Studies in Fiction (313-0-21)

Topic

Supernatural Reality: Ghosts, Vampires, and the Ho

Instructors

Johana Staza Godfrey

Meeting Info

Locy Hall 318: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

In the queer Victorian vampire novel Carmilla, the protagonist is stalked by a beautiful, bloodthirsty woman—and by the boredom and loneliness of everyday life. In Henry James's Turn of the Screw, ghosts scheme to murder a pair of innocent children—and to wreak havoc on the boundaries between classes. How does the vampire story reflect real world fears about national identity and foreign invasions? Can a fairy tale about goblins really be read as a commentary on the rise of industrialism? In this course, we'll examine the ways that writers grappled with difficult social realities via the strange and the supernatural, a defining literary trend of the modern era. We'll pair classics of gothic literature and supernatural/genre fiction with primary sources including newspaper columns, parliamentary debates, and scientific tracts that shed light on the real-world social conditions that spawned these fantastic visions of darkness, terror, and supernatural threats. As we investigate the blurred boundaries between realistic representations of life and more fantastic modes of writing, we will track the shared concerns and rhetoric that knit these two categories closely together. Texts will span the nineteenth century and twentieth century, and include works by Henry James, Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter, and manga artist Junji Ito.

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area