the uses of the gothic

[heresluck]

So I had the interview for the topics in 18th c. lit course this afternoon

Comments

[laurashapiro]

I had a class in college called "The Gothic Imagination in Film and Fiction", with a lot of crossover into your idea here. I'd be very happy to send you/share my old reader and syllabus, if you're interested.

[heresluck]

I would *love* to see the syllabus, for sure. The reader is a maybe, only because I might already have some of what's in it -- is there a listing of the contents on the syllabus?

[laurashapiro]

*g* The syllabus is actually *in* the reader, IIRC. It's the first page. I will attempt to dig it out and will report back. I'm going through my bookshelves tonight anyway.

[laurashapiro]

I was right, the syllabus (3 pages) is *in* the reader, along with the list of course requirements (2 pages).

I'd be happy to send (or bring!) the reader to you, but I'm not all that enthusiastic about retyping all these pages. Hm. Maybe I could scan them? Whaddaya think? What would be most helpful?

BTW, the reader includes selections by Robert Thomson, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edgar Allan Poe, and Paul Bowles (some of the most disturbing stuff I've ever read), in addition to a variety of scholarly articles on horror movies, AIDS, multiple personality disorder, and a number of other gothic topics.

[heresluck]

Thank you! *I* think it's fascinating, and I'm sure I could convince students it's fascinating too.

[heresluck]

Heh. This department may not offer it either. We shall see.

[ivorychopsticks]

If I were taking classes at your university, I would be salivating over this course. It sounds exactly narrow enough, so that you and your students really have time to get into the meat of the genre.

I once took a class in college called "Traversing the Wall: The Self and Other in Literature." All of the texts were East German written around the time of the wall coming down. Some were literally about wall-jumping, others were more metaphorical. The point of this long aside was that this specifically directed course was one of the best of my college career, because we had focus and time to explore.

This course you've constructed sounds the same. Plus it sounds like fun. I really hope you get a chance to teach it. (Fingers duly crossed).

[heresluck]

It sounds exactly narrow enough, so that you and your students really have time to get into the meat of the genre.

Thank you. Seriously. I mean, I feel this way too, obviously, but it's so nice to have it corroborated. I don't think all courses should be so focused, but it *is* a topics course; I want it to really be a topics course, not just a survey course with a slight thematic slant. Plus: The Gothic! What's not to love? ...well, okay, maybe the creepy preoccupation with incest is not to love, but I think it's important to acknowledge English literature's long tradition of being deeply weird.

And I think that class on East German texts sounds completely fascinating. I bet I haven't read a single thing you covered in that class. Which text or two would you most recommend?

[heresluck]

You know, I'm interested in the course myself for some of the same reasons. I found out a good bit about the Gothic writing a seminar paper on The Mysteries of Udolpho back in 1996, and included a significant Gothic presence on my preliminary examination reading list, but I've never had the chance to consider a large group of texts together, let alone to read up on recent critical developments (of which there have apparently been several since 1996). Teaching the class would give me the excuse to do both, plus 35 other people to prod my thinking along.

[sisabet]

I was sending you good thought vibes this afternoon along with singing "Take the Skinheads Bowling" at my cubicle - which earned me some strange looks. I think either that or "Birth, School, Work, Death" could be an "Office Space" vid. I wanna do a movie vid. It is the new black. But back to you - Mantra of positive Vibes are covering you as I type. Along with Simple Minds lyrics, but I am on a kick and I blame you.

[heresluck]

The Godfathers! I'd forgotten I sent you that! Dude, you gotta see if you can get hold of that CD. Few things say stoned-in-the-high-school-parking-lot-in-1988 like The Godfathers. "When Am I Coming Down" could be a Donnie Darko vid. "Just Like You" is perfect garage-band sappy. I think you would really like "Love's Dead": "She phoned in sick today / she needs a mental holiday..." But the one that your invocation has put in my head is "Cause I Said So": "every day's a thrill when you're living like me / I don't read Baudelaire's poetry / and I don't need no PhD / 'cause I'm ten times smarter than you'll ever be."

The Simple Minds thing, though, is all you. I don't know where you got that from, but it wasn't me.

[sisabet]

The Simple Minds thing, though, is all you. I don't know where you got that from, but it wasn't me.You kicked off the vibe that sent me to Simple Minds - which was cool cause when I was 11, there was this one part of "Alive and Kicking" that I loved - like seriously loved - as in the song would come on the radio and I would be all a-twitter waiting for that one *part* of the song and then it would be over and I would want it back, so finally I taped the song (missing of course the first 30 seconds - I swear, the first part of any 80's song is a complete and utter mystery to me) off the radio and then I rewound that one part so much that I broke the tape

[heresluck]

Some people say that bowling alleys all look the same.

[gwynnega]

The course sounds marvelous. ::considers adding Ann Radcliffe to my syllabus for next semester::

[heresluck]

Ann Radcliffe! Yes! I'm really annoyed that I couldn't put Mysteries of Udolpho on the syllabus -- too long; I subbed in Romance of the Forest based on moonwhip's comments in the 18th century novel discussion a while back.