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“Gothic and seduction narratives of ruin and captivity” have lastingly shaped cultural imagination, the myth of a “native,” “virtuous,” and “freedom-loving Anglo-Saxon people” (Laura Doyle, Freedom's Empire). Arguably, a myth that even nowadays draws large audiences in contemporary cinema productions. In the time of revolutionary upheaval such literature had come to particular prominence. When it crossed the Atlantic in the 1790s the gothic and the literature of sensibility became a powerful tool for the exploration of radical political ideas in the American context, including the “dark underside” of the young American republic. In this course we examine the rise of the American gothic. At the same time, we trace repercussions in recent Hollywood productions.
Required Texts:
William Hill Brown, The Power of Sympathy. ISBN-10: 0140434682.
Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland. ISBN-10: 0199538778
Charles Brockden Brown, Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker.
ISBN-10: 0140390626.
Olaudha Equiano, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition.
ISBN-10: 0142437166. |
