Literature 2160 - Powers of Horror:Sublimity,Exoticism,and Monstrosity

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

Human Rights The genre of horror, often called "the gothic,"encompasses texts as wide-ranging as the 18thcentury novel The Castle of Otranto and the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This seminar focuses on the gothic genre as a response to such historical developments as the slave trade, the rise of the bourgeoisie, the Cold War, and imperialism. Students explore such figures as the oriental tyrant, the corrupt priest, the savage, the vampire, the monster, and the madman-in order to ascertain why such figures emerge at the precise moments when Western culture seems so confidently to assert its orderliness, rationality, and humanitarianism. Readings include Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, Lewis's The Monk, Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Peacock's Nightmare Alley, Stoker's Dracula, and Le Fanu's Carmilla, as well as critical works by Marx, Freud, Foucault, Huyssen, and Jameson. Screenings include Nosferatu, Island of Lost Souls, Shock Corridor, and episodes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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