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Crosslistings: HUM 116 |
Ghosts and graveyards; witches and werewolves; crumbling castles, cobwebbed crypts, and bloody chambers--"Things That Go Bump in the Night." We are all familiar with the iconography of Gothic fiction and with the thrills and chills produced by its storylines. But how familiar are we with the reasons why we seek Gothic satisfactions, and why we discover them so predictably? How well do we understand the psychological, social, and political motives that drive Gothic image and narrative? To develop this understanding, we return to a primary source, the emergence of the Gothic genre in European culture during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. We focus primarily, but not exclusively, on English society, where the transition from an agrarian to a commercial and industrial culture was visible and intense, while the impact of social and political revolution was refracted. We also examine the translation of the Gothic to American culture of the mid- and later 19th century under the shadow of Civil War. t or censor forbidden sexualities and crossed genders? How do Gothic spaces and architectures represent the social, political, and economic concerns of an era? Most fundamentally, if Gothic fictions are fantasies of transgression, are they progressive or regressive fantasies and how can we tell?
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA COL Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE
Last Updated on MAR-26-2001
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459