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Syllabus Horror: At The Margins of Subjectivity - 44170
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Last update 09-01-2016
HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)

Responsible Department: english

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Yael Levin

Coordinator Email: yael.levin@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: By Appointment

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Yael Levin

Course/Module description:
The course will combine a reading of canonical and popular fiction with psychoanalytic theory and philosophy to explore the intersection between horror and subjectivity. Horror's engagement with liminality will be seen as a path to the study of the concept of the subject and the attending fears of its dissolution.

Course/Module aims:
Students will learn basic psychoanalytic and philosophical methods of conceptualizing subjectivity. They will learn to engage closely with the primary and secondary texts on the syllabus and to draw important conclusions on the method whereby liminality functions as a symbolic exploration of subjectivity.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Formulate their own methods of engaging with horror - both philosophically and aesthetically.
Discuss the texts from within a psychoanalytic interpretative frame.
Formulate an independent research idea relating to a literary negotiation with the genre.

Attendance requirements(%):
100%

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: seminar discussions

Course/Module Content:
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein 1818
Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Henry James, “The Turn of the Screw”
Ex Machina (UK 2015)
Katherine Hayles, How We Became Postman

Required Reading:
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein 1818
Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Henry James, “The Turn of the Screw”
Ex Machina (UK 2015)
Katherine Hayles, How We Became Postman

Additional Reading Material:
Freud, The Uncanny
Kristeva, “The Abject”
Henry James, “Charles Baudelaire” and preface to “The Turn of the Screw”
HP Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature
Burke, on the Beautiful and the Sublime
Ex Machina (UK 2015)
Katherine Hayles, How We Became Postman

Secondary Sources
Clive Bloom, Ed. Gothic Horror: A Guide for Students and Readers. London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. (look for essays)
Matt Hills, The Pleasures of Horror

Gina Wisker, Horror Fiction: An Introduction. New York: Continuum, 2005. Read.


Cavallaro, Dani. Gothic Vision : Three Centuries of Horror, Terror and Fear. London, GBR: Continuum International Publishing, 2002. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 6 July 2015.

Carroll, Noël. The Philosophy Of Horror, Or, Paradoxes Of The Heart. New York: Routledge, 1990.


Asma, Stephen T.. On Monsters : An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, USA, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 6 July 2015.

Kawin, Bruce F.. Horror and the Horror Film. London, GBR: Anthem Press, 2012. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 6 July 2015.

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 80 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 20 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
 
Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Diagnosis and Support of Students with Learning Disabilities, or the Office for Students with Disabilities, as early as possible, to discuss and coordinate accommodations, based on relevant documentation.
For further information, please visit the site of the Dean of Students Office.
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