abstract

[siskron at SFSU.EDU]

Katerina Siskron, Coordinator Russian Program, SFSU
Department of Foreign Languages
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132

Title of Abstract:

The Fall of the House of Pesotsky: Chekhov's "Black Monk" as a Gothic Tale





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The Fall of the House of Pesotsky: Chekhov's "Black Monk" as Gothic Tale

It seems appropriate that the "Black Monk," the most Gothic of Chekhov's late tales, 
traces its origin to a dream of the author. From the time of its publication in 1894 to 
today, critics find the story problematic both in terms of genre and content (Sukhikh). As 
a consequence, this story has inspired numerous divergent readings. 

This paper is an exploration of the dynamic of two lines of discourse in "The "Black 
Monk"Ñthe positivistic scientific discourse and the romantic discourse of the gothic-
horrific. The two lines intertwine and the repressed Gothic material informs the more 
dominant realist plane. Chekhov's use of the Gothic in the "Black Monk" connects him 
with a long line of writers (including realist writers) who turned to the Gothic to 
communicate through affect that which defies rational understanding. Early Chekhov 
parodies of Gothic plots (and plights), such as "A Thousand and One Terrors or a 
Frightening Night" (Tysiacha odna strast' ili strashnaia noch'") published in 1880, 
suggest intimate knowledge of the genre. 

The most salient feature of the Gothic for this analysis is that it is written for affectÑto 
produce a physiological response, a shudder in the face of the existential abyss. And, 
while in Chekhov's story, the irrational (Gothic) element is contained by the realist 
discourse, numerous Gothic elements described by Vijay Mishra (and others)Ñextreme 
sensibility, decay and ruins, family secrets and curses, anxiety, repression, fear/danger of 
violation, incest, madness, death, mysteries, mad scientists and mad creations, unearthly 
music and otherworldly apparitionsÑare abundantly present in Chekhov's text, 
undermining the positivistic stratum.

Works Cited

Mishra, Vijay. The Gothic Sublime. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.

Sukhikh, I. N. "Zagadochnyi chernyi monakh Chekhova." Voprosy literatury. (6) June	
	 1983, 109-124.






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