Studies in Literature and Film (386-0-21)

Topic

Modern Monsters: 20th and 21st Century Horror

Instructors

Clay Ross Cogswell

Meeting Info

Parkes Hall 224: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Monstrosity is ubiquitous in contemporary popular culture. The ghosts, zombies, vampires, poltergeists, and extra-terrestrials that populate this course's syllabus register that modern fascination. From classic horror by H. P. Lovecraft, probing at the margins of civilization, through Angela Carter's monstrous fables, to recent novels and movie adaptations such as Let the Right One In and Coraline, this course grapples with the taboo forms of subjectivity, filiation, and national identity that monsters embody. Analyzing fiction by Shirley Jackson and Neil Gaiman, blockbuster films such as The Shining and Alien, as well as parodies like What We Do in the Shadows, students will explore what representations of monstrosity reveal about our understandings of self, family, and nation. In addition to classic and contemporary examples of cinematic and literary horror, we will explore the genre through multiple scholarly frameworks, including psychoanalysis and disability studies.

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area