Course Overview

This class surveys major literary and cinematic works belonging to the Southern Gothic tradition, with a special focus on short stories. Authors include Edgar Allan Poe, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, Tennessee Williams and Alice Munro.

Learning Achievement

Student will develop a deeper understanding of the Southern Gothic tradition in literature and film, focusing on the structures of power involved in the genre. Students will also work independently and in group to work through the various texts analyzed in class.

Competence

Critical and Creative Thinking; Data information literacy; Broad perspective and international mindedness; Autonomous Collaboration and Independent Work; Analytical ability of culture; International Communication skills

Course prerequisites

Grading Philosophy

Evaluations:
1.Class participation: 50%
3. Final paper: 50%

Course schedule

Borrowing key elements of darkness, mystery, and the supernatural from the long tradition of gothic literature in Europe, the Southern gothic combines these classic elements with the setting and style of the American South. Damaged and delusional characters, unsolvable problems, and paranormal events populate crumbling mansions and dusty country towns in Southern gothic works. However, authors used these elements not merely to titillate readers, but to explore the dark side of the human psyche and society in the nation’s most impoverished and troubled region. Southern gothic literature and film interrogates the racism, poverty, violence, and moral corruption plaguing the South in the early twentieth century, and often spotlights those who are ostracized or oppressed by traditional Southern culture.
British Gothic Fiction
Edgar Allan Poe
"The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839)
William Faulkner; "A Rose for Emily" (1930)
Eudora Welty "A Worn Path" (1941); Carson McCullers' "A Domestic Dilemma" (1951)
Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1953)
Tennessee Williams and Southern Queerness, "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1958)
Charles W. Chesnutt and Ghosts of Southern Pasts
Barn Burnings: Faulkner and Murakami
Alice Munro and the Southern Ontario Gothic
"Runaway" (2004); "Open Secrets" (1994)
Southern, Gothic, and Black
Childish Gambino's "This is America" (2018)
Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)

Course type

Class Exercises

Online Course Requirement

Instructor

Sano Takaya

Other information

The quality of this class relies heavily on student participation. You are therefore expected to come to class prepared with thoughts and questions about the assigned readings. Plagiarism is a serious offence that will not be tolerated in this class. If you are unsure about how to proceed with sources, come and talk to me.

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