ENGL 522 (3)
STUDIES IN GENRE 19TH CENTHURY AND THE GOTHIC
Instructor: Jodey Castricano
Email: Jodey.castricano@ubc.ca
What do the “mad scientist”, the vivisector, the vampire, the ghost, the “foreigner” or “mysterious stranger”, the hysteric, the “new woman” and the figure of the double in 19th century Gothic literature all have in common and what do they tell us about 19th century culture? Whereas uncanny figures in early 19th century Gothic literature can be seen to anticipate the development of psychoanalysis, those in late 19th century Gothic texts can be seen to represent various social and cultural anxieties following in the wake of evolutionary controversies regarding the dissolution of distinctions between masculine and feminine, primitive and civilized, human and animal, natural and unnatural and self and other—especially where these resulted in the blurring of those categories upon which the security of the middle-class world depended. Considered to be an age of scientific and technological progress, the late 19th century was also an era in which the discourse of “degeneration” permeated the cultural imaginary prompting fears of atavistic debasement, criminal degeneracy, “moral insanity”, racial contamination, effeminacy and anxieties about the quasi-masculinity of the “new woman”. In the art and literature of the late 19th century such anxieties often took the form of the dread of invasion, fear of the contamination by the foreign “other”, or the apprehension that science itself had its dark side in the absence of moral guidance. Similarly, the social, cultural, and psychological interest in telepathy, hypnosis, and survival after death found voice in 19th century literature exploring the seeming contradictions between science and superstition, matter and mind.
In this course we will consider the ways that the socio-cultural debates of the time—revolving around questions of gender and sexuality, deviance, degeneration and regeneration, urbanism and empire, spiritualism, and the new science of the mind, psychoanalysis— inform the literature of the period and provide us with insight into the social, cultural and historical workings of the 19th century. To this end we will examine texts by authors such as James Hogg, Robert L. Stevenson, Sheridan LeFanu, Bram Stoker, H.G. Wells and Richard Marsh.
REQUIRED TEXTS in order of readings (Note: no substitutions)
Week 2-3: James Hogg. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, 1824. Ed. Adrian Hunter (Broadview 2001)
Week 4-5: Sheridan LeFanu. Selections from In a Glass Darkly (1872)
Week 6-7 : R.L. Stevenson. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 1886. 2nd edition. Ed. Martin A. Danahay (Broadview 2005)
Week 8-9: Richard Marsh. The Beetle, 1897. Ed. Julian Wolfreys (Broadview 2004)
Week 10-11: Bram Stoker. Dracula, 1897. Ed. Glennis Byron (Broadview 1998)
Week 12-13: H. G. Wells. The Island of Dr. Moreau, 1898. (Signet/Penguin 1998) unless the Broadview edition becomes available
There may also be some articles on Library Reserve
EVALUATION & ASSIGNMENTS (Note codes)
- Seminar Presentation 25%
- Participation & Preparation 10%
- Office Evaluation 10%
- Proposal Final Essay Topic (250 words) 10%
- Research Essay Date 45%
MLA STYLE (20-22 pages & Works Cited)
Office Evaluation/Research Examination: (20 minutes/10%)
- This is a scheduled office visit with me after midterm to discuss your work in person.
Note: the point of this requirement is to discuss your work. You should come prepared to respond to questions dealing with the readings and issues taken up in this course.
Proposal/Final Essay Topic
This assignment is linked to the final essay and will be in the form of a essay proposal of 250 words, an abstract of 100 words, a short bio and a working bibliography. T he purpose of this assignment is to facilitate the writing of the research essay by having you clarify your topic and approach and to develop a working/research bibliography. Moreover it is aimed at encouraging collaborate research and learning constructive peer review.
READING SCHEDULE
Notes:
1) Required reading includes any appendices or supplementary materials included in the texts as these will facilitate your understanding of 19th century culture.
Week 1 Discussion/Housekeeping: What you can expect. Introduction to 19th Century Culture/Gothic
Week 2 Robert Hogg The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
Week 3 Robert Hogg The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
Week 4 Sheridan LeFanu: “Green Tea” & “The Familiar” Fr: In a Glass Darkly (1872)
Week 5 Sheridan LeFanu: “Carmilla” Fr: In a Glass Darkly (1872)
Week 6 R.L Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
Week 7 R.L Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
Week 8 Richard Marsh: The Beetle (1897)
Week 9 Richard Marsh: The Beetle (1897)
Week 10 Bram Stoker Dracula (1897)
Week 11 Bram Stoker Dracula (1897)
Week 12 H.G. Wells: The Island of Dr Moreau (1898)
Essay Proposals Due
Week 13 H.G. Wells: The Island of Dr Moreau (1898)
A FEW GOOD RESEARCH LINKS:
International Gothic Association: http://gothic.english.dal.ca/
Romanticism on the Net: http://www.ron.umontreal.ca/
Victorian Studies on the Net: http://www.victoriandatabase.com/
The Literary Gothic: http://www.litgothic.com/index_fl.html
The Sickly Taper: http://thesicklytaper.pagedepot.com/
The Sadlier-Black Collection of Gothic Fiction: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/collections/sadleir-black/
The Gothic: Materials for Study: http://mural.uv.es/maseja/The Gothic Materials for Study.htm
James Hogg:
Wikepedia, James Hogg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hogg
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7463
H.G. Wells:
H. G. Wells Society: http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/
Discussion: The Island of Dr. Moreau http://www.globalstage.net/goback/iodm_discuss.html
Bram Stoker:
Elizabeth Miller: Dracula Research Home Page http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/
“The Historical Dracula” (Ray Porter) http://www.eskimo.com/~mwirkk/castle/vlad/vladhist.html
Romania Tourism: Count Dracula’s Legend http://www.romaniatourism.com/dracula.html
Richard Marsh:
Literary Gothic: http://www.litgothic.com/Authors/marsh.html
Sheridan Le Fanu:
Literary Gothic: http://www.litgothic.com/Authors/authors.html
Last reviewed 
6/6/2008 2:31:38 PM
