Courses > 2013 Fall

Electives

CINE 112 - Monsters and Literature

ENGL 102
401 | MW 11am-12pm (plus REC) | FBH 401

Why do monsters have such lasting popular appeal in film and literature? From medieval dragons to intergalactic aliens, monsters reveal our fascination with the supernatural and the grotesque, with scientific experimentation and the boundaries of what it means to be human. Every culture has its own way of representing the unknown and sublimating its deep-seated fears of contamination and invasion—often through the figure of the monster. In this course we will study films featuring a wide assortment of monsters and the literature that inspires and reproduces them across a range of genres, cultures, and time periods. Films may include: NosferatuFrankensteinThe Fly28 Weeks LaterThe Elephant ManGodzilla. Authors may include: Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, H.P. Lovecraft, and Octavia Butler. This course includes an introduction to film analysis and readings in cultural studies and literary theory. There are no prerequisites. Satisfies the Group III:  Arts and Letters General Education Requirement.