Perturbed Self

• Uses an approach of comparatist study

• Draws two traditions of supernatural literature from East and West into conversation and veers away from the usual Anglo-American bias in Gothic studies

• Helps to empower the marginalized in both Chinese and British societies in times of transition

• Offers a timely explication of the symbolism and power dynamic surrounding the female ghost in Chinese culture and a comparison with its Western counterpart

• Illuminates a lesser-known part of famous late nineteenth-century writers’ oeuvre which sheds new light on the complexity of lives and experiences in transitional times