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C LIT 357 A (1917) LITERATURE
AND FILM Autumn 2000
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From
Frankenstein to A
Chinese Ghost Story:
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Phantoms
and Monsters in Literature and Film
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Here’s
your chance to take fun seriously while getting credit for talking about Terminator
and Face/Off ! We will
discuss how such films and literary works can help us understand better how
human imagination reflects on our society.
Never take anything for granted — not ghosts, not monsters, not what
we say in class. If you want to talk about any matter related
to the course, please take advantage of my office hours. I’m here for you.
Hours: MW 2:30-4:20
Classroom: SAV
249
5 credits
| Instructor: | Yomi Braester |
| office: C-504 Padelford |
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| office hours: MW 4:30-5:20 and by appointment |
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| e-mail: yomi@u.washington.edu |
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| course website: http://faculty.washington.edu/yomi/ghosts.html |
Course
Description and Objectives
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND
OBJECTIVES
The course examines portrayals of supernatural beings in pre-modern and modern fiction as well as in Hollywood, Chinese and Hong Kong cinema. A cross-cultural examination of the texts will allow us to ask, Why are encounters with the supernatural portrayed as horrifying? Why does the supernatural pose a threat to individual and even cultural identity? What are the social and political implications of these texts?
We will discern the following themes and engage them: (1) reality and representation; (2) character development; (3) entertainment and redemption; (4) gender; (5) the human body; (6) point-of-view and identity; (7) word and image; (8) place and culture; (9) narrative structure; (10) time and history; (11) graphic violence.
All
students will prepare a one-paragraph critical memo before each class
and write a 2–3 line micro-essay at the end of each class. Both will be turned in at the end of class.
Assigned groups will be responsible for addressing their assigned theme
and for one class presentation (close reading of a passage and initiating
class discussion). The presentation will be followed by a 2-page
report from each member of the presenting group. Each student will
also submit one or two additional 3-page reading
reports, which must include a clear argument, substantiated by the
text/film at hand (a reading response should be submitted within a week from
the relevant reading). Either the presentation or the reading report
must be submitted before 10/25. A quiz will be administered, testing details from both readings
and class presentations. A final 6-7
page paper must be approved on the basis of a paper proposal and submitted
by December 11.
| Critical memos | 12 x 1 = | 12 |
| Micro-essays | 20 x .5 = |
10 |
| Presentation: |
5 |
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| Presentation report: | 13 |
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| Reading report: | 15 | |
| Quiz: | 10 |
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Final
paper: |
35
(or 50, if better than reading report) |
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10 |
No
individual meetings or screenings will be arranged. All pre-written assignments must be printed, double-spaced, font
size 12, with numbered pages. More
guidelines will be provided on 11/20. The
course emphasizes good writing — if you feel unconfident about your writing,
please contact the writing workshop. Late
submissions must be pre-approved by the instructor or they will not be accepted. The course adheres to UW’s rules on plagiarism (see http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm). Students with disabilities are encouraged to
inform me, and I’ll do my best to provide the relevant accommodations.
Books
are available at the University Bookstore as well as on reserve at the relevant
library. Otherwise-unavailable sources
are provided in the reading packet.
Films:
James Cameron, Terminator
Two: Judgment Day
King Hu, Painted Face
Stanely Kwan, Rouge
(Odegaard Media DVD MSVD 001; 2-hour reserve)
James Whale, Bride of Frankenstein
(Odegaard Media DVD UNIV 003; 2-hour reserve)
John Woo, Face/Off
Required:
Ackbar Abbas, Hong Kong :
Culture and the Politics of Disappearance (selections; in packet)
Michel Foucault, This is
not a Pipe (Odegaard;
Art ND673.M35 F6813 1983; 4-hour reserve)
Gaston Leroux, Phantom of
the Opera (Odegaard PQ2623.E6 F213 1988; 1-day reserve)
Pu Songling, Strange
Tales of Liaozhai (selections; in packet)
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
(Odegaard PR2807.A2 B46 1988 and other numbers; 1-day reserve)
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley,
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus
Tang Xianzu, Peony Pavilion
(Odegaard; EA PL2695.M8 E5 1980; on reserve)
Recommended:
Nina Auerbach, Our Vampires, Ourselves (Suzallo GA830.V3 A92)
Tsui Hark, A Chinese Ghost
Story (Videorecord TAI 001; 2-hour reserve)
Judith Zeitlin, Historian of the Strange : Pu Songling and the
Chinese Classical Tale (East Asian PL2722.U2 Z98 1993)
week
1
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Introduction |
| Wednesday, 9/27 | Foucault,
This is Not a Pipe |
| (read This is Not a Pipe; discussion by group #1) |
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week
2
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| Monday, 10/2 | Shelley, Frankenstein |
| Wednesday, 10/4 | Whale,
The Bride of Frankenstein (screening) |
| (no reading; no memo; catch
up!) |
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week
3
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| Monday, 10/9 | Whale,
The Bride of Frankenstein |
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| Wednesday, 10/11 | Julian,
Phantom of the Opera (screening) |
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week
4
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| Monday, 10/16 | Julian,
Phantom of the Opera |
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| Wednesday, 10/18 | Cameron,
Terminator II (screening) |
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week
5
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| Monday, 10/23 | |
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(discussion
by group #5; no extra reading) |
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| Wednesday, 10/25 | |
| (read
Hamlet; discussion by group
#6) |
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week
6
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| Monday, 10/30 | Lecture:
early Chinese horror film |
| (start
reading Peony Pavilion; |
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| Wednesday, 11/1 |
Tang
Xianzu, The Peony Pavilion |
| (read
Peony Pavilion; discussion by
group #7) |
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week
7
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| Monday, 11/6 | Pu
Songling, Strange Tales from the
Liaozhai Studio #1 |
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| Wednesday, 11/8 | |
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(no
reading) |
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week
8
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| Monday, 11/13 | |
| (Discussion
of final paper; read selection #2 in packet; discussion by group #9) |
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| Wednesday, 11/15 |
King
Hu, Painted Skin (screening) |
| (no
reading; no memo) |
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week
9
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| Monday, 11/20 | Kwan,
Rouge (screening) |
| (no reading; no memo; start
preparing final paper) |
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| Wednesday, 11/22 |
Review |
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(no
reading; no memo) |
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week
10
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| Monday, 11/27 | Kwan,
Rouge |
| (read
Ackbar Abbas, “The New Hong Kong Cinema” in packet; |
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| Wednesday, 11/29 | John
Woo, Face/Off (screening) |
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week
11
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| Monday, 12/4 | Woo,
Face/Off |
| (quiz;
discussion by group #11) |
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| Wednesday, 12/6 | Conclusion |
(no reading; no memo; all reading responses due)
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