EUST2050/GRMN2050: Vampires, Monsters, and Monstrosity
Description
Using the concept of “otherness” as it relates to naming and narrative(s), this course examines monsters and monstrosity through the lens of the vampire and other monsters in the transatlantic context of folklore, literature, and film. In the first part of the course we will study theories of monstrosity to understand how vampires and other folkloric monsters (the russalka, evil eye, mora, etc.) are used and reflect the fears, worldview(s), and ideas of self and other throughout various points in time in history and cultures in Europe and North America. In the second part of the course, we will read and analyze various texts about monsters: folkloric, literary, and filmic including John Polidori’s The Vampyre, J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein among others. Finally, in the third section of this course we will explore images of monsters by watching a number of films including Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire (Robert Wiene, 1921), Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922) Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931), Blacula (William Crain, 1972 n) and Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher, 1987) among others. Through these films we can trace the movement of monsters from Other to self.