123044 PS Proseminar Literature / Literary Studies (2016S)

Gothic fiction has been one of the most popular genres among American authors and readers alike ever since its emergence in the mid-18th century, and continues to influence the literary landscape well into the 21st century. From its foundation, the new nation's unique challenges have led US-American authors to the Gothic as a particularly malleable genre to express their fears, anxieties, and secret passions. Gothic novels, short stories, and poems offered a ready template to express quintessentially American conditions, from early frontier experiences to the trauma of slavery, from Puritan morality to the depiction of domestic oppression in a patriarchal society. Today, Gothic representations of extreme horror, cruelty, persecution, wilderness, and the abject continue to haunt American culture in a myriad of popular movies and TV shows.

In this course, we will trace the development and ongoing appeal of Gothic fiction as well as a variety of critical responses to the genre from literary theorists and critics. We will examine typical Gothic tropes and themes, the role of the author and the narrator, and genre conventions, among other things, to determine how and why Gothic fiction has undergone a variety of transformations but still remains an immensely popular genre in American fiction and film.

Students will learn to critically examine texts from different theoretical perspectives and to employ the respective critical terminology. They will also be familiarized with the research and writing skills necessary to write a term paper.