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123045 PS Proseminar Literature / Literary Studies (2015W)

Forms and Functions of the Supernatural in British and Irish Literature

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 16.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 23.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 30.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 06.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 13.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 20.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 27.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 04.12. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 11.12. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 18.12. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 08.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 15.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 22.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 29.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The supernatural has cast its shadow over literature for as long as people have been writing, and with vampires and ghosts currently enjoying a renaissance, its "pleasing terror" (according to ghost-story writer M. R. James) seems as enjoyable as ever. Yet supernatural features in a story, play, or poem are rarely 'just' escapist: an analysis of a period's ghosts can tell us much about its demons. The anxieties, hopes, and questions (political, social, or epistemological) which haunt the age in which the text was produced can be traced through a closer look at the darker side of literature, from the Reformation to the Enlightenment, from Darwinism to psychoanalysis and postmodernism. And of course, the supernatural has also been a conceptual metaphor for criticism, from Marx to Derrida.

Starting in the early modern period with Shakespeare's Hamlet, we will chart the rise of supernatural fiction in the eighteenth century, trace it through its Victorian heyday, and consider some more recent developments and the fears they reflect.

Assessment and permitted materials

Regular attendance, active participation in class, weekly readings, short written assignments, presentation, final research paper

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

This course will familiarise students with a range of texts featuring supernatural characters and events from different periods and genres, and introduce them to a variety of critical approaches and secondary literature. Through contextualisation and analysis, it will also recapitulate some of the most important cultural factors of the periods under discussion. The class will further hone students' skills in literary analysis and critical thinking, and guide them towards their final research paper.

Examination topics

Interactive discussions, individual assignments, group work, methodology session, final paper

Reading list

Primary texts will include Shakespeare's Hamlet, Walpole's The Castle of Otranto and Stoker's Dracula. A complete list of texts will be provided in the first session, and further short stories, poems, and excerpts from novels will be made available on Moodle, along with selected secondary literature.

Association in the course directory

Studium: UF 344, BA 612; BEd 046
Code/Modul: UF 3.3.3-304, BA10.1; BEd 08a.1, BEd 08b.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-3041

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33