English - Elective Subject, topic 4: Monsters in the Literary and Cultural Imagination

This course examines the literary, cultural, and historical preoccupations with the monstrous during the modern period, probing notions of ‘otherness’ and how monstrousness has been socially constructed across time and space. It situates this investigation within the British and American contexts, scrutinising the evolution of the perceived monstrous ‘other’ and its symbolic resonances. The course will examine a range of topics through a variety of media (print, television and film, videogames, podcasts). Across the various weeks, students will consider the production and theory behind the representation of famous monstrous characters like demons, vampires, ghosts, witches, swamp creatures, and zombies, and connect our cultural fascination with these monstrous characters to important themes including, religion, politics, science, etc. This includes a focus on both the gendered and racialised dimensions of monstrosity, scrutinising how the human form has been rendered as dangerous or monstrous.

By delving into this set of topics, our interdisciplinary exploration of monsters will provide students with a deep understanding of the multiple contexts and social factors in which horror, gothic, fantastic, and supernatural ideas and knowledge have emerged and grown during the modern age. The course will have a significant Digital Humanities component that takes up around 50%.