English - Free topic C: Fantasy and the Gothic novel

Lene Østermark-Johansen: From The Castle of Otranto to Dracula: The Gothic novel from 1764 to 1896

For many people, the protagonists of the classical Gothic novels have become myths to which we all refer: a Frankenstein, a Dracula, a Dr Jekyll, but relatively few people have actually read the series of classical Gothic novels which, in the period between 1764 to 1896, laid the ground for the Gothic genre which is still thriving. This course aims to move from myth to text by inviting you to follow the development of the genre from its first manifestation in the eighteenth century to its peak at the fin de siècle. We will look at geographies of the Gothic – from the Oriental and Mediterranean settings of the eighteenth century to the ways in which the uncanny moves closer to home in the nineteenth century: London, the North of England. We’ll study Gothic villains, architectural structures, the concern with bloodlines and the supernatural, narrative techniques and the gradual entry of modern technologies into the Gothic genre.

Maria Damkjær: Fantasy Writing

In the second half of the course, we delve into the realm of fantasy narrative. We will study world-builders like Ursula K. Le Guin and George R. R. Martin and examine the intricacies of magic systems and the narrative choices of secondary worlds. This will be a unit that applies theories of storytelling, narrative theory, genre theory, and world-building to the texts. In this part of the course, one of the two essays comes with the option of submitting a piece of creative writing. This allows you to experiment with narrative techniques explored throughout the course.