We are delighted to share a new publication by our team member Rubén Peinado-Abarrio. His article, “Gothic and Posthuman Maternity in Kate Zambreno’s Drifts,” has recently appeared in British and American Studies.
In this article, Rubén explores the intersection of Gothic Studies, feminist theory, and posthumanism through a close reading of Kate Zambreno’s novel Drifts (2020). The study investigates how the novel employs Gothic motifs such as haunting, monstrosity, and the uncanny double to challenge conventional representations of pregnancy and motherhood.
Rather than portraying maternity as a stable or idealized experience, Drifts presents it as a process of transformation that unsettles traditional notions of identity, autonomy, and bodily boundaries. Through a posthumanist lens, the novel foregrounds relationality, vulnerability, and interdependence, suggesting that pregnancy fundamentally reshapes the subject’s understanding of selfhood.
The article argues that Gothic aesthetics provide a powerful framework for representing the ambiguities and contradictions of maternal embodiment. By bringing together Gothic and posthumanist perspectives, Rubén demonstrates how Zambreno’s work contributes to contemporary debates on gender, corporeality, and subjectivity.
This publication offers an important contribution to current scholarship on contemporary American literature, motherhood studies, and posthumanist theory.
Congratulations to Rubén on this achievement and on his continued contributions to innovative research in literary and cultural studies.
