From goths to gothicism: A word’s evolution

What do the words ‘goth’ and ‘gothic’ mean to you?

Is it black clothes, heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick – the classic aesthetic of rebellion? Perhaps it’s Gothic cathedrals like Notre Dame that still inspire awe centuries later? Or maybe it’s the haunting world of gothic novels? Think Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or the gloomy corridors of Jane Eyre’s Thornfield Hall.

But if we cast our minds to Rome in 410CE, the word ‘goth’ first referred to the ancient Goths – the cruel, illiterate barbarians who destroyed the Eternal City, and then went on to lead an empire.

Across nearly two thousand years, the terms ‘goth’ and ‘gothic’ have transformed in their meaning and what they refer to – reshaped through the centuries by history, art, music, and identity. This event explores the evolution of these words, and what they can tell us about the cultures that were shaped by them.

Join writer Jeremy Brown Smith FRSE, Professor Christine Ferguson and Professor Catherine Spooner as they trace the evolution of ‘goth’ through time. Along with questions from the audience, they will uncover the enduring allure of the Gothic.

Note: This event is open to everyone interested in language, culture, history, and how words shape the world we live in.

About RSE Investigates

This event is part of RSE Investigates - a yearly programme of free public events that look closely at a new topic each year. Through research-led insights and personal perspectives, the series explores the nuances and real-world implications of issues that shape our understanding of society.

This year, the focus is on language – how it connects us, how it shapes our identities and the environments, and how language can be a vital lens for examining some of today’s most pressing issues.

Speakers:

Professor Jeremy Smith FRSE

Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow, English Language and Linguistics, University of Glasgow

Jeremy Smith retired in 2021 as Professor of English Philology at Glasgow University, where he is now a Senior Research Fellow. He is also an Honorary Professor, University of St Andrews. A specialist in English historical linguistics, the history of Scots, book history, and early English and Scots language and literature, he is a Fellow of the English Association and an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Scottish Literary Studies. Recent books include Transforming Early English (2020), Genre in English Medical Writing 1500-1820 (ed, with Irma Taavitsainen, Turo Hiltunen and Carla Suhr, 2022), and Reinventing Medieval Liturgy in Victorian England (with David Jasper, 2023); Lexicons of English Religion 1380-1850, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, is forthcoming. For RSE he has served on various committees on public engagement and research awards, and has for many years delivered talks for RSE’s schools programme.

Professor Christine Ferguson

Chair in English Studies, University of Stirling

Christine Ferguson is a Professor in English Studies in the Division of Literature and Languages, where her research focuses on the entwined histories of the literary gothic and the British occult revival in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Her major publications in this topic include Open Secrets: The Popular Fiction of Britain’s Occult Revival (New York: Oxford University Press, 2025) and a scholarly edition of Arthur Conan Doyle’s spiritualist roman à clef The Land of Mist, forthcoming from Edinburgh University Press in 2026.

Professor Catherine Spooner

Professor of Literature and Culture, University of Lancaster

Catherine Spooner works across both English Literature and Creative Writing. Her academic research is centred on Gothic in literature, film and popular culture, and fashion and costume in literature and film, within the broader spectrum of literature and culture from the late-eighteenth to the twenty-first century. Her creative practice encompasses poetry, place writing and historical fiction and her writing usually has a strong Gothic flavour.

Catherine’s academic research characteristically places Gothic literature and film within broader cultural frameworks, with particular attention to fashion and subcultures. She has published three monographs: Fashioning Gothic Bodies (2004), Contemporary Gothic (2006) and Post-Millennial Gothic: Comedy, Romance and the Rise of Happy Gothic (2017), which was awarded the International Gothic Association’s Allan Lloyd Smith Prize for a monograph significantly advancing the field of Gothic Studies in 2019.

Important points to note

• This event is suitable for age 16+
• Accessibility Statement: We aim to make events as accessible as possible. If you have any accessibility requirements or any questions about how we can support this event, please contact the RSE Public Engagement team on public_engagement@theRSE.org.uk

• COVID-19: In order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 we kindly encourage participants to continue to wear face masks if they feel comfortable to do so; use the hand sanitisers provided at the venue; and to stay at home if they have Covid symptoms or have tested positive for Covid-19.