Transmigration, space and time in Slade House

Tavener-Smith, Taryn (2021) Transmigration, space and time in Slade House. Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies. ISSN 2045-4821

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Abstract

David Mitchell’s Slade House is a haunted house tale that has been described as “the ultimate spooky nursery tale for adults.”1 In his novel, Mitchell re-evaluates the shortcomings of the present through a postmodern lens while seeking to redress history’s representations of the vampire figure. He does so while critically commenting on the state of humanity’s connectivity and addressing the transmigration of souls across temporal space. Slade House incorporates postmodernity, speculating “what the human could become in a future society”, thereby foreshadowing the transitory state of the contemporary moment.2 With this novel, Mitchell repositions the seemingly inconsequential individual within the larger context of the “cosmic process of self-recognition.”3 He does so in an effort to warn readers against the risks of isolation while critically commenting on the impacts of power dynamics, coercion, and exploitation evidenced through transmigration. One of Mitchell’s vampiric figures, Jonah Grayer, captures the theme of transmigration in the novel:

Item Type:	Article
Depositing User:	RED Unit Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Aug 2021 08:19
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2022 11:01
URI:	https://bnu.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18372

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