Leonid Dimov: Spectrality and the Neo-Gothic Atmosphere
Leonid Dimov: Spectrality and the Neo-Gothic Atmosphere

Summary/Abstract: This study deals with the neo-Gothic and spectral features of Leonid Dimov’s poetry (1926-1987). There is a deliberately abstruse dimension in Dimov’s poetry, which confounds and baffles the reader for the very reason that beyond its bulimic fantasies and extravagant constructs, there is a peculiar intention in the subtext: Dimov’s poems (those that are vast, narrative) represent a kind of mysteries and initiations into para-worlds, lucidly undertaken through neo-Gothic devices that are at least partially assumed and through linguistic means that are characteristic of a sort of postmodern baroque. There is a quest at stake, as Dimov reveals himself to be playfully anxious, quasi-neurotic; his carnivalesque propensities are never devoid of purpose, but are based on deep anxieties and concerns about death, love, knowledge and creation.

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