used to provide them with guidance, is actually far from being absolute. The end of the world that they often theorize about is just the end of their own world, yet it represents the beginning of a new reality that surpasses them, a reality beyond what is metaphysically right or wrong.

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Wassim Jday is an Assistant Professor of English and American literature at Tunisian universities. He has been working on classic and contemporary Gothic fiction, focusing on the psychological and the philosophical dimensions of the genre. Dr. Jday is also a freelance journalist, translator and interpreter.

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