| Unit name | The Gothic |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGLM0040 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Punter |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The unit introduces students to a selection of major primary texts in the Gothic tradition from Ann Radcliffe on, as well as a number of critical texts which represent some of the major interpretations of the Gothic to have developed over the last thirty years. Themes will include the notions of the explained and the unexplained supernatural; historical differentiations between terror and horror; the emergence and persistence of significant images of the monster, the zombie, the vampire; the various forms of the ghost and the phantom, and how these have recently become concerns not only in literature and literary criticism, but also in critical theory and in psychoanalysis.
The unit aims to develop students' understanding of the historical formation of the Gothic, and also of its various mutations up to the present time. The student should become able to trace the persistence and development of various themes within the Gothic, and also to think about how, whether and to what extent the Gothic is a subcultural form or part of a wider tradition. The student should also become more able to reflect upon the relation between various manifestations of the Gothic and the history within which it has been written, so as to assess the degree to which Gothic may be an 'escapist' form or one which has reflected the concerns of the wider culture(s) to which it responds.
1. A broadened experience of the range and variety of Gothic writing.
2. Improved independent critical thinking about key Gothic topics.
3. A maturing ability to apply critical and cultural concepts to Gothic literature, including considerations of history, psychology and cultural form.
4. Development of skills in research, analysis and critical writing.
8 x 2-hour seminars, 11 consultation hours.
1 essay of 4,000 words which will assess the standards reached by the student in terms of her/his abilities as listed under learning objectives. Each student will also be required to give a 1000-word presentation in class.
Fred Botting (ed.), The Gothic (London: D.S. Brewer, 2001)
Judith Halberstam, Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters (Durham NC: Duke University Press, 1995)
David Punter, The Literature of Terror: A History of Gothic Fictions from 1765 to the Present Day. 2 vols (2nd edn, London: Longman, 1996)
David Punter (ed.), A New Companion to the Gothic (London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)
Andrew Smith, Gothic Literature (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007)
Dale Townshend, The Orders of Gothic: Foucault, Lacan, and the Subject of Gothic Writing 1764-1820 (New York: AMS Press, 2005)
